Connor McDavid has his eyes set on raising the bar.
Of course, McDavid's bar has been considerably higher than his peers' since he was granted Exceptional Player Status to enter the OHL at 15 years of age, but now 19 years old, the Edmonton Oilers phenom wants to ditch the "kid" narrative heading into his sophomore season.
"I just want to go in and have a good (training) camp and show everyone that I'm not some 18-year-old kid anymore," McDavid told The Canadian Press.
McDavid endured a trying rookie campaign after a shoulder injury sidelined him for 37 games, but recorded 48 points in 45 contests when healthy. As one of the presumed leading candidates for the Oilers' vacant captaincy, McDavid could be bearing larger expectations before even stepping foot on the ice, something he believes he'd be ready for.
"It would mean so much," McDavid said. "It would definitely be an accomplishment that I would be the most proud of. But that's still to be determined and I don't want to talk about it too much or anything like that."
The Oilers changed their identity this offseason, trading 2010 No. 1 pick Taylor Hall and acquiring Milan Lucic via free agency. Without revealing any personal goals, McDavid shared a glimpse of optimism heading into October.
"Definitely have high hopes for this year," he said.
We'll be watching, Connor. No pressure.
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