Todd McLellan growing with superstar Connor McDavid

Todd McLellan knows all about coaching star players.

Before he accepted the position of Edmonton Oilers head coach, which came with the responsibility of guiding budding superstar Connor McDavid, McLellan served as head coach of the San Jose Sharks and was a an associate coach on the Detroit Red Wings 2007-08 Stanley Cup championship team.

So having crossed paths with the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Joe Thornton, McLellan had a pretty good idea of the challenges he would face in coaching a generational player like McDavid. Not to mention trying to get the Oilers back to the post-season after 10 years on the sideline.

When it comes to handling a superstar, you really have to be careful.

"We've had him now for a year and a half and we have seen him grow a lot in that time," McLellan said. "He has been through some pretty low points, with his [broken collarbone] last year and he's gone through some high points. He has become a leader on the team."

We're growing together as a team, a coaching staff and a superstar.— Oilers head coach Todd McLellan on guiding generational talent Connor McDavid

So much so, the Oilers felt comfortable making the 19-year-old the youngest captain in NHL history this season. McDavid has rewarded the Oilers by not only exhibiting tremendous leadership at a precious young age, but taking the team under his wing.

Not only is Edmonton in playoff position after 32 games, McDavid is leading the NHL in scoring with 12 goals and 39 points.

Things seem to be falling into place rather nicely for McLellan, McDavid and the Oilers.

"We have had an opportunity to grow with him," McLellan said. "I think coaching a superstar from the start of his career is probably a little easier than taking a job where your team's superstar has already been in the league for seven or eight years and he's in his prime and you have to figure him out. We're growing together as a team, a coaching staff and a superstar."

Last year didn't exactly go as planned for McDavid and the Oilers.

While the teenager scored 16 goals and 48 points in 45 games, finishing with the NHL's third best points per game average at 1.22, McDavid's collarbone injury caused him to miss 37 games. It cost him the rookie of the year award and the Oilers once again missed the playoffs.

'We wanted to turn them loose'

This season kicked off early when McLellan and McDavid were part of Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey. Team North America didn't make it to the final round, but won over the hearts of hockey fans world-wide with its fast and furious style.

"I thought we had a chance to challenge," said McLellan. "We wanted to have a fast, aggressive identity and we put our focus, as far as systems went, on defending a little bit and making sure guys wanted to do that as much as they wanted to go on offence and then on special teams.

"The one thing we didn't want to do was over coach them. We wanted to turn them loose and let them go."

McLellan is convinced the participants in the World Cup got a leg up on the rest of the competition, in terms of being prepared for the 2016-17 NHL season.

He points to the quick start for top draft pick Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as the great start by the Columbus Blue Jackets who had three players – Brandon Saad, Ryan Murray and Seth Jones – on Team North America.

"All of those players got a head start on the rest of the league and their confidence level was high when they left the tournament," McLellan said.

That certainly has been the case for McDavid, the NHL's latest superstar.