Connor McDavid, Oilers start new era in St. Louis

A star at every level he's every played at, Edmonton's Connor McDavid makes the biggest jump of his highly anticipated career when he suits up for his first regular-season NHL game for the Oilers in St. Louis Thursday (8 p.m. ET).

McDavid failed to score during five pre-season games for the Oilers, although he provided five assists. His debut is being compared to Sidney Crosby's for Pittsburgh a decade ag,o and there's even mention of another teenager who previously wore the Oilers colours.

Expectations are sky high for the top overall pick of the 2015 draft hits the ice on Thursday. How high is the bar set for McDavid? Well, consider the lofty praise heaped on the shoulders of the 18-year-old phenom by none other than Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky.

"He's as good as I've seen in the last 30 years, the best player to come into the league in the last 30 years, the best to come along since [Mario] Lemieux and [Sidney] Crosby," Gretzky told the Edmonton Journal. "He can definitely change a franchise's fortunes."

The Oilers are banking on precisely that after the sputtering club missed the playoffs for the ninth straight season before winning the draft lottery in June.

Of course, the Oilers have had a series of top draft picks over the last half dozens years, but failed to turn the team's fortunes around to the point of even making the playoffs. McDavid and the additions of general manager Peter Chiarelli and head coach Todd McLellan, are expected to make big impact.

Speaking in front of a crowd of reporters on Thursday following his team's morning skate, the soft-spoken rookie admitted to having some butterflies but said he felt pretty good and was excited to get going.

"It's just special," McDavid said of his NHL debut. "I'm living out my dream, so there's nothing better than that. I'm just really looking forward to tonight."

McDavid will be centring the Oilers' second line against the Blues with Taylor Hall on the left wing and Anton Slepyshev on the right. Hall was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft, while Slepyshev will also be making his NHL debut on Thursday night.

St. Louis enjoyed a much better campaign in 2014-15, winning the Central Division before getting unceremoniously dumped in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

Edmonton (2014-15: 24-44-14, 6TH in Pacific): It likely won't be long before Edmonton officially hands the keys to McDavid, who collected a stunning 120 points in 47 games with Erie of the Ontario Hockey League last season. With that in mind, defenceman Andrew Ference relinquished the team's captaincy and elected to join Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as alternates in 2015-16. Off-season acquisition Cam Talbot will get the start for Edmonton.

St. Louis (2014-15: 51-24-7, 1ST in Central): Vladimir Tarasenko parlayed an impressive 37-goal season in 2014-15 into an eight-year, $60-million US contract. The 23-year-old Russian joins Alexander Steen (team-leading 40 assists), Jaden Schwartz and captain David Backes on a potent offence that ranked fifth in the league in goals (239) last season. St. Louis' primary question resides in goal, with Brian Elliott getting the nod on Thursday before presumably platooning with Jake Allen for the rest of the campaign.

Overtime shots

• St. Louis has won six in a row over Edmonton and 11 of the last 12 meetings.
• Edmonton yielded a league-high 276 goals last season.
• The Blues signed veteran C Scott Gomez to a one-year, two-way deal on Wednesday.
• Chiarelli said not to look for McDavid to be one of the Oilers' alternate captains soon, saying that he has enough pressure on him already.