The Wraparound: Oilers – Avalanche stars beyond McDavid, MacKinnon

The Wraparound is your daily look at the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down the NHL playoff games today with the all-important television information.

• The wait is over for the Lightning to get their 2022 Eastern Conference Final opponent: they’ll face the Rangers. Game 1 takes place at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

• Fans get treated to a playoff clash of superstars out West. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Oilers will face Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and the Avalanche in the 2022 Western Conference Final. That series begins on Tuesday.

• During the weekend, Finland beat Canada for gold at the men’s 2022 World Hockey Championship.

When you rattle off names of the biggest stars in hockey, it won’t take long to reach Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.

So, it makes perfect sense that McDavid vs. MacKinnon is the headlining “bout” for the marquees heading into the 2022 Western Conference Final. As Game 1 nears on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET), it’s OK to daydream about two highly skilled players who can succeed the modern way. By that, I mean this: as special as McDavid and MacKinnon are at skating at blazing speeds, their ability to make high-skill plays while doing so separates them from almost everyone else.

Sometimes McDavid and MacKinnon look like the NHL’s answer to “Quicksilver.”

Now, good luck getting McDavid and MacKinnon to indulge in that matchup hype — at least beyond platitudes.

“Hopefully that gets more viewers and lowers escrow but other than that I don’t care.”