Connor McDavid

The Oilers-Kings series will arguably be the most intriguing individual matchup of the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“I know he’s always been a big fan of Patrice Bergeron’s,” Julien told The Athletic. “He kept asking me a lot of questions about him. “I told him at the time, ‘You’re a great two-way player. He’s got a good comprehension of that role. He took a lot of pride in that part of his game. As a friend and as a teammate, you just wanted him to be happy. He wanted to be just like Patrice, that kind of player. The contract itself said a lot of how much they believed in me. “I mean, you’re talking about Connor, in most people’s minds you’re talking about the best player in the world. “If you can win the faceoff, you start the first 10 seconds of the shift with the puck. All good players want it and he is a dog on a bone in taking it away. “Well he’s really smart,” said Gallagher. “Obviously taking away time and space, and especially with a player like McDavid or a Matthews, you just can’t let them get going with the puck. How he ended up with the Kings, of course, has been well documented.