On Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, he recorded his third four-point performance of the month, propelling him to the top of the NHL scoring leaderboard for the first time this season.

Before this recent run of dominance, McDavid’s five-on-five production was sitting at a career-low rate, and both his shot attempts and shots on goal reached lows not seen since his rookie season.

Even McDavid’s defensive impact wasn’t up to his usual standard, with his on-ice goals against and expected goals against both at their worst since the 2019-20 season. Shockingly, the Oilers were outscored in McDavid’s minutes at even strength through their first 27 games, but things have changed fast.

McDavid’s metrics are skyrocketing across the board this month. He’s been more impactful both offensively and defensively, and his power play production remains elite. We are truly witnessing a vintage McDavid heater right now.

With 20 points in his last seven games, McDavid has tied the highest point total of any seven-game stretch in his career (it’s the fifth time he’s reached 20 points in seven games).

Interestingly, he did it at a time when some were starting to wonder if he was losing a grip on his title as the best player on planet Earth. While McDavid’s five-on-five production has dipped in recent seasons, the past few weeks have been a reminder that nobody has a higher top-gear than 97.

What turned around for McDavid?

McDavid’s turnaround almost came like the flip of a switch, so what was the catalyst? There’s undoubtedly a combination of factors contributing to the jump in performance, one being that the Oilers are notoriously slow starters.

We’ve seen the formula time and time again at this point. After a long, hard playoff battle, the Oilers lethargically sleepwalk through the first couple of months each fall, conserve their energy, and then ramp things back up later.

McDavid isn’t immune to this phenomenon. Last season, for instance, he generated 1.93 points per 60 at five-on-five in October, and then increased the rate to 2.77 the rest of the way. Part of his offensive breakout might simply be a loud awakening from his annual early-season slumber.

Another factor is that he had to start the season without his favourite linemate, Zach Hyman. Hyman’s broken wrist, suffered in the Western Conference Final, delayed his return to mid-November, but now that Edmonton has the top line with McDavid, Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins reunited, they’re firing on all cylinders again.

Reuniting one of the most reliable lines in hockey is a much better recipe for success than the line blender we saw over the previous couple of months. However, McDavid has also changed his approach recently, which I believe has had a huge impact.

On Dec. 2, the Oilers were shut out 1-0 by the Minnesota Wild. After the game, a frustrated McDavid spoke to the media about the lack of offence.

“Yeah, maybe not the most grade-A chances, but we definitely threw pucks there,” he said. “Had some looks, passed some away — myself more than anybody.”

McDavid criticized himself for overpassing, which is something he’s struggled with for a while now. His shot attempt rates had been declining, and his lack of assertiveness with the puck was starting to limit his offensive ceiling.

It’s almost as if this game triggered something in the captain that made him say, “You know what? Enough is enough, I’m going to be aggressive, take the puck to the net, and shoot.”

The response was emphatic. Following that game against Minnesota, McDavid’s five-on-five shot attempts per hour were 12.27. Since then, he’s generated an impressive 19.7 shot attempts per hour. He’s scoring goals, creating rebounds and making opponents respect his shot again.

The offence will cool down at some point from the nearly three point per game pace it’s been at through most of December, but there’s one thing we know about Connor: When he’s playing with pace, assertive with the puck, and trusting his ability to be a dual threat, there’s no one who can play at his level. Some of us just needed a reminder that he can still reach that gear.

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