‘I’m not going to shoot the puck anymore’: Connor McDavid jokes he’s done scoring goals

Connor McDavid’s got jokes.

The reigning Hart Trophy winner has been rapidly rising up the National Hockey League’s scoring leaderboard in recent weeks, collecting an eye-popping 21 points in his last nine games.

All 21 of those points have been assists. McDavid doesn’t have a single goal over that span. Considering he scored 64 of them last season, it’s beginning to raise some eyebrows around Rogers Place.

Yes, the Oilers are a pretty safe bet to make the playoffs as one of the representatives from the Pacific Division. They could even snag home-ice advantage away from the Vegas Golden Knights if they can escape from their current February slump.

But they’ll have to do that without any more goals from their captain. As McDavid revealed on Monday, he’s made the tough call not to score any more goals the rest of the season — only assists.

“I’ve decided I’m just going to see how many assists I can get,” McDavid deadpanned in his media availability on Monday. “That’s the focus. I’m not going to shoot the puck anymore. I’m not going to score any more goals.”

Very funny, Connor. It’s a testament to how strong an offensive talent McDavid is that a 30-goal campaign could qualify as “underwhelming”, but he’s on pace for just 32 this year — exactly half what he managed in 2022–23.

“Of course, I want to score,” McDavid went on. “I want to help this team any way I can. Scoring goals is part of it.”

As we all know, McDavid has a particular proclivity for heating up down the stretch. He scored seemingly at will in the back half of last season to become the first player in a generation to eclipse 150 points in a single year. And after an uncharacteristically slow start to 2023–24 (likely hampered by injury), McDavid has elevated himself back into the Art Ross conversation this season.

The Oilers are just 4-5-1 in their last 10 games since the end of their 16-game winning streak. McDavid will look to avoid extending his goal-scoring drought into the double digits when the Oilers play host ton the L.A. Kings on Monday at 7:30 p.m. PT.