Connor McDavid is on pace to have the same point total as last season, give or take a few, but it sure hasn’t felt like it. I thought that I was the only person who felt like this until @ElNatetweets put out a tweet stating that he felt the same way. So, what gives?

It was Connor’s statement year last season to tell the league, “Hey, there’s no sophomore slump and I’m the real deal.” He did just that in the home opener against the Flames, putting up three points (2G, 1A), and he added another three points (1G, 2A) when they faced the Flames on the road a couple nights later.

This season, McDavid repeated his home opener tally with three goals, but then was held pointless in the next game and had three assists in the following three games. That means that it took McDavid five games to get six points as opposed to only two last year.

This season he rebounded from being held pointless in the second game of the season with an assist in three straight games, but those three games were a 5-2 Thanksgiving Day loss against the Jets, a 6-1 loss to the Sens, and a 5-3 loss against the Hurricanes.

While Connor had eight points through the first five games of the season last year, he was held off of the scoresheet in two consecutive games. This year he had six points through the first five games. Two fewer points isn’t a massive difference, but last season the team was 4-1-0 and this year they were 1-3-0 including a couple beatdowns. It’s hard to get excited about his points when other teams are putting more pucks in the net than us.

The Oilers kept on winning last October and McDavid kept putting up points. In game six of last year they shut out the Jets and McDavid grabbed an apple, during game seven McDavid picked up another couple apples against the Caps shutting down Ovie 4-1. In game eight the Oil continued their hot streak, shutting out Vancouver, and McDavid sniped a goal.

This year in game six it seemed like the Oilers were figuring things out — he had two assists in a 2-1 win over the Blackhawks. He was then held pointless in a loss to Philly the next game, and had a big assist in an overtime loss to the Penguins in game eight.

In those three games last year the Oilers were hot. They were 3-0-0 with two shutouts while Captain Connor had four points (1G, 3A). This year the team was 1-1-1, and McDavid had three points (1G, 2A). He was only one point back of his pace for those games last year, yet the team wasn’t winning like last year.

The Oilers and McDavid headed out east last year and cooled down with the November weather. They were shut out in game nine against the Sens, and a couple nights later he was held pointless in an overtime loss to the Leafs. The team headed to the big apple where they dropped games 11 and 12 to the Rangers and Islanders, and McDavid only had one assist in those games.

Things were still rocky for the team in those games this year. He had a goal in the game nine win against the Stars and an assist in the 5-2 loss to the Caps. McDavid picked up another two assists against Pittsburgh in the 3-2 loss, but lead the charge with three more assists defeating New Jersey.

Notice how much of a factor Connor is? The team goes 0-2-2 and he’s held to one assist. This year they’re 2-2-0 but Connor makes up for that point difference from last season thus far picking up seven points (1G, 6A).

Last season the Oilers split games 13 and 14 defeating Detroit and losing in Pittsburgh. Connor had an assist in the 2-1 win over Detroit and three assists in his matchup against Crosby. They lost to Dallas 3-2 in game 15 of the season, but McDavid still had an assist.

The team was starting to struggle last year, not like anything we’ve seen this season, while they were 1-2-0 McDavid was trying his best to lead the team with five assists. The team this year is starting to get back on track going 2-1-0, while McDavid only had a goal and an assist in these games they were electrifying, they eased those feelings that it doesn’t feel like he isn’t scoring like last year.

If you’ve made it through my 15 game recap comparing the club and Connor I commend you, but it’s important to note that while scoring points are fun winning games is very important. The team had a solid start last year and it’s always easy to celebrate a win, but when they drop a game especially a smackdown it doesn’t really feel like anyone picked up any points. Those feelings can be eased now that we have a few strong wins under our belt, and especially that Connor played a big role in putting those games away. Did you feel like Connor wasn’t putting up as many points as last year? Let me know below!