Welcome to my annual player review series, where I dive into the Edmonton Oilers season player-by-player. We’ll look back at the season that was, what kind of impact each player had, and what we could see from them next season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.
Here’s the deal about Connor McDavid: he’s really, really good at hockey.
So good that when it’s all said and done, he might go down as the best player of all-time. He already ranks 92nd in terms of adjusted points, according to Hockey-Reference, and among the top 100, he’s seventh in adjusted points per game, with 1.64. He’s right behind Wayne Gretzky (1.66) and Mario Lemieux (1.68), with the top four of Howie Morenz (2.23), Frank Boucher (2.07), Aurele Joliat (1.81) and Nels Stewart (1.80) having played last in 1944.
McDavid’s 2023-24 campaign continued to build on his previous career sucess, scoring 32 goals, 100 assists and 132 points in 76 games. He got off to a sluggish start through his first 11 games, scoring a point per game which was still half of what his previous three years saw him produce. He attributed it to overtraining last off-season, a regiment he changed around this summer.
He more than made up for it, becoming the fourth player in NHL history to score 100 assists in a season. When the playoffs rolled around, McDavid peaked in the playoffs, scoring eight goals, 34 assists and 42 points. His assist total became the highest in a single playoff ever, surpassing Gretzky’s record of 31, and becoming the third player to score 40 points in a single playoff.
McDavid continued to be a huge driver of play, with excellent underlying numbers. According to Hockey Viz, he drove offence at a 26 percent rate above league average, defence at a six percent rate above league average while contributing on both the power play and penalty kill, both at six percent rates above league average. His contributions continue to break the Hockey Viz charts, with this past season seeing him contribute at five time the rate of an average first-line player.
There’s nobody in the game like Connor McDavid and he will continue to push the boundaries of what players can do.
CONNOR MCDAVID’S CAREER SO FAR
Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
2012-13 | Erie Otters | OHL | 63 | 25 | 41 | 66 | 36 | -24 | — | — | — | — | — |
2013-14 | Erie Otters | OHL | 56 | 28 | 71 | 99 | 20 | 47 | 14 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 2 |
2014-15 | Erie Otters | OHL | 47 | 44 | 76 | 120 | 48 | 60 | 20 | 21 | 28 | 49 | 12 |
2015-16 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 45 | 16 | 32 | 48 | 18 | -1 | — | — | — | — | — |
2016-17 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 30 | 70 | 100 | 26 | 27 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
2017-18 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 41 | 67 | 108 | 26 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — |
2018-19 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 78 | 41 | 75 | 116 | 20 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — |
2019-20 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 64 | 34 | 63 | 97 | 28 | -6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
2020-21 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 56 | 33 | 72 | 105 | 20 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
2021-22 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 80 | 44 | 79 | 123 | 45 | 28 | 16 | 10 | 23 | 33 | 10 |
2022-23 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 82 | 64 | 89 | 153 | 36 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 0 |
2023-24 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 76 | 32 | 100 | 132 | 30 | 35 | 25 | 8 | 34 | 42 | 10 |
NHL Totals | 645 | 335 | 647 | 982 | 249 | 74 | 37 | 80 | 117 | 24 |
PLAYERS REVIEWED SO FAR
- Warren Foegele
- Ryan McLeod
- Sam Carrick
- Vincent Desharnais
- Sam Gagner
- Adam Erne
- Adam Henrique
- Philip Broberg
- Mattias Janmark
- Troy Stecher
- Connor Brown
- Corey Perry
- Raphael Lavoie
- Brett Kulak
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.