Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid has been named the recipient of the Ted Lindsay Award as “the most outstanding player in the NHL” at this year’s 2022-23 NHL awards.
The superstar forward was previously a three-time recipient of the infamous award, winning it in 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2020-21. This year’s victory makes him the third player in NHL history to have won the award four times, alongside Wayne Gretzky, who has won it five times, and Mario Lemieux, who has also won four times.
Whether you’ve watched McDavid on your television sets this past year or had the opportunity to watch him breeze down the ice in your respected team’s home arena, it’s not hard to admit that McDavid has had the best season in his NHL career. The forward played all 82 regular season games scoring 64 goals and 153 points, winning him his third Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in scoring and ushering the Oilers to their second-place finish in the Pacific Division.
Although the Oilers may not have accomplished playoff success, their captain captured an additional eight goals and 20 points throughout 12 games in the Oilers’ three playoff series.
His triumphant point year is only the beginning of his successes. Aside from winning this third Art Ross, he’s also earned his first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, becoming the first Oiler to win the award that was introduced in 1999. McDavid led the league in power-play points at 71 and time on ice among forwards at 22:23, in the company of many other achievements in his NHL statistics.
McDavid received the award beating out first-time finalists, forward David Pastrnak from the Boston Bruins and defenceman Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks.
Karlsson, also nominated as a finalist for the Norris Trophy given to the top defenceman in the NHL, scored 25 goals and 101 points this season, titling him as the sixth defenceman in NHL history to reach 100 points. The superstar blueliner set an NHL record by factoring on 43.35 percent of the Sharks’ goals this season (101 out of 233), a record previously set by Bobby Orr of the Bruins at 43.32 percent in 1969-70.
Pastrnak finished second in scoring behind McDavid with 61 goals and third in points behind Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl with 113. Pastrnak factored in on 37.5 percent of Boston’s 301 goals this season and paced the league with 407 shots. The Bruins forward scored the most game-winning goals this season and accompanied the Bruins to their record-setting season.
Aleena Aksenchuk is contributor with Oilersnation and the Nation Network. She can be found on Twitter at @A_Aksenchuk8.