Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has been named as the fourth-best player in the last 50 years of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL).

McDavid was drafted first overall by the Erie Otters in the 2012 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft, becoming just the third player in CHL history to be granted exceptional player status, allowing him to play as a 15-year-old.

He scored 25 goals and 66 points in his 63-game rookie campaign, earning him the nod as the OHL Rookie of the Year and a place on the OHL First All-Rookie Team.

McDavid’s time in Erie saw him record 97 goals and 285 points through his three seasons before being drafted first overall to the Oilers in 2015. The Otters made the playoffs in 2014 and 2015, where McDavid logged an exceptional 25 goals and 68 points in 34 games.

Of those 68 points, 49 came from 2015, standing as the second-most in a single OHL post-season, trailing only Justin Papineau, who recorded 51 points through 21 games in 1999. Named captain in his final season, McDavid won the Wayne Gretzky ’99’ Award as the 2015 OHL Playoffs MVP, just the second player in the league’s history to win from a losing team.

McDavid’s final season with the Otters had him sweep the CHL’s major individual awards, as he was named CHL Player of the Year, CHL Top Prospect, and CHL Scholastic Player of the Year. He also won the Red Tilson Trophy as OHL MVP, earned the Bobby Smith Trophy as OHL Scholastic Player of the Year for a second straight season, and was named to the OHL First All-Star Team.

On Jan. 10, 2025, the Otters retired McDavid’s No. 97.

Now, he’s become the best player in the NHL, with 409 goals and 1220 points in 794 games, leading the Edmonton Oilers out of their decade of darkness and into six consecutive playoff years, including back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2024 and 2025. He was named captain in 2016, the youngest captain in NHL history at 19 years and 266 days old.

McDavid has won six Art Ross trophies, four Ted Lindsay trophies, one Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy, and one Conn Smythe Trophy. This finds him as the fifth most awarded player in league history, behind only Wayne Gretzky, Alex Ovechkin, Mario Lemieux, and Bobby Orr.

Sidney Crosby, Gretzky, and Lemieux will round out the OHL’s Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years list.