McDavid’s 7th 70+ assist season—3rd most in NHL history

[1989]

He is also now on a streak of 9 consecutive seasons with a minimum of 97 points, which should be no surprise that Gretzky is the only other to do that.

Highest minimum points for 9 consecutive seasons:

Gretzky - 149
McDavid - 97
Bossy - 91
Dione - 84
Esposito - 83

McDavid is the only modern name there. Since the salary cap era:

McDavid - 97
Draisaitl - 70
Kucherov - 65
Ovechkin -56
Kane - 55
MacKinnon - 53
Crosby - 47
Malkin - 33

(Key players only, not an exhaustive list)


In fact, the only other 2 players to even get 97 points a season 9 times were Wayne Gretzky & Mario Lemieux. Just some legendary longevity to go along with McDavids' already legendary peak. It is important to recognize that none of this matters though... he will be remembered the same as Joe Thornton if he doesn't win a team trophy that Patrick Maroon won 3 times There will be a magical forcefeild that prevents people from considering him an "all-time great", that's what I am told at least

Greatness implies winning.

Winning individual categorical trophies or accolades isn't enough when the conversation is about being the greatest.
If you disagree that's fine - but ask McDavid if he'd rather have the stats you're rattling off as proof of greatness, or a Stanley Cup. Ask him about the Conn Smythe he didn't accept. Ask him what he dreams about, or has nightmares about.

In Bossy or Ovechkin, we can acknowledge them as the best goalscorers ever, generally speaking. But no serious hockey fan considers them in the GOAT conversation. Thornton, as you pointed out, has never won the Cup. If he won the Cup 3 times in his career, he might have been considered a GOAT candidate. Who was Yzerman before his Cups? LeBron before Miami? And the list goes on.

The mistake people make when trying to hand-wave McDavid's lack of team championships is that unlike someone like Maroon, we know McDavid is capable of great things on an individual level on a game-by-game basis. The scoring titles and individual trophies are the guarantee, where most players never sniff a single vote or are ever in the race.

Yet the trophy that requires no vote is the one that eludes great players and commonly rests in the hands of role players and journeymen because well, numbers and chance play a role.

I have nothing against seeing McDavid win a Cup or three. In this short life, I'd like to witness all the greatness sports can offer, not just the pitfalls and what-ifs of potential career trajectories. I think McDavid is finally rounding out to what he has to do to win a Cup while captaining a team.

But it remains to be witnessed. Hockey will be better for it if he can take the crown.

 

[BallardEra]

Hope he gets to 100 points this season too. That would give him 8 X 100 point seasons.(should be 9)

Only Gretzky and Lemieux had more than 8.

 

[authentic]

Crazy how just like that he’s ahead of MacKinnon in points per game. Should be another show in the playoffs

 

[landy]

The real mvp of the Oilers is back. May pass Draisaitl in points still.

 

[villacco]

How many 80 assist season does he have?
This Kucherov guy has more

 

[Luongoisthegoat]

The real mvp of the Oilers is back. May pass Draisaitl in points still.

Crazy how just like that he’s ahead of MacKinnon in points per game. Should be another show in the playoffs

It would be insane if he still got 110 plus points. He should get 4 plus against the sharks again .

 

[BallardEra]

Another McDavid thread where insecure Pens/Crosby fans feel the need to knock him down a peg or two.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Pretty random number tbh

 

[Video Nasty]

Pretty random number tbh

No, random would be picking his lowest “full”season total (63 assists in 64 games) and creating a thread based on that figure.

This is a celebration of a player who has 710 games under his belt and is over an assist per game for his career.

Here’s another random stat. He’s not going to lead the NHL in assists this season thanks to missing 14 games, yet Gretzky (x16) and Orr (x5) are the only players who have done it more.

 

[Three On Zero]

Another sad and pathetic back and forth. Hardcore fandom sucks.

To be expected when OP talks about McDavid and also tried to discredit Crosby in the same post. We all know Crosby is going to retire as the 4th/5th best player of all time.

 

[villacco]

No, random would be picking his lowest “full”season total (63 assists in 64 games) and creating a thread based on that figure.

This is a celebration of a player who has 710 games under his belt and is over an assist per game for his career.

Here’s another random stat. He’s not going to lead the NHL in assists this season thanks to missing 14 games, yet Gretzky (x16) and Orr (x5) are the only players who have done it more.

Truth is, since 2017 McDavid and Kucherov are pretty close in assists / game (Kucherov missed one season).
And a few other players have pretty high numbers as well (MacKinnon)
McDavids numbers are great, but he is not head and shoulders above (like Gretzky).
Heck, Kucherov had 4 seasons with 80+ assists and McDavid only 2.
Both had 100 assists once
They are as equal as it gets in assists

 

[JFedol]

Crazy how just like that he’s ahead of MacKinnon in points per game. Should be another show in the playoffs

I'm predicting the first ever 50pt playoff run for McDavid lol

 

[authentic]

I'm predicting the first ever 50pt playoff run for McDavid lol

Would be nice. Somehow I think he will focus a little more defensively now, put still post close to 2 points a game. Although I would love if he just cherry picked and posted 3 points a game.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Most 97 point seasons, NHL history

Yes, this statistic is completely cherry-picked. But since McDavid wears 97, it's a neat coincidence. (EDIT - Leon Draisaitl should be on this list with 6 seasons. Given how difficult it is to post tables on this website, I'm not going to attempt to re-do the chart above).

Most consecutive 97 point seasons, NHL history

Also a cherry-picked stat, but still very impressive.

(EDIT - can any moderators confirm if we can still post tables? ever since the server crash, I've found it impossible to post tables that are readable)

 

[McFlash97]

To be expected when OP talks about McDavid and also tried to discredit Crosby in the same post. We all know Crosby is going to retire as the 4th/5th best player of all time.

Will last less than a decade when McDavid will supplant him.

Gretzky's other record of 1669 career points with the Oilers would also be in danger of falling if McDavid decides to resign. If this record falls and McDavid wins a cup, you have a new top 3 of Gretzky, Lemieux and McDavid. Not Crosby. Defensemen not included. Crosby would fall outside the top 5. OV has to be in the top 5 now. Hes the greatest goal scorer of all time.

 

[hamzarocks]

Will last less than a decade when McDavid will supplant him.

Gretzky's other record of 1669 career points with the Oilers would also be in danger of falling if McDavid decides to resign. If this record falls and McDavid wins a cup, you have a new top 3 of Gretzky, Lemieux and McDavid. Not Crosby. Defensemen not included. Crosby would fall outside the top 5. OV has to be in the top 5 now. Hes the greatest goal scorer of all time.

Seriously who would take OV over Sidney Crosby

Thats like taking Crosby over Mcdavid or Matthews over Mcdavid

OV's goal scoring + 3 year prime gets him 9th or 10th all time

Him becoming a flawed player after 2010 and being a .96ppg player from 2011 to 2017 (5th in the league) vs Crosby being 1.27 ppg player in this same time period (#1) destroyed any chance he had at being better/greater than Crosby.

Crosbys ppg gap vs OV from 2011 to 2017 is almost equal to Mcdavids ppg vs Crosby from 2016 to now.

He fell way too far behind on a yearly production basis

 

[landy]

Crazy how just like that he’s ahead of MacKinnon in points per game. Should be another show in the playoffs

Crazy how whoever from the Central makes it to Conference Finals will have their easiest matchup thus far then.

 

[Three On Zero]

Seriously who would take OV over Sidney Crosby

Thats like taking Crosby over Mcdavid or Matthews over Mcdavid

OV's goal scoring + 3 year prime gets him 9th or 10th all time

Him becoming a flawed player after 2010 and being a .96ppg player from 2011 to 2017 (5th in the league) vs Crosby being 1.27 ppg player in this same time period (#1) destroyed any chance he had at being better/greater than Crosby.

Crosbys ppg gap vs OV from 2011 to 2017 is almost equal to Mcdavids ppg vs Crosby from 2016 to now.

He fell way too far behind on a yearly production basis

Ovechkin is one hell of a player, but 30 years from now the debate is still going to be between Crosby and McDavid.

 

[TheLegend27]

Seriously who would take OV over Sidney Crosby

Thats like taking Crosby over Mcdavid or Matthews over Mcdavid

OV's goal scoring + 3 year prime gets him 9th or 10th all time

Him becoming a flawed player after 2010 and being a .96ppg player from 2011 to 2017 (5th in the league) vs Crosby being 1.27 ppg player in this same time period (#1) destroyed any chance he had at being better/greater than Crosby.

Crosbys ppg gap vs OV from 2011 to 2017 is almost equal to Mcdavids ppg vs Crosby from 2016 to now.

He fell way too far behind on a yearly production basis

You got the right analysis for career wise. I would take prime Ovi though

 

[crowfish]

Truth is, since 2017 McDavid and Kucherov are pretty close in assists / game (Kucherov missed one season).
And a few other players have pretty high numbers as well (MacKinnon)
McDavids numbers are great, but he is not head and shoulders above (like Gretzky).
Heck, Kucherov had 4 seasons with 80+ assists and McDavid only 2.
Both had 100 assists once
They are as equal as it gets in assists

Since Kucherov's MVP season

Assists Per 82 games:
Kucherov 84.5
McDavid 89.9

Since the start of their careers
Kucherov 65
McDavid 82.9

McDavid is clearly ahead.

 

[hamzarocks]

You got the right analysis for career wise. I would take prime Ovi though

Yes OVs 3 year prime of 08 to 10 is better than what Crosby achieved

Crosby 11 to 13 was tracking to blbetter than OV from 08 to 10 but he missed to much time so it doesnt stack up

OV is still the 9th or 10th greatest player ever imo

Crosby is 6th to 8th imo . So their is a difference but not anything to pretend both aren't still similar tier all time great players.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

I mean Kuch n Mack have about 15 more empty net points each, and if you remove that McDavid and Drai are leading in PPG by quite a bit. McDavid will be considered a level below Gretzky and Lemieux so knocking him down for not winning Art Rosses every year like they did is kinda unfair.

Don’t worry there is nothing McDavid can do in the regular season that will convince fans that he’s better than Crosby. He has to win the cup for people to get that.

The fact that he's being out produced by Leon Draisaitl for the second time in his career kind of says it all

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Why can’t you just celebrate McDavid’s achievements without always getting in a jab about Crosby

Because deep down, he knows. He's to trying convince himself otherwise by posting on here. Both tragic and beautiful at the same time.

 

[TheLegend27]

The fact that he's being out produced by Leon Draisaitl for the second time in his career kind of says it all

McDavid’s PPG is higher if you ignore the game where he played a whopping 26 seconds. But really it’s not that uncommon as Malkin out produced Crosby twice. The second time in 2018 was particularly shocking, being outscored 1.26 to 1.09 ppg is a shocking difference for someone who considered the best player in the world at the time. A testament of how historically good Malkin and Draisaitl are.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

McDavid’s PPG is higher if you ignore the game where he played a whopping 26 seconds. But really it’s not that uncommon as Malkin out produced Crosby twice. A testament of how historically good Malkin and Draisaitl are.

Malkin is a significantly better player than Draisaitl.

Actually, Draisaitl's production is the biggest reason I question if McDavid's numbers align with his actual impact. Like Draisaitl is a very good player but by watching him play you would never think the guy was 3rd all time in playoff PPG just 11 months ago. Like is there something about the Oilers or the way they play that boosts his numbers?