McDavid becomes the first guy since Wayne Gretzky to score at least 90 points 8 years in a row!

[Arthur Morgan]

This poll has been done before. It's not 90%

so what maybe I over exaggerated the number abit. I think most would still go with the true winner over higher regular season point totals.

 

[T REX]

Gretzky has the record at 13 straight 90pt seasons, but you can also change that to 13 straight 120pt seasons (12 straight 137pt or better seasons)

Far more impressive by TGO. 90 points seems kinda arbitrary. Like a made a number to fit a random stat.

McDavid is easily the best of this generation.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

I kind of like Marner now.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

I should also mention that even if McDavid does deserve to be 5th overall. I dont think everyone will get on board with it like they do with Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux or Howe if he never wins.
might be a team accomplishment but winning matters.

any of you remember how they were talking about OV till he won? it matters and it always will in every sport

 

[Empoleon8771]

I dunno if everyone will get on board with McDavid joining the top 4 without one.
McDavid keeps up what hes doing and brings a cup home and I think there will be ALOT less people disagreeing he doesnt deserve it.

regular season just isnt enough he needs post season success. if he never wins he for sure will go down as the greatest player to never win anything.

Without a cup, I don't think McDavid jumps into the top-4. But even without one, he's firmly on track to end up #5 and there really isn't an argument for anyone else over him at #5.

 

[Donnie740]

Since breaking Gretzky’s points record is impossible he would easily be the greatest player of all time

It would be incredibly difficult, but most people felt the same way about his goal scoring record - - I would never say it’s “impossible” for McDavid to do.

Gretzky had a huge drop off in the second half of his career - - which was inevitable, given how spectacular his first half was.

After turning 30, he only scored 30+ goals twice and never reached 40. He also only reached 100+ points twice.

No question McDavid would have to play into his 40’s as he would need an extra five or six seasons beyond what Gretzky had.

120 points per season for the next ten years and it’ll be on.

 

[Coffey]

doesnt matter but winning a cup to become the 5th best player of all time does

Maybe to you.
And in the grand scheme of things, that means extremely little.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

also I should say, because I dont think I have. pretty damn impressive he's put up 90 points 8 seasons in a row and this number will surely grow alot larger unless injury

 

[Empoleon8771]

It would be incredibly difficult, but most people felt the same way about his goal scoring record - - I would never say it’s “impossible” for McDavid to do.

Gretzky had a huge drop off in the second half of his career - - which was inevitable, given how spectacular his first half was.

After turning 30, he only scored 30+ goals twice and never reached 40. He also only reached 100+ points twice.

No question McDavid would have to play into his 40’s as he would need an extra five or six seasons beyond what Gretzky had.

120 points per season for the next ten years and it’ll be on.

If he does that, he's still 700 points short of Gretzky.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

It would be incredibly difficult, but most people felt the same way about his goal scoring record - - I would never say it’s “impossible” for McDavid to do.

Gretzky had a huge drop off in the second half of his career - - which was inevitable, given how spectacular his first half was.

After turning 30, he only scored 30+ goals twice and never reached 40. He also only reached 100+ points twice.

No question McDavid would have to play into his 40’s as he would need an extra five or six seasons beyond what Gretzky had.

120 points per season for the next ten years and it’ll be on.

McDavid after 623 games: 941 points
Gretzky after 623 games: 1,493 points

He has zero chance

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Maybe to you.
And in the grand scheme of things, that means extremely little.

well thats the thing, there are others that think just like I do. and if everyone isnt on board with him being 5th overall. he will never be 5th overall. will just be someone's opinion compared to someone else's atleast one thing every list will have in common is 1-4 but after 5 most will be different and if most are different then how could he be 5th all time?

 

[Dfence033]

There's not a chance in hell that McDavid breaks Gretzky's point record or goal scoring record.

So far in his career, McDavid has 941 points in 623 games. Gretzky finished with 2857 points. He's not even a third of the way there and he's already 9 years into his NHL career. With goals, he's at 324 goals in 623 games while Gretzky finished with 894 goals. Again, about a third of the way there and he's already 9 years into his NHL career.

If McDavid gets to his age 35 season with no more work stoppages or other career disruption, performing at his most recent 3 seasons' pace, he would end that season somewhere around 2,050 and 2,100 points. While unlikely-nearing-impossible to catch Gretzky, he is solidly pacing to finish his career as an uncontested 2nd place in points in history. Using the same for goals, his stat line at 35 years old would be roughly:

716 goals (7th all time, 1 behind Esposito for 6th)
1,340 assists (2nd all time, nearly 100 more than Francis in 3rd)
2,056 points (2nd all time, more than 100 points ahead of 3rd)

767 goals (51 in even 2-3 seasons from 36-38 years old should be doable) would move him to top 3 all time in goals. For comparison, Crosby is at age 36, and is at 582g/1,562p - McDavid could easily be > 150G and 500p above Crosby... A year earlier. Crosby is a great player, but McDavid is clearly on the trajectory to be in the conversation of "Greatest players." It's not a knock on Crosby to suggest McDavid is near-certainly going to have a better career, the same it is not a knock on McDavid to say Gretzky is still in a class of his own at the top.

So while passing Gretzky is unlikely, are people seriously that petty about a team award like Cups won that they'd suggest a player top 3 all time in goals, and 2nd all time to ONLY Gretzky in assists and points isn't going to be a very serious and legitimate conversation about being in or replacing the "Big 4?"

Especially in light of this: (intentionally clipped down to Crosby, as this "Cups!" thing is the only argument left to make for Crosby over McDavid)

 

[WalterLundy]

McDavid after 623 games: 941 points
Gretzky after 623 games: 1,493 points

He has zero chance

None at all. Nobody ever did. Mario Lemieux after 623 games: 1,279 points. And that’s the year his career ppg peaked….

Gretzky comically blows everyone sky high so it’s not McDavid’s fault. Gretzky is just the goat of major sports if we are being honest. McDavid can (and in my opinion will) enter the top 4 in my mind though. He can potentially have the second best career ever behind only Gretzky.

 

[Empoleon8771]

If McDavid gets to his age 35 season with no more work stoppages or other career disruption, performing at his most recent 3 seasons' pace, he would end that season somewhere around 2,050 and 2,100 points. While unlikely-nearing-impossible to catch Gretzky, he is solidly pacing to finish his career as an uncontested 2nd place in points in history. Using the same for goals, his stat line at 35 years old would be roughly:

716 goals (7th all time, 1 behind Esposito for 6th)
1,340 assists (2nd all time, nearly 100 more than Francis in 3rd)
2,056 points (2nd all time, more than 100 points ahead of 3rd)

767 goals (51 in even 2-3 seasons from 36-38 years old should be doable) would move him to top 3 all time in goals. For comparison, Crosby is at age 36, and is at 582g/1,562p - McDavid could easily be > 150G and 500p above Crosby... A year earlier. Crosby is a great player, but McDavid is clearly on the trajectory to be in the conversation of "Greatest players." It's not a knock on Crosby to suggest McDavid is near-certainly going to have a better career, the same it is not a knock on McDavid to say Gretzky is still in a class of his own at the top.

So while passing Gretzky is unlikely, are people seriously that petty about a team award like Cups won that they'd suggest a player top 3 all time in goals, and 2nd all time to ONLY Gretzky in assists and points isn't going to be a very serious and legitimate conversation about being in or replacing the "Big 4?"

Especially in light of this: (intentionally clipped down to Crosby, as this "Cups!" thing is the only argument left to make for Crosby over McDavid)

View attachment 826043

Assuming that McDavid continues at a 150 point pace through his age 35 season is.....optimistic, to put it politely.

Also, the fact that McDavid is still 800 points behind Gretzky in this pie in the sky example for McDavid just shows how impossible it is for him to catch Gretzky.

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

McDavid after 623 games: 941 points
Gretzky after 623 games: 1,493 points

He has zero chance

Zero chance for sure. I am also willing to bet McDavid's career will be shorter than #99's.

 

[cupface52]

There is absolutely nothing McDavid can do to surpass Gretzky. Come on now.

The interesting debate is whether he can push one of Lemieux, Orr or Howe to #5 and get into the top-4 himself. But Gretzky is going to be untouched as the GOAT in hockey.

If he can win another Art Ross trophies and be a top 5 player for 15 consecutive years, so another 7 years, which would be his aged 33 season. He ends up as either #2 or #4 imo. He could also have a career ending injury in the next year or two, which would keep him outside the top 5.

Being top 5 for 15 years in a global league beats out being top 5 for 20 years in a Canadian league for longevity. After this season he could be the top Canadian scorer for 8 straights years. He would have better longevity and peak than Howe.

Some people put Orr and Lemieux above Howe due to their insane peak, something McDavid will never touch.

 

[Dfence033]

Assuming that McDavid continues at a 150 point pace through his age 35 season is.....optimistic, to put it politely.

Also, the fact that McDavid is still 800 points behind Gretzky in this pie in the sky example for McDavid just shows how impossible it is for him to catch Gretzky.

Yes, optimistic, but not unrealistic as suggesting catching Gretzky is. Those numbers are the realm of "possible," and if he plays until 39-40 like many of the best are doing now, optimistic becomes more "probably."

The crux of my argument is more around finishing 2nd/3rd all time in every major scoring statistic is somewhere between likely and slightly optimistic, and would be very difficult to suggest that "no Cups" keeps him out of the conversation for the Big 4, especially if he finishes his career top 3 / top 4 in playoff PPG, where he currently is.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

If everything goes right for McDavid he’ll still finish 500+ behind Gretzky.

Shows how much he separated himself

 

[Video Nasty]

Always has to be a person or two who creates a distraction by bringing up absurd ideas like McDavid chasing down Gretzky’s points mark. Becoming the only other to hit 2000 is a reasonable goal and expectation to set, not 2858.

 

[Coffey]

Always has to be a person or two who creates a distraction by bringing up absurd ideas like McDavid chasing down Gretzky’s points mark. Becoming the only other to hit 2000 is a reasonable goal and expectation to set, not 2858.

To be fair, he did preface it by saying "hypothetical" lol

 

[TheTotalPackage]

Assuming that McDavid continues at a 150 point pace through his age 35 season is.....optimistic, to put it politely.

Also, the fact that McDavid is still 800 points behind Gretzky in this pie in the sky example for McDavid just shows how impossible it is for him to catch Gretzky.

To provide further context:

Any player to get close to Gretzky's point record would need 19 150-point seasons.

 

[Juxta Position]

yet 90% of people would still take Crosby over McDavid

and 87% of percentages posted on messages boards are pulled from someone's ass.

 

[Toby91ca]

McDavid vs Sid Crosby isn’t even up for discussion. McDavid has long since proven he’s the superior player by a wide margin.

Hypothetical question: if McDavid breaks Gretzky’s point record and Ovechkin’s goal scoring record but DOES NOT win a championship, where does he rank?

I've lost track trying to follow your logic.

I've seen some biased opinions before and it's okay, everyone is biased to some extent depending on the subject, but your bias against Crosby is next level, it's actually something else.

Look, I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that McDavid should be ahead of Crosby on the all-time list when he's done his career. He's that good that you can say that only 9 years into his career. That said, I wouldn't put him there yet. That doesn't mean I think Crosby is/was better, I just think McDavid needs to keep it up for a longer period of time. I don't feel super strong about this, because he has racked up lots of awards that could be enough to already be there....but I'm holding off a few more years. I don't see McDavid as a superior player by a "wide margin" though.

To answer your hypothetical question.....if McDavid breaks Gretzky's point record and Gretzky's goal scoring record (What Ovechkin goal scoring record are you referencing by the way?).....I can only assume you mean if Ovechkin surpasses Gretzky and McDavid breaks that record...then yeah, I'd rank McDavid as #1 all-time....no question about it. I absolutely think championships do matter, but if McDavid accomplishes that, the lack of championships won't be enough for me to keep him out of #1.

 

[Toby91ca]

It would be incredibly difficult, but most people felt the same way about his goal scoring record - - I would never say it’s “impossible” for McDavid to do.

Gretzky had a huge drop off in the second half of his career - - which was inevitable, given how spectacular his first half was.

After turning 30, he only scored 30+ goals twice and never reached 40. He also only reached 100+ points twice.

No question McDavid would have to play into his 40’s as he would need an extra five or six seasons beyond what Gretzky had.

120 points per season for the next ten years and it’ll be on.

Some people may have said the same thing about the goal scoring record but (1) it still isn't broken yet and (2) not many would have said that. The points record is so much further out of reach from the goal scoring record that you can't really compare the two.

So, to your point, if McDavid scores 120pts per year for the next 10 years....I'm not sure how on it would really be....he'd still be close to 700pts short and in his late 30s. I may have said impossible before, not sure, but I'd shy away from saying impossible, but anything can happen really, but I'd feel really safe making big $$$ bets against it happening.

 

[Juxta Position]

EDM fans have to understand he also may never become the 5th best player of all time. for everyone to get on the same page and agree he is like the top 4. he will need to win atleast one cup not even sure if 1 is enough either.

if everyone cant agree hes top 5 then hes not top 5. I dont think ive seen anyone or many argue top 4 is Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux and Howe. not always in that order but nontheless unlike McDavid everyone agree's they are top 4.

McDavid should find a home in the top 10 but to take that extra step he needs a cup and likely a conn smythe


okay but what about Cups or Conn Smythes?

What???

Okay settle down man, Mario only won 2, but I guess that's the benchmark because anybody can luck into one cup right?

I don't think I've ever seen someone so obtuse when faced with all kinds of hard data right in front of them. When McDavid wins a cup, and he will, where you moving those goalposts to next? I'm assuming it will be something stupid like "well, he won the cup at home, let's see him do it on the road in another teams barn"