What's wrong with Connor McDavid this season? Lowest PPG and GPG output in ~7-8 years for him

[EdmFlyersfan]

After just getting married I think he's discovering there's more to life than just hockey. I also think he's a bit tired of playing for a team that has obvious problems that never seem to get fixed.. year after year.

McDavid is busy helping build his wife's business, hockey is second now.

Is this the part where we say he's sAviNg HiMsELf fOr tHe pLaYoFfS

Or the second bullet point is that "he's more defensive now"

 

[eojsmada]

Didn't look like his legs were in any distress during 4 nations....

Aside from the first 5-10 minutes of each game, he definitely did not have the same "quickness" for the rest of it.

 

[LokiDog]

A lot of the all time greats - especially after a crushing loss in the finals, learn to practice better load management and make sure to keep something in the tank for the playoffs. Connor clearly, at this point, cares way more about winning. If it helped his team win he’d be happy to put up 50 points a year, is my guess. Down years also happen. 115 points in a down year is laughably elite. Let’s see if he shows an extra gear in the playoffs, and even if he doesn’t, let’s not start putting money on anything less than 125 again next year. I could see making this thread it Connor was pacing for 90 points, but right now, he’s a heater away from still finishing with 120+ and we have no idea how his post season will look.

 

[NVious]

Imagine you're McDavid, you've been busting your tail for a decade+ for an incredibly incompetent organization.

You take them to the finals with one of the greatest post season performances in NHL history.

Ok time for offseason and hopefully upgrade our needs....

Lose Holloway/Broberg

No biggie....

Add Jeff Skinner, no goalie, no D

Ok...

Season starts, maybe gonna add a D? D

Adds John Frigging Klingberg......................................

WE NEED DEFENSIVE HELP GUISE

"No worries Cons, we got you"

ADDS FRIGGING TRAVIS DERMOTT

I'm just glad McDavid didn't jump off the Edmonton Mall slide.

 

[MessierThanThou]

This is a team that will be remembered for squandering an epic cup window with poor goaltending, all because "he's a nice kid."

 

[Iggys Dome]

He won’t win the art ross but he’ll still finish with 115 points.

He’ll also turn it up in the playoffs, he’s a big game player. I’ve learned not to bet against McDavid.

 

[PamBallam]

Reminds me of Crosby around the back to back cups era. Late twenties and still super elite, but not going balls to the wall every single regular season game to keep yourself fresh for the playoffs. Not turning this into a Sid vs Connor thing, just an apt observation

 

[LTIR]

Thanks for this thread... he seems to crank it up right after thread like these are started.

 

[TheSuperElite]

it needs to be noted that MacKinnon is farming empty nets, he is far from #1 this season

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Very possible that at 28 we've already seen his peak. Especially for someone whose skating set him apart.

He's still in contention for the best player in the world, but not head-and-shoulders above the likes of Draisaitl or MacKinnon, and can be outperformed by them in any given year.

I'm curious to see how his game ages in the next few years, and long term I somewhat doubt he's going to be effective at 35+ to the same degree that Crosby and Ovechkin have been, in their own ways.

I remember Mike Gartner still blazing by defenders when he was 35 years old, but keep crossing those fingers that somehow McDavid will fall off a cliff.

 

[Pablo El Perro]

I'd say he's saving it for the playoffs, but it'd be hard to beat his playoff numbers from last year. Maybe he's maturing and letting his teammates step up a bit.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

This is a team that will be remembered for squandering an epic cup window with poor goaltending, all because "he's a nice kid."

Lebrun was on TSN (during Mavs @ Lakers) saying Edmonton's front office isn't looking to upgrade in net because they don't think there is a clear upgrade available, which is ridiculous.

 

[Heldig]

Clearly McDavid is resting for the playoffs.

 

[SladeWilson23]

He's clearly not "DIGGING THE f*** IN" anymore.

 

[LokiDog]

I'd say he's saving it for the playoffs, but it'd be hard to beat his playoff numbers from last year. Maybe he's maturing and letting his teammates step up a bit.

He doesn’t have to exceed his numbers to have more in the tank. Not everything is measured in points. You can impact the final score in ways that aren’t all tracked on the score sheet. Having more in the reserves for a 4 round playoff run can manifest itself in ways other than having even more points than last year.

 

[Pablo El Perro]

He doesn’t have to exceed his numbers to have more in the tank. Not everything is measured in points. You can impact the final score in ways that aren’t all tracked on the score sheet. Having more in the reserves for a 4 round playoff run can manifest itself in ways other than having even more points than last year.

I get that, hence qualifying the point with his teammates stepping up. It wouldn't be the first time a player had more team success when he plays a more team game.

 

[shello]

I assume he’s just taking it semi easy until the playoffs

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The Oilers are more in a hangover than the Panthers are.

 

[wetcoast]

Who knows, but he's ass this year

If they make the playoffs.

I always wonder if people even look things up before posting but I guess it's too hard for some people.

The Oilers have 8 points on Calgary with a little over 20 games left.

What are they expecting Wolf to win 19 more games this year?

 

[BB79]

Dude needs to go down to McDavid's, get a Big Mc and just chill...hold the ketchup

 

[BelovedIsles]

Players have off years for many reasons. I wouldn’t assume he’s on the decline of his career.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Connor McDavid seems to be struggling a lot this season to stand out from a scoring perspective. He's certainly not playing "bad", as he is still one of the league leaders, but he no longer seems to stand out as the league's best offensive player, but rather more as part of the pack.

League leaders as of this posting:

MacKinnon 90 points
Draisaitl 88 points
Kucherov 86 points
McDavid 74 points

That's a big gap from the top 3.

I expected he might come roaring back after the 4 nations and go on a tear to end the year, but so far in 4 games he has 3 assists, and is a -7, in 4 straight losses for the Oilers.

McDavid's point per game right now is 1.4. Or, a pace of ~115 points in 82 games. That's his lowest output by far in 7 years

Season	PPG	Pace over 82 games
2018-19	1.49	122
2019-20	1.52	124
2020-21	1.88	154
2021-22	1.54	126
2022-23	1.87	153
2023-24	1.74	142
2024-25	1.40	115

If you look at goals scored, it doesn't get much better. He is also at his lowest goals per game over the last 8 years this time (tied with last year)

Season	GPG	Pace over 82 games
2017-18	0.50	41
2018-19	0.53	43
2019-20	0.53	44
2020-21	0.59	48
2021-22	0.55	45
2022-23	0.78	64
2023-24	0.42	35
2024-25	0.42	35

This isn't meant to be a "let's hate on McDavid" thread, I'm usually one of the ones singing his praises, as I did in playoffs last year. But I'm genuinely surprised to see him scoring so little this year. So what's going on? Is he injured? Is he just having an off-year? Is he already starting to slow down/decline slightly, where his days at the very top of league are no longer the expectation?

Do you see him bouncing back in-year, and still making a race for the Ross, or close? Do you see him coming back and lapping the field again next season?

Curious to hear people's opinions.

Some theories:

1) minor injury that needs fixing, but can obviously be played through. Probably not that, though.
2) Conserving for playoffs. Again, I don’t really think so.
3) Tired after lots of hockey every year- possibly partially this.
4) Questioning what works- this is my favorite explanation- dude hasn’t won it all yet. He struggled like hell in that final US-CAN game, seemed to overthink and fumblef*** everything- he knows his regular season game isn’t gonna win the SC by itself, so I think he’s just maybe trying some new strategies, positionings, etc. Just add to the bag of tricks while you can, stay healthy, and try to analyze what might break through in the playoffs this year. That’s the positive spin, the negative would be he’s questioning if his natural game is enough for team success (it is), Mac is breathing down his neck, and is he just speed? What else can he do? That’s the other side, that he might actually be kinda questioning what the point is of 150 regular season points if Mac (or anyone else) can beat him when it matters.

 

[frightenedinmatenum2]

His brother has been suiting up for him every once in a while this season so that he can rest for playoffs. They look exactly the same, but the Oilers don't want to disappoint the kids who come to see him play. It's why every once in a while you will watch him play and think "where is that trademark Connor McDavid speed, he looks like a beer leaguer out there!"

Apparently, he does media appearances that Connor doesn't feel like doing. That video a few years ago where his girlfriend shows off their soulless house with the unplugged iMac, look closely, it's his brother.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Does his team provide any support aside from Draisaitl? There is not one player any team would choose over McDavid to add to or build a team around.

 

[Stelio Kontos]

Kucherov's playoff numbers the last two seasons are rather pedestrian, interesting how that happens when Tampa isn't quite as loaded of a team.

All top athletes will play at higher levels for longer in their careers. It's simple training and nutrition, we're seeing in virtually every sport, tennis, hockey, basketball, Brady in football, etc. etc.

These guys are just on a different level from even players 12-15 years ago.

No that happens when you play good teams in the 1st round..Oilers consistently have had the easiest playoff opponents in the league and and it’s not close