Last year McDavid was good enough to win the Art Ross in most years though and the difference in pace was minimal. Kucherov and MacKinnon were just that good. When Crosby finished 3rd at 27 and 28 it wasn’t against very good competition other than Kane in ‘16 and Crosby was well behind his pace.
Will Connor McDavid win the 2024-2025 Art Ross Trophy?
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Last year McDavid was good enough to win the Art Ross in most years though and the difference in pace was minimal. Kucherov and MacKinnon were just that good. When Crosby finished 3rd at 27 and 28 it wasn’t against very good competition other than Kane in ‘16 and Crosby was well behind his pace.
No I wasn’t suggesting that at all and was half joking but it’s interesting to think about as it does seem very possible that Kucherov could outplay him yet again, and perhaps even next season as well.
I agree with your point about Crosby as well.
But also expanding on your last point about Crosby he had 33 goals and 74 points in his last 60 games after starting with 11 in 20 in 2015-16 so he was roughly scoring at the pace of Kane for 75% of the season and then followed that up with a 75 game pace that would’ve had him only 3 points behind McDavid but far ahead in goals the very next season, so interestingly enough I believe the following year is the first one you could conclusively say he was no longer the best player and McDavid took over.
Nathaniel Skywalker
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As of july 2017. Crosby was still regarded by majority of the hockey world including HF as the best player in the world. (Naturally after five straight top 3 scoring finishes 3,1,3,3,2 and with just winning his second straight playoff MVP
Luigi Lemieux
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Yea that's the time frame I have as well. Despite his last art ross being in 13-14, he finished 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd the next three seasons, won two conn smythes, a rocket, and world cup mvp in that span up to 16-17. I think McDavid took the mantle in 17-18 as the best player in the world.
I don’t see how mcdavid wins the art Ross. A really slow start for his standards and out a guaranteed 3 weeks, and he has to make up a lot of ground and stay healthy, I don’t like his chances
CanadienShark
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I expect a top 3 finish. Even despite injuries, the guy is a special player and already an all time great. He will continue to do things that no one else can or can be expected to do.
Video Nasty
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Crosby finished behind Benn x2, Tavares, and Kane in those two seasons while healthy.
McDavid finished behind Kucherov and MacKinnon and was 2nd in PPG while injured. He also trimmed a 20+ point deficit in just 28 days and somehow hit 125 points before either player, before ultimately being shut down during the end of the season, because again, he got injured again during the same season.
Completely different circumstances, level of play in relation to health status, and overall competition. Crosby losing to Benn and Tavares was pathetic, and while Kane is a terrific HoF player, getting blown away the following season by him, while finishing behind Benn again remains worthy of criticism.
My comment did not imply that McDavid isn't good enough to play at 90% effort and produce like that, but if you watched him last year you would notice that he wasn't trying to beat defenders wide with speed hardly ever. The playoffs were a better indication of what his game is like at 100% effort. Look at how devasted he was after game 7... It's hard for me to imagine him having the mindset of going all out in the regular season after that.
Nathaniel Skywalker
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My overall point was that a lot of mcdavid fans take the art ross n hart for granted. This year shows just how easily those can slip away. So mcdavid has been very fortunate enough to stack his cabinet. Crosby had no such luck.
sr edler
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Depending on how the injury affects him, he might not be dynamite right out of the gates when coming back. Players are people and it can take a little while to get going again.
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This is absolutely ridiculous. One had 100 assists, the other 85 points. Not comparable seasons. Crosby was disappointing as hell. McDavid was not.
Looks like McDavid will be back tonight - missing only 3 games.
Anyone want to change their votes? lol
He does have a 15 point gap behind MacKinnon already, and 12 behind Kucherov, with same # of games left as both players.
This early in the season - and assuming good health rest of the way - I'm thinking he's still the favorite.
Anyone want to change their votes? lol
He does have a 15 point gap behind MacKinnon already, and 12 behind Kucherov, with same # of games left as both players.
This early in the season - and assuming good health rest of the way - I'm thinking he's still the favorite.
I wouldn’t call him the favourite given the gap imo. If both he, MacKinnon and Kucherov maintain their paces since 22-23 over the remaining games, they would end up:
MacKinnon: 140
Kucherov: 132
McDavid: 132
I think the three of them are too good to call any the favourite right now, but I do think it’s likely he’ll be top 3 again, not the potential top 10 miss some were predicting.
Video Nasty
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Generational healing.
With Kucherov’s and MacKinnon’s performances last season and their strong starts now, they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt for the rest of the year. If MacKinnon “slips” back to his pace from the final 72 games last season—1.819 PPG—and Kucherov ticks back up to his 1.847, we’re looking at MacKinnon reaching 150 points and Kucherov 149, assuming they play all 82 games.
Now, if McDavid’s fully healed and averages 2 PPG over the remaining 69 games, that would put him at 148 points in 79 games—best PPG, but just shy in the overall race. For those doubting he can catch up, remember, after the slow, injured start, he scored 112 points in 57 games last season and made up a 20-point deficit in just 28 days while both stayed steady at 1.60 PPG. So it can be done without them going cold. No question that he was nagged all year by upper and lower body injuries, and he could go nuts.
A top-three finish seems likely. Might even finish with the top PPG even if he falls short as outlined before. If they stay hot, it’ll be a battle all season long again. Still, it’s shaping up to be another memorable scoring race. What a treat it will be to look back on these with full context in 10 or so years.
With Kucherov and MacKinnon off, McDavid needs to start closing that 12-15 point gap in a significant way—ideally, he’ll kick things off with a 4-5 point game. With the current context of missing just 3 games, compared to the original expectation of 10-12 missed games, I’ve changed my vote from finishing top three to collecting his 6th Art Ross.
Ideally. But the reality is that he has 10 points in 11 games and it's MacKinnon who just had a 5-point game.
They had a doctor from the jays on kyper and Bourne, and he specifically talked about Mcdavid’s high ankle sprain. He said it’s one of those injuries where it feels better before it completely heels. Just because mcdavid is back, and in short order I might add, the actual injury itself might not be completely healed and could get reinjured. Not saying it isn’t healed, just saying it’s a possibility
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Nathaniel Skywalker
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He should sit out longer. Always seems to get rushed back. Let Drai be who they say he is and steer the ship while mcdavid rests and gets healthy. Theres no why hes fully recovered
Luigi Lemieux
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The thing is he hasn't looked good this year. Think they rushed him back again. 10 points in 11 games must be one of the worst stretches he's had since his rookie year.
Video Nasty
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We agree on that. I was enthusiastic to see him come back, but he didn’t look right, and realistically I wanted him to sit like 12 games haha.
Keep in mind he played 37 seconds of one of these games.
Also had 10 in 11 and 13 through 14 last year, after getting rushed back. Sounds like a cop out, but the only time the guy is ever below PPG is when he’s not well.
Nothing more than a gut feeling on this, but I gotta think McDavid saw how close they came last year, falling just short of the comeback, probably thinking about that chance he had late in the 3rd period of game 7 that got poked off his stick, asking himself if he saved just a little more in the tank throughout the year that he might have tucked that one home. I would not be surprised at all if he is completely focused on conserving energy until the playoffs.
Or he'll go off and put up 160 this year somehow. What the hell do I know.
