A Recap Of McDavid’s Historic Season

Connor McDavid’s 2023 regular season was the best we’ve seen in the past 25 years and one of the best in NHL history. He joined some exclusive company and set multiple personal bests with 64 goals, 89 assists, and 153 points.

— He became the sixth player in NHL history to record 150 points in a season and the first since 1996. Wayne Gretzky reached 150 points a remarkable nine times, Mario Lemieux did it four times, while Steve Yzerman (155), Phil Esposito (152), and Bernie Nicholls (150) are also in the club. Only 17 times in league history has a player reached the 150-point plateau.

— He is the 23rd player to score 60 goals in a season. Gretzky and Mike Bossy (5x), Lemieux and Esposito (4x), Brett Hull (3x), Pavel Bure, Jari Kurri and Yzerman (2x) and Jaromir Jagr, Guy Lafleur, Reggie Leach, Dennis Maruk, Auston Matthews, Lanny MacDonald, Alex Mogilny, Bernie Nicholls, Alex Ovechkin, David Pastrnak, Luc Robitaille, Teemu Selanne, Steve Shutt and Steven Stamkos did it once. He is one of 13 players to score 64+ goals and the first since Ovechkin had 65 in 2008.

— He became the 13th player to tally 89+ assists in a season. Gretzky (13x), Lemieux (4x), Bobby Orr (3x), Bobby Clarke, Adam Oates, Joe Thornton (2x) and Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, Doug Gilmour, Pat Lafontaine, Peter Stastny and Yzerman did it once.

— He joined Lemieux (3x) as the only players in NHL history with 70+ power play points. McDavid had 71. Lemieux had 80, 79 and 79.

— He is the 16th player to score 100 points in six different seasons. He’s also the second youngest to reach the century mark six times.

He has a very realistic chance to surpass Lemieux and finish second on this list. He might even push Gretzky considering elite players remain at the top of their games longer nowadays. Nine more seasons of 100+ points doesn’t seem crazy for McDavid. He and Crosby are the only active players on the list.

— He is the ninth player in league history to win the Hart (most valuable player) trophy three times:

Gretzky won it nine times between 1980-1989. He won eight in a row, before finishing second in 1988.
Gordie Howe won it six times from 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958 1960 and 1963.
Eddie Shore won it four times in 1933, 1935, 1936 and 1938.
Howie Morenz (1928, 1931, 1932), Orr (1971, 1972, 1973), Bobby Clarke (1973, 1975, 1976), Lemieux (1988, 1993, 1996), Alex Ovechkin (2008, 2009, 2013) and McDavid (2017, 2021 and 2023) each won it three times.

— He joined Gretzky (5x) as the only players to win the Ted Lindsay Trophy (most outstanding player) four times. McDavid won it in 2017, 2018, 2021, and this season. Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin, Lemieux, and Lafleur won it three times since the award was handed out in 1971.

— He won his fifth Art Ross trophy (leading scorer). Only Gretzky (10x), Howe, and Lemieux (6x) have more, while Esposito, Jagr, and McDavid have five each. An Oiler player has won it 13 times. Pittsburgh holds the NHL record with 15 seasons with the leading scorer.

— He reached 100 points for the fourth consecutive season.

If the 2019-2020 season didn’t end abruptly due to COVID, McDavid would be at eight consecutive seasons with 100 points. He had 100+points in 2017-2019, then had 97 in 64 games in 2020, before scoring 100+ points the past four seasons.

THIS AND THAT….