After scoring 64 goals and 150 points last season, I don’t think anyone thought that there was a way for Connor McDavid to surprise us, outside of actually reaching Wayne Gretzky-esque totals. It seemed like he’s hit all the big milestones that there is to hit in terms of a singular regular season, so what else could he really impress us with at this point.
Well, McDavid found something, and while he isn’t there yet, he’s so close that it’s hard to not see it happening. With 91 assists on the season, he is nine away from 100 assists in a season, a milestone that’s only been achieved 13 other times by just three other players, and it’s pretty elite company to keep in Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr.
So, does he hit this elusive milestone? Frank Seravalli gave his two cents on the matter on Daily Faceoff Live.
Frank Seravalli: Stone cold mortal lock. So McDavid becomes the fourth ever to hit 100 assists, and it is really impressive.
I love the way that, for a guy that scored 64 goals last year to only be at 26, he’s handled, I don’t know if you’d call it disappointment, but whatever might come with that. And the humility that he’s showing like “no, I’m not trying to score, I’m only going to pass”, he’s handled it really well. And I’m sure there is a lot of frustration there. What if McDavid was even able to get to 50 goals this year, what are we looking at in terms of a point total?
It’s an incredibly impressive year nonetheless. He’s probably not going to win the scoring race, and probably not going to win the Hart Trophy, but anytime you’re putting up triple digits in any singular category, that’s worthy of attention.
You can watch the full episode here…
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