The accolades just keep coming for Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid during an unforgettable 2022-23 season. With a goal and an assist during Edmonton’s 6-3 home victory over the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night, McDavid reached an NHL-best 129 for the season. In doing so, he surpassed Nikita Kucherov’s 2018-19 total of 128 to set a single-season record for the league’s salary-cap era, which began in 2005-06.
McDavid got point 129 in just his 68th game of the season, however, whereas Kucherov hit 128 in 82 games. McDavid’s total isn’t just the highest of the cap era, either. It’s the most by any player this century and the most since Mario Lemieux had 161 points in the 1995-96 season.
McDavid’s pace puts him on track to finish with 156 points. If he hits that number, it will give him the highest single season total by any player not named Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux in NHL history, topping Steve Yzerman’s 155 in the 1988-89 season. McDavid is also a lock to win his sixth Art Ross Trophy as league scoring champion, equaling Lemieux and Gordie Howe for the second most all-time – and doing so at just 26 years old. Perhaps even more amazing: McDavid now holds a 29-point lead in the 2022-23 scoring race and is on pace to win it by a 35-point margin, which would be the highest since Gretzky won it by 75 points in 1986-87.
McDavid’s running mate Leon Draisaitl also had a big Tuesday, burying two goals to reach 100 points on the season. Draisaitl is now a four-time member of the 100-point club.
Tuesday’s win vaulted the Oilers ahead of the Seattle Kraken for third place in the Pacific Division standings. The Oilers hold a 37-23-8 record with 82 points, one ahead of the Kraken, who have a game in hand.
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