Which players have defined the 2021-22 NHL season to date? Igor Shesterkin likely comes to mind, as he’s on track to win the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender and challenge for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. Auston Matthews’ goal-scoring prowess has earned many a headline, as have the incredible offensive performances of blueliners Cale Makar and Roman Josi.
Meanwhile, Connor McDavid has gone about his business with, arguably, less fanfare than normal. He “only” has 95 points in 64 games this season, which represents mere superhuman production. That places him below the “deity” standard he set last season, in which he video-gamed his way to 105 points in 56 games.
Still, even if we aren’t buzzing about him feverishly like we were a year ago, McDavid remains the most dominant point accumulator in hockey. His 95 points are five more than Edmonton Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl’s 90. McDavid has a seven-point cushion over third-place Jonathan Huberdeau. And McDavid has a history of finishing strongly. In his seven NHL seasons, he averages 1.34 points per game from October through February. In March, April and May? 1.64. He has 16 points and seven multi-point efforts in his past eight games. It’s happening again.
We can thus probably expect McDavid to win the Art Ross Trophy for the fourth time in the past six years. And doing so would put him in not just elite, but legendary, Mount Rushmore-tier company relative to age.
Holding on for the scoring crown would make McDavid just the seventh player in NHL history to win it four times, joining Wayne Gretzky (10), Gordie Howe (six), Mario Lemieux (six), Phil Esposito (five), Jaromir Jagr (five) and Stan Mikita (four). But many of those players did the majority of their damage in their mid-to-late 20s. McDavid is only 25.
He would become just the third player in NHL history to win four scoring titles before his 26th birthday. The other two are Gretzky and Howe. If McDavid carries his momentum into next season and repeats the feat, he’ll enter living-legend territory. Capturing the Art Ross this season and winning it next season would make him just the second player after Gretzky to do it five times by 26.
McDavid is also currently five points away from a fifth career 100-point season. He would be the 19th player to hit the century mark five times, but, again, his age makes the accomplishment much more remarkable. Players with five 100-point efforts before turning 26: Gretzky, Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Dale Hawerchuk and Bryan Trottier. McDavid would become the sixth.
Of course, Sidney Crosby would’ve been the sixth had injuries not cut down his 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, during which he was on pace to lead the league in points. So we can’t hand McDavid accolades he hasn’t won yet.
Still, judging by what he’s done to date and, health permitting, what he’s on track to accomplish this season, he continues to be the most dominant offensive player of his generation, and that might be an understatement. McDavid is tracking to be the most dominant scorer, relative to his peers, in two or three generations, ascending to an all-timer echelon including only pillars like Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr and Howe.
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