Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Edmonton Oilers 2023-24 player review: Connor McDavid

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Zach Laing | Last updated Sep 7, 2024 4:00 PM ET

Welcome to my annual player review series, where I dive into the Edmonton Oilers season player-by-player. We’ll look back at the season that was, what kind of impact each player had, and what we could see from them next season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.

Via The Nation Network

Here’s the deal about Connor McDavid: he’s really, really good at hockey.

So good that when it’s all said and done, he might go down as the best player of all-time. He already ranks 92nd in terms of adjusted points, according to Hockey-Reference, and among the top 100, he’s seventh in adjusted points per game, with 1.64. He’s right behind Wayne Gretzky (1.66) and Mario Lemieux (1.68), with the top four of Howie Morenz (2.23), Frank Boucher (2.07), Aurele Joliat (1.81) and Nels Stewart (1.80) having played last in 1944.

McDavid’s 2023-24 campaign continued to build on his previous career sucess, scoring 32 goals, 100 assists and 132 points in 76 games. He got off to a sluggish start through his first 11 games, scoring a point per game which was still half of what his previous three years saw him produce. He attributed it to overtraining last off-season, a regiment he changed around this summer.

He more than made up for it, becoming the fourth player in NHL history to score 100 assists in a season. When the playoffs rolled around, McDavid peaked in the playoffs, scoring eight goals, 34 assists and 42 points. His assist total became the highest in a single playoff ever, surpassing Gretzky’s record of 31, and becoming the third player to score 40 points in a single playoff.

McDavid continued to be a huge driver of play, with excellent underlying numbers. According to Hockey Viz, he drove offence at a 26 percent rate above league average, defence at a six percent rate above league average while contributing on both the power play and penalty kill, both at six percent rates above league average. His contributions continue to break the Hockey Viz charts, with this past season seeing him contribute at five time the rate of an average first-line player.

There’s nobody in the game like Connor McDavid and he will continue to push the boundaries of what players can do.

CONNOR MCDAVID’S CAREER SO FAR

Regular Season	Playoffs
Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2012-13	Erie Otters	OHL	63	25	41	66	36	-24	—	—	—	—	—
2013-14	Erie Otters	OHL	56	28	71	99	20	47	14	4	15	19	2
2014-15	Erie Otters	OHL	47	44	76	120	48	60	20	21	28	49	12
2015-16	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	45	16	32	48	18	-1	—	—	—	—	—
2016-17	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	82	30	70	100	26	27	13	5	4	9	2
2017-18	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	82	41	67	108	26	20	—	—	—	—	—
2018-19	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	78	41	75	116	20	3	—	—	—	—	—
2019-20	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	64	34	63	97	28	-6	4	5	4	9	2
2020-21	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	56	33	72	105	20	21	4	1	3	4	0
2021-22	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	80	44	79	123	45	28	16	10	23	33	10
2022-23	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	82	64	89	153	36	22	12	8	12	20	0
2023-24	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	76	32	100	132	30	35	25	8	34	42	10
	NHL Totals		645	335	647	982	249		74	37	80	117	24