Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

McDavid’s latest 100-point season puts him in rare company

New York Rangers v Edmonton Oilers

EDMONTON, AB - MARCH 11: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates a goal against the New York Rangers during the first period at Rogers Place on March 11, 2019 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)

Getty Images

It was the type of night that Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid has probably already become frustratingly accustomed to having early in his NHL career.

He had a productive game with a pair of assists, the sixth consecutive game he has recorded at least two points, while the rest of his team looked like it was unprepared to play in an ugly 6-3 loss to a New Jersey Devils team that had lost seven games in a row and barely resembled an NHL roster given its injury situation and the trades it made over the past month.

It was probably enough to eliminate whatever lingering playoff hopes the team had this season, slim as they may have already been.
[Related: Oilers squander opportunity to gain ground in playoff race]

The lone positive for McDavid, though, is that his two assists allowed him to reach the 100-point mark for the third consecutive season, an accomplishment that is almost unheard of in today’s NHL.

First, he is one of only five active players to have at least three 100-point seasons in his career, joining a list that includes only Sidney Crosby (five), Alex Ovechkin (four), Evgeni Malkin (three), and Joe Thornton (three).

Ovechkin is the only other one out of that group that reached the century mark in three consecutive seasons.

Crosby, who had 100-point seasons in 2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09, and 2009-10) almost certainly would have done it six or seven years in a row had he not missed so many games to injury in 2007-08, 2010-11 and even 2011-12.

That alone is impressive. Then there is the fact he has done it within his first four seasons in the league, something that only seven other players in the history of the league have done. That list: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Peter Stastny, Crosby, Dale Hawerchuk, Ovechkin, and ... Mike Rogers.

Rogers is the obvious name that doesn’t really seem to fit there, and his three 100-point seasons came when he was in his mid-20s after player several years in the WHA as a member of the Hartford Whalers. All of the other players were between the ages of 18 and 23 when they did it. They are all also either already in the Hall of Fame (Gretzky, Lemieux, Hawerchuk, Stastny) or will be there as soon as they retire (Crosby, Ovechkin).

So pretty good company to be included with.

Crosby, Ovechkin, and McDavid are also the only three players that have accomplished the feat outside of the high-scoring free-for-all days that were the 1980s NHL.

McDavid is currently second in the NHL scoring race, 11 points behind Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov.

Between him and Leon Draisaitl the Oilers have two of the league’s top-six scorers (and Draisaitl not only has an outside shot at 50 goals, he may even join McDavid as a 100-point scorer) and are still six points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, likely to miss for the third time in four years with McDavid.

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.