Edmonton Oilers

Oilers’ Connor McDavid Hits 100 Points in 53 Games: Best in 25 Years

The Edmonton Oilers had an incredible season and scored 100 points in 53 games. How good is that season in NHL history?

by
Old Prof
May 9, 2021

Connor McDavid scored a goal and three assists to reach 100 points this season in 53 games. That goal helped his Edmonton Oilers post a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night in Edmonton.

It’s been an amazing season for McDavid; in fact, one of the best scoring seasons anyone’s had in a very long time. And, it didn’t take McDavid a full game to do it. By the end of the second period, he’d hit the century mark.

Just How Special Is This Accomplishment?

To think of how special this accomplishment is, the 24-year-old McDavid became only the ninth player in NHL history to score 100 points in 53 games or fewer. Even more astounding, he’s the first person in his lifetime to accomplish that feat. The last players to do so were Mario Lemieux (who did it in 38 games) and his prolific Pittsburgh Penguins’ teammate Jaromir Jagr (who did it in 52 games) both in the same 1995-96 season.

Lemieux and Jagr were great players, but it was a different era in the NHL and scoring was much higher. There’s no doubt that McDavid would have kept up to those two and others in that era as well. McDavid’s one of the best players in NHL history.

How Many More Points Will McDavid Score in 2020-21?

McDavid now leads the league in scoring with 32 goals and 68 assists. The question is “How many more points can he score?” The Oilers have three games left in the regular season. Obviously, it’s impossible for McDavid to repeat three more four-point games to hit an average or two-points-per-game – isn’t it? Over his last five games, McDavid has scored four goals and 12 assists (for sixteen points).

This was McDavid’s fourth 100-point season of his young career, and he became the third active player with at least four 100-point seasons before age of 25. The others were the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby and the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin.

The Great One Wayne Gretzky, who started scoring over the century mark as an 18-year-old, holds the NHL record for the most century seasons with seven under the age of 25.

Watching McDavid’s 100^th Point

In the video below, you can watch and listen the the announcers as McDavid reaches 100 points with an assist on a Leon Draisaitl goal.

Speaking of Wayne Gretzky

What does Gretzky think of McDavid’s incredible season? He was clear that, as far as he’s concerned, McDavid is the best choice for the Hart Trophy.

Gretzky declared: “No question, he’s the MVP of the league. Only guy, in my mind, who deserves consideration is Sidney (Crosby) for what he’s done in Pittsburgh. Nobody anticipated them being in first place.”

Gretzky then doubled down by saying flatly, “But it’s Connor’s trophy.” (from “Gretzky on Oilers’ McDavid: ‘Nobody else is close,’” Jim Matheson, Edmonton Journal, 05/05/21).

Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers retro jersey

In truth, it would be a shock if anyone else won the Hart. McDavid is leading the NHL in scoring by a huge margin. The next closest player is his teammate Leon Draisaitl who has 79 points, and Draisaitl is then 12 points clear of the Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner who both have 67 points. That’s a whopping 33 points more than the third-place NHL scorers.

It’s a Sad and Crazy Season

Kudos to the NHL for actually having a full season in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s an amazing accomplishment. However, at the same time, there’s a deep irony in this crazy season and McDavid’s accomplishment.

His incredible season and the game that culminated in the 100-point mark were accomplished on home ice in front of no paying customers. There were no live fans – no ticket holders in the crowd to help him celebrate the accomplishment. The crowd noise was pumped in, but it was far from the same.

McDavid had the best season any NHL player has had in a very long time; he did it on home ice; and, there was no live crowd to revel in his accomplishment.

That’s how crazy this 2020-21 season is. Congratulations to Connor McDavid for giving NHL fans something very special to cheer about.