McDavid is off to the best start of his Edmonton Oilers career
Connor McDavid might be on the verge of another historical season.
The Edmonton Oilers captain has helped his team to a sparkling 5-0-1 start through the first six games of the season, which is the best start to a season for the team since the 1984-85 squad did the same. That is despite several injuries decimating the top six, with Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Matt Savoie all out.
While Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, and Vasily Podkolzin have all been putting in their fair share, nobody has come close to McDavid’s totals to start the new season. The 29-year-old superstar is off to the best start of his career, putting together an incredible 17 points through the first six games.
McDavid leads the NHL in points (17), assists (13), primary assists (10), on-zone possession time (10:08), slot pass completions (33), successful open ice dekes (33), and slot driving plays (69).
Things Connor McDavid is 1st in… pic.twitter.com/A6J0cQifOp
— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) October 14, 2026
It seems impossible that McDavid could put up the best season of his career, especially after he found a way to reach 153 points during the 2022-23 campaign. That felt like an otherworldly point total for a player in this era of the NHL, but the Oilers captain is on pace to surpass that total this season.
His 17 points through six games come out to about 2.8 points per game. If we extrapolate that over the course of an 84-game schedule, that would put his current pace at a ridiculous 238 points, which would break Wayne Gretzky’s single-season record of 215 set during the 1985-86 campaign.
That would be the absolute best-case scenario, and would firmly cement McDavid in the category of one of the best players in NHL history if he wasn’t already. It’s far more likely that the Oilers captain will experience a few dips and valleys throughout the season that will knock him off that record-setting pace. The question is, how far could he fall?
If he falls down to a two-point-per-game pace, that would put him at around the 173 mark by the end of the season.
McDavid has averaged around a 1.5-point-per-game pace over the course of his 800-game career. If he regressed to that for the rest of the season, he’d fall in the 134 range. However, he’s had individual seasons where he averaged 1.8 (2022-23) and 1.9 (2020-21), which could put his totals around the 157-t0-165 range, both of which would be new career highs.
There is no telling how long he will be able to continue at this current pace. It seems unrealistic that a player could score at this rate for an entire season, but if anybody could do it, it would be McDavid.