Connor McDavid

Connor McDavid is the fastest player in the NHL and, by points per game, the third most productive in its history. Only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux scored at a higher rate.

He has captained Edmonton since he was 19, won six Art Ross titles, and is still looking for a Stanley Cup.

Connor McDavid’s Early Life and Junior Career

McDavid grew up in Richmond Hill, just north of Toronto, and was so far ahead of his age group that his parents had him playing two years up before he was ten.

In 2012 Hockey Canada granted him exceptional player status, letting him enter the OHL a year early at 15. He was only the third player ever to get it, after John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad.

Three seasons with the Erie Otters followed, and the last one was absurd: 120 points in 47 games. By then the hype had its own vocabulary and he was being called the best prospect since Crosby, which was itself the best prospect since Lemieux.

Connor McDavid’s NHL Career

Edmonton took him first overall in 2015 and he broke his collarbone in his 13th game, costing him 37 of the 82. He still finished with 48 points in 45 games.

The Oilers named him captain in October 2016 at 19, the youngest in NHL history at the time. He won the Art Ross that season with 100 points.

In 2022-23 he put up 153 points, becoming only the sixth player in league history to reach 150 and the first to do it since Lemieux in 1995-96. We wrote about that one at the time in our piece on the 27-year gap he closed.

The 2024 playoffs were the closest he has come. Edmonton went down 3-0 in the Final to Florida, forced Game 7, and lost it. McDavid had 42 points in 25 games and won the Conn Smythe anyway, one of only a handful of players ever named playoff MVP on the losing side.

He answered with 138 points in 2025-26 and a sixth Art Ross.

Connor McDavid’s International Career

He won World Junior gold with Canada in 2015 and played the 2016 World Cup for Team North America, the under-24 side assembled for that tournament.

At the 2018 World Championship he had 17 points in 10 games. Then the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025, where he scored the overtime winner against the United States off a Mitch Marner pass.

Milan in 2026 did not finish the same way. He had 13 points in six games, but Canada lost the gold medal game to the Americans in overtime.

What Makes Connor McDavid So Good

The skating. Not just straight-line speed, though he has that too, but the ability to carry the puck at full speed and still change direction.

Most players slow down to make a move. McDavid makes moves at a pace that forces defencemen to commit early, and once they have committed he is already past them. His edge work lets him cut across the blue line without losing a step.

The hands keep up with the feet, which is the rarer part. Plenty of fast players lose the puck at top speed. He arrives at the net still in control of it, which is why so many of his goals look like they happened too quickly to defend.

Connor McDavid Records and Milestones

McDavid averages roughly 1.54 points per game for his career, third all-time behind only Gretzky and Lemieux among players with meaningful mileage.

His six Art Ross titles tie him with Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux. Only Gretzky, with ten, has won more.

He has 1,220 career points in 794 games, and reached 1,000 faster than all but a handful of players in league history.

What Connor McDavid Is Chasing

The Cup, obviously. Two Final appearances, no rings, and a Conn Smythe won in defeat that nobody in Edmonton wants to talk about.

On the all-time scoring list he sits on 1,220 points. is the next name ahead of him, away.

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Stats last updated August 13, 2026. Source: NHL official statistics.