McDavid Record: Seventh Art Ross Passes Howe, Lemieux

Connor McDavid is one scoring title away from clearing the last two names off the Art Ross list.

He won his sixth in June, leading the league with 138 points on 48 goals and 90 assists and finishing eight clear of Nikita Kucherov. That pulled him even with Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux for the second-most Art Ross wins in NHL history. Number seven would leave nobody but Wayne Gretzky and his 10 ahead of him.

Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff put the chase on his 2026-27 milestone watch on Monday.

The Ted Lindsay Award is the one he can take outright.

His fifth win in June tied Gretzky for the most in the award’s history, dating to the years when the players’ vote was called the Lester B. Pearson. A sixth would break a mark the two of them currently share. McDavid does not turn 30 until January, so there is plenty of runway.

Getting the thing into his hands took an ambush. McDavid thought he was playing nine holes at Magna Golf Club in Aurora, Ontario with his wife, Lauren, before dinner. His parents, his brother and four childhood friends rolled up behind him in golf carts near the ninth, his dad holding the trophy.

McDavid told David Satriano of NHL.com that something had felt off earlier in the round:

“I was texting my buddies midround and they weren’t texting me back. I thought that was a little bit odd. Such a special way to do it with family here, friends, hometown buddies that I don’t get to spend too much time with. Definitely means a lot.”

Here’s how it went down on the ninth:

A points milestone runs alongside both trophies. McDavid needs 80 for 1,300, and he got to 1,200 in 784 games, a pace only Gretzky (504) and Lemieux (593) have beaten. We laid out the rest of this season’s milestone board earlier this month.

Gretzky’s 10 Art Ross Trophies are still a long way off. Howe and Lemieux are not.