BIOGRAPHY
Connor McDavid was born January 13, 1997, in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. He is a forward in the NHL.
The Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL), who were coming off of a 24–44–14 season, selected McDavid first overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. On July 3, 2015, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the team; the total deal was worth $11.3 million, including up to $3.775 million annually in bonus incentives. He made his NHL debut on October 9, 2015, nearly scoring twice but stopped by Brian Elliott both times in a 3–1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. His first goal came five days later in his third NHL game, when McDavid scored on Kari Lehtonen in the second period of a 4–2 loss to the Dallas Stars. On November 3, McDavid suffered a fractured left clavicle after a collision into the boards with Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto of the Philadelphia Flyers. At the time of the injury, he had five goals and 12 points through 13 games. He missed a total of 37 games with the injury, by which point the Oilers had fallen well out of playoff contention, but returned on February 3 for a goal and two assists in Edmonton's 5–1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. On February 11, while facing his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, McDavid was involved in all five of the Oilers' points: in addition to scoring twice, he also had assists on every part of Jordan Eberle's hat trick. That single-game performance helped boost McDavid to tenth overall in NHL rookie scoring despite playing in only 19 games of the 2015–16 season. Despite appearing in only 45 games due to injury, McDavid finished his rookie season with 16 goals and 32 assists, fourth in rookie scoring. He was the second runner-up in Calder Memorial Trophy voting, behind Shayne Gostisbehere and winner Artemi Panarin, and all three players were named to the 2015–16 NHL All-Rookie Team.
On October 5, 2016, the Oilers named McDavid their captain for the 2016–17 season. At 19 years and 266 days old, McDavid became the youngest captain in NHL history, unseating Gabriel Landeskog, who was 20 days older when he became captain of the Colorado Avalanche in 2012. After a 10-game goal drought early in the season, McDavid recorded his first NHL hat-trick on November 19 in a 5–2 victory over the Dallas Stars. The following month, he scored his first shootout goal against Ben Bishop to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3–2. With two assists against the New Jersey Devils on January 13, McDavid became the first player to reach 50 points during the 2016–17 season. Five days later, he recorded his 100th NHL point with an assist on Zack Kassian's goal against the Florida Panthers. He reached the milestone in only 92 games, following Wayne Gretzky (61 games) and Blair MacDonald (85) as the third-fastest Oiler to reach 100 career points. With a league-leading 16 goals and 56 points halfway through the season, McDavid earned his first NHL All-Star Game selection in 2017, playing on the same line as Anaheim Ducks rival Ryan Kesler for the Pacific Division team. He also won Fastest Skater at the NHL All-Star Skills Competition with a time of 13.02 seconds. In the final regular-season game of the year, McDavid recorded two assists to finish the season with 100 points. In doing so, he became the youngest player to win the Art Ross Trophy for the NHL scoring leader since a 19-year-old Sidney Crosby won in the 2006–07 season. Playing in all 82 games of the season, McDavid recorded 30 goals and 70 assists, with at least one point in 59 games and a 14-game point streak to close out the regular season.
The Oilers ended a 10-year playoff drought on March 29, 2017, when they defeated the Los Angeles Kings to clinch a berth in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. McDavid scored his first NHL postseason goal short-handed in the Oilers' 2–0 shutout win over the San Jose Sharks in the opening-round series. Edmonton defeated the Sharks in six games of the best-of-seven series and went on to face the Ducks in the second round of playoffs. That series went to seven games, with the Oilers falling 2–1 in the winner-takes-all match. McDavid added five goals and nine points in 13 playoff games before elimination. Once the Stanley Cup playoffs concluded, McDavid was honoured at the 2017 NHL Awards with the Hart Memorial Trophy for the most valuable player in the NHL, the Ted Lindsay Award for the most outstanding player as decided by the National Hockey League Players' Association, and a selection to the NHL First All-Star Team at centre.
On July 5, 2017, McDavid signed an eight-year, $100 million contract extension with the Oilers, which went into effect at the beginning of the 2018–19 season. His second hat-trick, meanwhile, came in the first game of the 2017–18 season, when McDavid scored every Edmonton goal in their 3–0 shutout of the Calgary Flames. With a team-leading 14 goals and 45 points by the halfway point of the season, McDavid won the fan vote to captain the Pacific Division at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game, his second such selection. He successfully defended his Fastest Skater title at the Skills Competition, completing the course in 13.454 seconds to narrowly defeat Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning. On February 5, shortly after the All-Star Game, McDavid had his first NHL four-goal game with a 6–2 win over the Lightning, breaking Edmonton's 0-for-17 power play cold streak in the process. McDavid's third hat-trick of the season came on February 18, when he broke both the Oilers' six-game losing streak and the Colorado Avalanche's 10-game at-home winning streak. While the Oilers finished the season well outside of playoff contention, finishing 17 points behind the Avalanche in the wild-card race, McDavid set career highs with 41 goals and 108 points, and he led the NHL with 84 even-strength points. Although his team's poor performance left McDavid out of serious contention for the Hart Trophy, he became the first player to receive the Art Ross Trophy in back-to-back years since Jaromír Jágr in 2000 and 2001. McDavid additionally took home the Ted Lindsay Award and was named to the NHL First All-Star Team.
With a point in all nine of the Oilers' first goals of the 2018–19 season, McDavid broke Adam Oates's record, set in 1986–87 when Oates was involved in the Detroit Red Wings' first seven goals of the season. With an overtime goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 28, McDavid became the first Oiler to record at least 17 points through the first 10 games of an NHL season since Mark Messier in 1989–90. On December 13, with two assists in his 240th NHL game, McDavid became the ninth player to reach 300 points before his 22nd birthday and tied Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins as the 21st century NHL player to reach the milestone in the fewest games. While serving as the Pacific Division captain at his third consecutive NHL All-Star Game, McDavid set an NHL record with his third Fastest Skater victory, defeating Jack Eichel and Mathew Barzal with a speed of 13.378 seconds. On February 22, McDavid received a two-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety for what was deemed an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders defenceman Nick Leddy. He finished the season with a career-tying 41 goals, as well as a career-high 75 assists and 116 points, and he came in third behind Sidney Crosby and Nikita Kucherov in Hart Trophy voting. McDavid also received his third NHL First All-Star Team selection, finishing ahead of Crosby in voting for centre.
On April 6, 2019, the final game of the Oilers' regular season, McDavid crashed into the Calgary Flames' net at a velocity of over 40 km/h (25 mph), slamming his left knee into the post. He was diagnosed with a complete tear of the posterior cruciate ligament and popliteus muscle, tears to both the medial and lateral meniscus, and a tibial plateau fracture. With the Oilers already eliminated from possible playoff contention, McDavid elected not to undergo surgery but to participate in an extensive rehabilitation program that would allow him to return in time for the beginning of the 2019–20 season. The season also saw significant developments for the Oilers as a team, with general manager Peter Chiarelli sacked midway through after years of criticism for his inability to assemble a competitive team around McDavid. Subsequently, Ken Holland was hired as the team's new general manager.
McDavid started the 2019–20 season as the NHL First Star of the Week with 12 points through the first five games of the year, all of which the Oilers came back from behind to win. With the first goal of his hat-trick against the Anaheim Ducks on November 10, McDavid reached 400 NHL points in 306 games, joining Sidney Crosby as the only other active NHL player to reach the milestone in that many games. It was also 64 days before his 23rd birthday, making McDavid the eighth player to record 400 points before turning 23. Five days later, McDavid recorded another hat-trick as part of a career-high six-point game against the Colorado Avalanche. Although he reached 50 points on December 1 in a 3–2 win against the Vancouver Canucks, McDavid's scoring pace began to slow after his pair of hat tricks: he recorded 48 points in the first 25 games of the season but only 10 in the next nine, a stretch which also included four pointless outings. McDavid made his fourth All-Star Game appearance in 2020 as captain of the Pacific Division. He was kept from a fourth consecutive Fastest Skater win by Mathew Barzal, who finished the course in 13.175 seconds, ahead of McDavid's 13.215-second lap.
With their February 9 outing against the Nashville Predators, during which Draisaitl scored twice and McDavid had an assist, the pair became the first teammates to reach 30 goals and 80 points apiece in 55 games since Mario Lemieux and Jaromír Jágr with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1996–97 season. McDavid injured his knee in a collision with Dante Fabbro during the second period of that game, and although the knee itself did not suffer any serious damage, MRI scans revealed a quadriceps injury. He missed six games before returning on February 23 for a three-point outing in the Oilers' 4–2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. By the time that the NHL indefinitely suspended the season on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McDavid had 34 goals and 97 points in 64 games. When the NHL returned to play that July for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, McDavid was one of 31 skaters that the Oilers took into their quarantine bubble. He added an additional five goals and nine points in four postseason games before the Chicago Blackhawks eliminated the Oilers in the qualifying round. That included a postseason hat-trick in Game 2 to help the Oilers to a 6–3 win.
In the second game of the 2020–21 season, McDavid scored the first hat-trick of any player that year as the Oilers won 5–2 against the Vancouver Canucks. With eight goals and 14 assists in the first 11 games of the season, McDavid joined Wayne Gretzky as the only Oilers in history to reach 20 points in 11 games during back-to-back seasons, a feat for which he was named the NHL North Division Star of the Month for January. His 500th career point came on an assist against the Winnipeg Jets on February 17. The point came in McDavid's 369th NHL game, tying Sidney Crosby as the eighth-fastest player to reach the milestone. Four days later, he had a natural hat-trick and a five-point game in a 7–1 rout of the Calgary Flames. He won the North Division Star of the Month again for March after recording 23 points in 14 games, including an 11-game point streak between March 6 and 29. On May 9, 2021, in only the 53rd game of the pandemic-shortened season, McDavid reached his 100th point of the year in a four-point outing against the Canucks. He was the first player to reach the milestone in so few games since Mario Lemieux during the 1995–96 season. He finished the regular season with 33 goals and 72 assists for a league-leading 105 points in 56 games, 21 more than runner-up and teammate Leon Draisaitl, and took home his third career Art Ross Trophy. At the end of the regular season, he was named to his fourth NHL First All-Star Team, won his third Ted Lindsay Award, and joined Wayne Gretzky as the only players in the 97-year history of the award to win the Hart Memorial Trophy by unanimous selection.
The Oilers were unexpectedly swept by the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, with McDavid recording only one goal and three assists in the four-game series. The officiating standards during the playoffs subsequently became a public point of contention, with McDavid joining many fans and commentators in saying that referees allowed the Jets' players to foul him with impunity. It was noted that McDavid did not draw a single penalty during the series against the Jets, and had only drawn one in the preceding year's playoff series against the Blackhawks. McDavid asked that referees "call the rule book, that's what it's there for.
McDavid began the 2021–22 season on a 17-game point streak, which came to an end on November 23, 2021, in a 4–1 loss to the Dallas Stars. It was the eighth-longest point streak to begin a season in NHL history and third-longest for the Oilers, behind Wayne Gretzky's 51- and 30-game streaks in 1983–84 and 1982–83, respectively. While the Oilers started the season with a franchise-best 9–1 record, McDavid and Leon Draisaitl became the first pair of Edmonton teammates to individually reach 20 points within the first 10 games of the season since Gretzky and Jari Kurri in 1984–85. After an excellent start to the season, both the Oilers and McDavid began suffering a marked decline in results, culminating in a 2–11–2 stretch of games in December and January. By early February they had dropped out of a playoff spot. Amidst extensive media discussion of the Oilers' lack of depth scoring and questionable goaltending, general manager Holland fired coach Dave Tippett and replaced him with Jay Woodcroft, previously the coach of the Oilers AHL affiliate Bakersfield Condors.
McDavid was once again selected as the captain of the Pacific Division team at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game, where he was upset by Jordan Kyrou of the St. Louis Blues in the Fastest Skater competition. The Oilers recovered their form under Woodcroft, finishing the season in second place in the Pacific Division to qualify for the playoffs after posting the third-best points percentage in the league after the coaching change with a 26–9–3 record. McDavid finished the season with 44 goals and 123 points in 80 games to secure his fourth career Art Ross Trophy. This point total was eight points more than runner-up Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames and Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers, who both finished with 115 points. McDavid was again named a finalist for both the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award.
The Oilers advanced in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs to meet the Los Angeles Kings, seen as favorites to advance beyond the first round for only the second time in McDavid's career. The Kings proved a greater challenge than many had expected, and after five games led the series 3–2. With the Oilers facing elimination in Game 6 in Los Angeles, McDavid led the team to victory, posting a goal and two assists in a game-leading 24:02 minutes of ice time to force Game 7. Two days later, McDavid had a primary assist on Cody Ceci's game-winning goal, before burying a backhand shot in the final minutes to secure a 2–0 Oilers win and clinch the series. McDavid's 4 goals and 10 assists led the league in the first round of the playoffs, and he became only the second player in history to record six multi-point games in a single playoff series. The Oilers drew the Calgary Flames in the second round, the first playoff "Battle of Alberta" in 31 years. With two goals and four assists in the first two games of the second round, McDavid hit 20 career playoff points in the fewest games of any player in 30 years. McDavid scored the series-clinching goal in overtime in Game 5 to send the Oilers to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2006. The Oilers were ultimately defeated by the Colorado Avalanche in four games, bringing his postseason to an end. With 10 goals and 23 assists, he led all players in scoring in the 2022 playoffs. He became the first player since Peter Forsberg in 2002 to be first in scoring without playing in the final round.
During the Oilers' 2022–23 season opener against the Vancouver Canucks, McDavid scored a hat-trick and increased his total career points to 700. This made him the sixth-fastest player to reach the milestone, and the fastest player since the 1980's.
Edmonton Oilers
