Seriously, everyone needs to chill. Connor McDavid is having another ridiculous start to the season, and nine games into an 84-game schedule, people are talking about whether the Edmonton Oilers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers#google_vignette] captain could become the first player since Wayne Gretzky to reach 200 points. McDavid had 26 points through his first nine games, including a five-point performance against the Utah Mammoth, and became the fastest player in NHL history to record 20 assists in a season. At that rate, I can understand why people are getting excited. But 200 points? Seriously? If McDavid reaches that number, it would be the most impressive accomplishment in NHL history, and I'd argue it would be the most unbelievable offensive season the league has ever seen. Yes, Gretzky did it four times, including his 215-point season in 1985-86, and Mario Lemieux came awfully close with 199 in 1988-89. However, the NHL those players played in was a considerably different league from the one McDavid plays in today. Goaltenders are better, their equipment is better, and the techniques they use have developed enormously over the last 40 years. Players are bigger, faster and stronger, with access to training, nutrition, video analysis and coaching that simply didn't exist to the same extent during Gretzky's career. Defensive knowledge has improved, teams spend countless hours studying who they're playing next, and just about every player in the league has been preparing to compete at this level since childhood. Nugent-Hopkins Suggests New Role Change Could Benefit His Overall Offense [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/f2c43393-e12b-4c55-b932-8d2986ab79ae.jpeg] Nugent-Hopkins Suggests New Role Change Could Benefit His Overall Offense By stepping away from the aggressive new penalty kill, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins aims to preserve energy for high-octane offensive shifts in other areas. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/nugent-hopkins-suggests-new-role-change-could-benefit-his-overall-offense] McDavid would have to produce at an almost unreasonable rate against athletes who have spent their entire lives learning how to prevent somebody like him from doing exactly that. At 26 points through nine games, McDavid would need another 174 points over Edmonton's remaining 75 games to reach 200. That's an average of approximately 2.32 points per game for the rest of the season, assuming he plays every single one. He's currently averaging 2.89 points per game, which is absurd, although maintaining anything close to that pace for another six months is even more absurd. We've seen him put up five points in a single game, and everyone knows he'll do it again this year, at least a few times. However, the Oilers have also been shut out, and they'll get shut out again, or maybe they won't, but McDavid still won't score—it's the way games go sometimes. Can Connor McDavid Reach 200 Points This Season? [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/94ba9f8a-d0a5-42f2-acca-f1cafecadbf6.jpeg] Can Connor McDavid Reach 200 Points This Season? Averaging nearly three points per game, Edmonton's captain is chasing Wayne Gretzky’s legendary scoring heights. How high can he go? [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/can-connor-mcdavid-reach-200-points-this-season] Even if McDavid scores five points one night, a pointless game the next means he's averaged 2.5 points across two games. That's barely above the pace he'd need for the remainder of the season, despite having just recorded one of the best individual performances a player can have. A five-point game is something most NHL players would be thrilled to accomplish once in their careers, and McDavid would need those kinds of games to help compensate for the perfectly normal nights when he doesn't find the net, or help somebody else to it. The Oilers have improved their defensive structure too, limiting opportunities against and becoming comfortable winning games without needing six or seven goals. That's been a positive development for this team, although it doesn't necessarily help somebody chasing an offensive record that hasn't been reached in nearly four decades. McDavid also has a coach who's also trying to spread out the minutes a little more. Babcock wants contributions from all four lines, and as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matt Savoie return from injury, you've got to know the time on ice is going to get more spread out. Oilers Secure Overtime Winner, Sow Excitement Post Game [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/9dd0110d-75ab-46ba-af55-542e6df88820.jpeg] Oilers Secure Overtime Winner, Sow Excitement Post Game Seven wins into the season, it's gotten pretty easy to see how light this team is, emotionally that is, compared to recent seasons. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/oilers-secure-overtime-winner-sow-excitement-post-game] That should be good news for Edmonton's chances of winning anything meaningful this year, which, last I checked, is still the point of all this. McDavid has recorded a 153-point season, something only a handful of players in NHL history have accomplished. He doesn't need to reach 200 to prove he's one of the greatest players the league has ever seen, and expecting him to produce another 174 points over 73 games seems like an awful lot to ask of one person. Especially when that person is also trying to lead a team back to a Stanley Cup Final. I understand the excitement, and watching McDavid put up 26 points in nine games has been pretty entertaining. There aren't many players capable of making 200 points seem like a reasonable thing to do, and the fact that we're even discussing it says plenty about how good he is. However, there's a reason nobody has reached that number since Gretzky, and it's worth considering just how much the game has changed since then. McDavid is having another generational tear, and we'll be talking about some pretty remarkable numbers when April arrives, but 200 points in today's NHL would be an accomplishment almost beyond belief, even for Connor McDavid. I'd absolutely love to be proven wrong, though. See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source [https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=thehockeynews.com]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
