Connor McDavid’s opening 10 games have turned into a full-blown Edmonton scoring surge, with the Oilers captain reaching 31 points after posting his third five-point night of the season against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. The 29-year-old is the fourth player in NHL history to collect 30 points within his first 10 games of a season, and he has put himself alongside Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux in several early-season record columns.
McDavid is carrying an eight-goal, 23-assist start, a rate that projects to 260 points over 84 games. That would eclipse Gretzky’s single-season standard of 215 points, set with Edmonton in 1985-86, by 45. The projection is a long way from becoming a final number, but the pace has been supported by McDavid’s speed, puck possession and finishing chances rather than a short run of power-play bounces.
His three five-point performances through 10 games place him second in NHL history in that category at the start of a season. Lemieux recorded three such games inside eight contests in both 1988-89 and 1992-93. McDavid already owns nine career 100-point seasons, trailing only Gretzky’s 15 and Lemieux’s 10, while his 1.56 regular-season points per game ranks third among players with at least 100 NHL appearances. Gretzky sits first at 1.92, followed by Lemieux at 1.88.
Gretzky remains the only NHL player to produce four 200-point seasons, all in an Oilers sweater. McDavid’s personal high remains 153 points from 2022-23, but Edmonton’s current attack has given him the kind of runway to chase another historic total.
Speed is creating the chances
The Oilers captain has recorded a League-leading 23 skating bursts at 22 mph or faster and 95 at 20 mph or above. Both totals lead the NHL during the player-tracking era. He also tops the League with 136 bursts in the 18-to-20 mph range.
His top measured speed is 24.01 mph, tied for third among NHL skaters. St. Louis Blues defenseman Philip Broberg leads at 24.26 mph, with Edmonton winger Kasperi Kapanen next at 24.05.
That skating separation has been most visible on the rush. Seven of McDavid’s eight goals came within five seconds of Edmonton crossing the offensive blue line; his remaining goal was into an empty net. No other player has scored more than four rush goals this season.
McDavid has also done damage from different scoring areas. His three mid-range goals place him in the 99th percentile among forwards and are tied for seventh League-wide. He has added three high-danger goals, good for the 96th percentile at his position.
Edmonton has generated high-danger production throughout its lineup, scoring 24 such goals in 10 games. That is tied with Carolina, which has played 12 games, and sits behind only Toronto’s 25 high-danger goals in 12 outings.
The Oilers are alone in having four players at seven or more goals: Leon Draisaitl has 10, behind only Kirill Kaprizov’s 11; McDavid has eight, tied for fourth in the NHL; Evan Bouchard and Vasily Podkolzin have seven apiece. Carolina is the only other club with more than one seven-goal scorer, led by Sebastian Aho and Logan Stankoven.
McDavid has spent much of the season beside Draisaitl and Podkolzin under first-year Edmonton coach Mike Babcock. Draisaitl is averaging 2.10 points per game, second in the NHL, while McDavid and Draisaitl continue to anchor the first power-play unit with Bouchard. The defenseman is producing 1.90 points per game, third in the League, and is tracking toward his first 100-point campaign as an early Norris Trophy contender.
An assist streak with rare company
McDavid’s 23 assists are the most ever by an NHL player through his first 10 games of a season, moving past Lemieux’s 21 from 1988-89. Eighteen of those assists are primary helpers, twice as many as the next skater, Rangers defenseman Adam Fox with nine.
He has been involved in 31 of Edmonton’s 46 goals, or 67.4 percent of the club’s offense, the highest share in the League. His assist streak has reached 10 games to begin the year. Only three other players have opened a season with an assist in at least 10 straight games: Aho, Ken Linseman and Gretzky each reached 12.
Edmonton has kept the puck in the attacking end when McDavid is on the ice. His offensive-zone time rate is 47.8 percent across all situations, placing him in the 95th percentile among forwards. At even strength, his 46.5 percent rate ranks in the 98th percentile and eighth among NHL forwards.
The result is production in every phase: McDavid leads the NHL with 11 power-play points, all assists, and also tops the League with 19 points at even strength.
Help has arrived around him, too. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins returned Thursday and scored once while adding an assist in his season debut, while Zach Hyman is also back from injury. Their return gives Edmonton a deeper top six as McDavid tries to hold a pace that could threaten 200 points.
The Oilers are pairing that firepower with Babcock’s new approach and a reshaped crease. Devon Levi arrived in the offseason, and veteran Frederik Andersen is still awaiting his Edmonton debut while recovering from a knee injury. Andersen won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes last season, while Babcock previously won the Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008. For McDavid, a six-time Art Ross winner, three-time Hart Trophy recipient, 2023 Rocket Richard Trophy winner and 2024 Conn Smythe winner, the missing prize remains the Stanley Cup.
