Getty Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Look out, NHL scorers; here comes Connor McDavid.
The race for the 2024 Art Ross Trophy – awarded annually to the NHL player with the most points at the end of the regular season – has been tight all season, with the lead regularly changing hands between Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The two have shared time as leaders in the scoring race for 129 consecutive days, but McDavid’s brief reign (approximately 30 minutes) as the frontrunner during games on March 30 has added another layer to the battle – and don’t expect him to go away quietly.
MacKinnon currently leads the way with 127 points, with Kucherov just a point behind at 126. McDavid is in third place at 125, and while his season-long average projects to a total of 142 points, the Oilers captain is averaging 2.25 points per game over the past seven weeks (54 points in 24 games). If he continues to score at this pace, he could easily finish the season closer to 150 points – and ahead of MacKinnon and Kucherov.
McDavid Chases History, Closes in on League Points Leaders
McDavid briefly took over the top spot on the NHL’s scoring list when he had three points (2 goals, 1 assist) in a 6-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on March 30. He is riding a seven-game point streak (four goals, 15 assists) and leads the NHL with 58 points (nine goals, 49 assists) in 27 games since Jan. 29 – that’s 15 points more than MacKinnon and 17 more than Kucherov during that span.
A familiar face is back on top of the Art Ross Trophy race… but for how long?
Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov can still change the ranking during Saturday’s action.
“To see him on top right now is pretty awesome,” McDavid’s teammate, Mattias Ekholm, said to the media following Edmonton’s win over Anaheim. “You guys have seen his games in the last three months. It’s been unbelievable how he’s been carrying us. He’s the best player in the world. There is no shock to my mind whatsoever that he’s there.”
McDavid has won the Art Ross Trophy each of the past three seasons, and five of the past seven dating back to 2017. A sixth win would tie him with Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux for the second-most in NHL history; Wayne Gretzky won the trophy a record 10 times, including seven in a row from 1980-81 through 1986-87 with the Oilers.
“Never count Connor out or never think that he can’t do something,” Oilers head coach Knoblauch said when addressing the media following the win over Anaheim. “He made it very difficult on himself to get to where he is on the scoring [list] right now.”
McDavid Looks to Overtake MacKinnon, Kucherov in Final Stretch of Regular Season
MacKinnon, in pursuit of his first career Art Ross Trophy currently has a two-point lead over McDavid in the race. The Avalanche forward had two goals and two assists in a 7-4 win over the Nashville Predators on March 30, one game after seeing his home point streak from the start of the season end at 35 games in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Rangers. MacKinnon had 77 points (29 goals, 48 assists) during his home streak, the second-longest in NHL history behind Gretzky’s 40 games for the Los Angeles Kings in 1988-89.
GettyNathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche & Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Kucherov, who sits just one point back of MacKinnon, had two assists in a 4-1 victory against the New York Islanders on March 30 and has points in 15 of his past 16 games – including five games with three points or more. He has 45 points more than any other player on the Lightning; forward Brayden Point is second with 81.
With just a handful of games remaining on the schedule, this season’s NHL scoring race will come down to the wire – and, to make it even more interesting, the Oilers’ last game of the season is April 18 in Denver against MacKinnon and the Avalanche.