Oilers’ Connor McDavid becomes fourth-fastest NHL player to 1,000 points

In Connor McDavid’s 10 NHL seasons, the Edmonton Oilers’ captain has made a habit out of making history.

That trend continued Thursday night when McDavid scored just minutes into the second period against the Nashville Predators to record his 1,000th career regular-season point in just his 659th career regular-season game, becoming the fourth-fastest player in NHL history to reach the milestone.

McDavid accomplished the feat after Leon Draisaitl fed him with a cross-ice pass on a two-on-one, with the Oilers’ captain burying the one-timer past Predators’ netminder Scott Wedgewood.

Taken No. 1 overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, McDavid has been everything advertised out of junior, and so much more. Through 10 seasons, McDavid has won the Art Ross Trophy five times, the Ted Lindsay Award four times, the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy once and the Hart Trophy three times.

His best statistical season came in 2022-23, scoring 64 goals and 89 assists for 153 points, becoming the first player since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 to break the 150-point mark in a single season. Only three players in history had scored more points in a season than McDavid: Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman.

Last season was another historical one for McDavid, who became just the fourth player in league history tor record 100 assists in a single season, joining Gretzky, Lemieux and Bobby Orr. He also became the fifth-fastest player to hit 900 career points, as well as the sixth player in league history to record seven 100-point seasons.

After the regular season, McDavid dominated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring eight goals and 34 assists for 42 points in 25 games, helping the Oilers reach Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

Through Edmonton’s run, McDavid became the fourth-fastest player to score 100 playoff points, the third player in league history to score 40 points in a single playoff season, the most assists in a single post-season and, despite losing to the Panthers, was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, becoming just the sixth player to win the award despite losing in the Final.

Going into Thursday, the Oilers were 8-7-1 with 17 points, fifth in the Pacific Division and just one point out of the second Western Conference Wild Card spot. Edmonton had won two straight and were 6-3-1 in their last 10 contests.