NEW YORK -- The 2022-23 National Hockey League regular season concluded today with Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (64-89-153 in 82 GP) capturing both the Art Ross Trophy as the League's scoring champion and the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's goal-scoring leader.
McDavid wins Art Ross, Rocket Richard trophies
Oilers center tops NHL in points for 5th time, 1st as goal-scoring leader
McDavid registered a career-high 153 points - 25 more than the next-closest player (teammate Leon Draisaitl: 52-76-128 in 80 GP) and the most by any NHL player since 1995-96 (Mario Lemieux: 69-92-161 in 70 GP w/ PIT) - to win his third straight and fifth overall Art Ross Trophy. He became the sixth player in League history to claim the Art Ross Trophy at least five times, joining Wayne Gretzky (10x), Gordie Howe (6x), Lemieux (6x), Phil Esposito (5x) and Jaromir Jagr (5x), and just the second to reach that number in his first eight NHL seasons, after Gretzky (7x). McDavid also became the sixth player in League history to win at least three consecutive Art Ross Trophies and the first to do so since Jagr from 1997-98 through 2000-01 (4x). His 25-point gap was the largest by an Art Ross Trophy winner since 1990-91, when Gretzky (41-122-163 in 78 GP w/ LAK) finished 32 points ahead of Brett Hull (86 45-131 in 78 GP w/ STL).
McDavid began the season by becoming the sixth-fastest player in NHL history to reach the 700-point milestone (488 GP on Oct. 12 vs. VAN: 3-1-4). He then became the fifth-fastest player to hit the 800-point mark, doing so in his 545th career contest (Feb. 21 vs. PHI: 2-1-3). McDavid also became the first player in League history to produce three point streaks of at least 15 games within a single season (Nov. 26 - Dec. 30: 16-21-37 in 17 GP, Jan. 3 - Feb. 11: 10-15-25 in 15 GP and March 11 - April 13: 10-19-29 in 16 GP), finishing the campaign with the first season-ending point streak of at least 16 contests since 2011-12 (Pascal Dupuis: 17 GP w/ PIT). Overall, he found the scoresheet in 75 of his 82 appearances (91.5%) - the highest percentage by a player in a season (minimum: 50 GP) since Gretzky in 1990-91 (93.6%, 73 of 78 GP w/ LAK) - registering 45 multi-point performances, including 23 with two points, 12 with three points, nine with four points and one with five points.
McDavid's 153 points featured 64 goals, three clear of his nearest competition (David Pastrnak: 61 G in 82 GP w/ BOS) and the most by any player since 2007-08 (Alex Ovechkin: 65 G in 82 GP w/ WSH), to lift him to his first career Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. McDavid became the first player in Oilers history to capture the award, which first was presented in 1998-99, and the third Edmonton player to top the League in goals, after Gretzky (5x, most recently in 1986-87) and Jari Kurri (1985-86).
McDavid's goal-scoring prowess included a career-high seven-game goal streak from Nov. 28 - Dec. 9 (9 G), the longest by an Oilers player since 1988-89 (Jimmy Carson: 7 GP), as well as a five-game multi-goal streak from Feb. 21 - March 1 (10 G), the fifth such instance in NHL history and first since 1992-93 (Alexander Mogilny: 5 GP w/ BUF). McDavid reached the 50-goal milestone in his 61st contest (Feb. 27 vs. BOS), the fastest by any player since 1995-96, and the 60-goal mark in his 72nd outing (March 22 vs. ARI), also the fastest by any player since 1995-96. He added his 300th career goal March 30 vs. LAK, making him the 11th-youngest player in League history to hit the milestone.
McDavid became the fifth player in NHL history to outright lead the NHL in goals, assists and points during a single season and the first to achieve the feat since Gretzky in 1986-87 (62-121-183 in 79 GP w/ EDM). Gretzky did so four other times (1984-85, 1983-84, 1982-83 and 1981-82, all w/ EDM), while three other players - Esposito (55-75-130 in 78 GP w/ BOS in 1972-73), Howe (49-46-95 in 70 GP w/ DET in 1952-53) and Howie Morenz (33-18-51 in 43 GP w/ MTL in 1927-28) - each accomplished the feat once.
McDavid also topped the NHL with 50 power-play assists, the most by any player since 1992-93 (Phil Housley: 50 PPA in 80 GP w/ WIN), and 71 power-play points, the fourth-most in League history and most by any player since 1995 96 (Lemieux: 79 PPP in 70 GP w/ PIT). McDavid added to his dominance by ranking among the top five 2022-23 players in power-play goals (2nd; 21), game-winning goals (t-2nd; 11), shots on goal (3rd; 352), shorthanded goals (t-3rd; 4) and shorthanded points (t-3rd; 7).
The 26-year-old McDavid has compiled 303-547-850 in 569 career games, the sixth-most by a player through his first eight NHL seasons behind Gretzky (543-977-1,520 in 632 GP), Lemieux (408 606-1,014 in 517 GP), Mike Bossy (474-454-928 in 609 GP), Peter Stastny (321-580-901 in 603 GP) and Denis Savard (301-550-851 in 618 GP). McDavid's career average of 1.49 points per game ranks fourth in League history (minimum: 100 GP), trailing only Gretzky (1.92), Lemieux (1.88) and Bossy (1.50).
