EDMONTON, AB – With a healthy hint of sarcasm in his voice, Connor McDavid said he may never score again during his pre-game media availability after Monday morning's skate at Rogers Place.
“I've decided I'm just going to see how many assists I can get, so that's the focus,” McDavid joked. “I'm not going to shoot the puck anymore and I’m not going to score any more goals.”
Even if there was a concerted effort from the captain to try and avoid shooting the puck over his last nine games, returning an incredible 21 assists in that time, the number of helpers that he’d produce would still probably prove to be enough of a healthy contribution from the three-time Hart and four-time Ted Lindsay and Art Ross Trophy winner.
Despite that not being the case, the Oilers captain is the League leader in that regard this season, recording 68 assists through 53 games with ‘only’ 21 goals to his name to place him third in goals on the Oilers roster in a tie with Evander Kane and behind Zach Hyman (37) and Leon Draisaitl (28).
Across the entire NHL, McDavid's 89 points this campaign rank third in NHL scoring – trailing only Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon (96) and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (102) – but his 68 assists and four more than the Lightning forward, who has 64 in sixx extra games played this season.