BLOG: McDavid reaching closer to 1,000-point career milestone

EDMONTON, AB – Despite the fact that he’ll become the 99^th member of the NHL’s 1,000-point club, it's safe to say that there’s never been another player in the League to do it quite like Connor McDavid.

Even the irony of becoming No. 99 on that illustrious list after years of being compared to the Great One in Edmonton couldn't detract from what the Oilers captain is currently accomplishing in the modern era and how he continues to push the boundaries of what’s do-able in today’s game.

“I don't think there's been a player like him before,” admitted Leon Draisaitl. “I don't think there's been a player who can create out of nothing like him, and getting to a thousand points at his age, and how few games he's played, it's a little like mind-blowing at times to see him break all these records.”

The Oilers captain is sitting on 995 points (339 goals, 656 assists) in 657 career NHL games heading into Tuesday’s tilt with the Islanders at Rogers Place, needing only five more to become the fourth-fastest player (and fourth-youngest) in NHL history to reach the incredible milestone that only the elite have been able to accomplish.

Only Wayne Gretzky (424), Mario Lemieux (513), and Mike Bossy (656) will have done it faster, while McDavid’s race to 1,000 points would surpass Peter Stastny (682) and other Hall of Fame names that include alumni Jari Kurri (716), Sidney Crosby (757), Jaromir Jagr (763) and Oilers Assistant Coach Paul Coffey (770).

“It's quite remarkable, especially with how goalscoring was in the past,” said Kris Knoblauch, who coached McDavid in junior with the OHL’s Erie Otters. “Obviously, goal scoring was much higher, defensive details were not as tight and goaltending wasn't as sharp. For him to almost reach that milestone now, I'm not sure I can't find the words to really describe what's going on.”

McDavid currently has 13 points (four goals) in 12 games this season after recording a goal and two assists in Saturday's 7-3 win over the Canucks. He recorded 132 points in 76 games last season to solidify the seventh 100-point season, and fourth straight, after finishing with 153 points (62 goals) in all 82 games during the 2022-23 season to capture his fifth Art Ross Trophy and the third Ted Lindsay Awards and Hart Memorial Trophies of his career.

"There's a lot of work that goes into it for him that a lot of people don't see," added Draisaitl. "We're very fortunate to get to see him and watch him every day to see how much he cares about the game of hockey and how he cares about himself. We're very fortunate to be able to learn from him and just watch him do his thing.

"It's just fun to watch. It really is."

Reaching 1,000 points will just be the lastest-and-greatest achievement for No. 97 on the long list of eye-popping accomplishments that includes his 100-assist season last year as one of only five players ever to reach the mark during a single NHL season – becoming the first since Wayne Gretzky in 1990-91.

"I don't think he would want us to sit back and look at it. It's just another day for him," said Darenll Nurse. "Over the course of the last few seasons, it seems like there's been a few things that have popped up and it's pretty eye-opening when you compare some of the stats that he puts up and some of the runs he's put up against some of the great players that play in this League.

"It's a testament to all the work that he's put in and continues to put in to this game. I'm sure he doesn't really want to look at it as a big deal, but it's pretty cool to be a teammate of his."

Most importantly – to both McDavid and the Oilers – the captain helped lead the team to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season, where they fell just short of accomplishing their ultimate goal and hope to return to in 2024-25.

Naturally, McDavid remains fairly hushed on the whole discussion around him hitting 1,000 points, knowing the real accomplishment resides with winning the Stanley Cup.

But his teammates and coaches know how much it means to both him and the hockey world despite McDavid not wanting the spectacle of his milestone chase to detract from Edmonton's daily work towards improving for another run at winning a championship.

"He's not a guy that likes the show about it all. He likes the end product of it and he puts his work into it every single day," said Draisaitl. "I'd be lying if I said he doesn't want to achieve it as soon as possible. That's human nature. But he's not for the show and he's never been for the show.

"That's probably the thing that I respect about him the most. He goes about his things so quietly and in a way where he almost doesn't want the attention to all these things, even though he will get it and he should get it. But just how he does things is very respectable, and we're just very fortunate to be around him."