The Edmonton Oilers are on pace for another amazing season led by their captain Connor McDavid.
Through the first five games of the season, Connor McDavid has been the best player for the Edmonton Oilers as usual. The Oilers captain has six goals and seven assists through the first five games of the season.
The 13 points leads the league and is definitely setting the charge for a player who was expected to put up crazy numbers in 2021-22. McDavid has been a difference maker every night. 13 points in five games guarentees multipoint nights every night, and that has been the case.
Another crazy thing about McDavid is how much he elevates the play of everyone else around him. When tracking different players on the teams numbers compared to playing with McDavid vs away from him, pretty much the entire team has been better with the limited amount of time they have had with him at five on five.
Cody Ceci is one player who has been great on the ice with McDavid and has seen his Corsi numbers fall off without him, but that is the norm amongst most players on this roster. McDavid makes everyone else around him better. It is why Zach Hyman already has five goals on the season, including three on a power play with McDavid out there.
I cannot imagine how many points McDavid could put up this season. He has risen the bar yet again with the first few games of the season and it is hard to imagine he is going to fall off at any point.
Look no further than the Oilers power play as example, the teams power play has a percentage of 47 percent through the first five games of the season, the best in the league. The team has capitalized on eight of their 17 power play opportunities, and that this going to be a difference maker all year long. McDavid has seven power play points so far, so that means there has only been one goal on the man advantage that has not directly gone through him.
The Oilers captain is going to have another amazing season, he very well could put up north of 150 points, but at the end of the day what matters is what comes at the end of the regular season. The Oilers need to put things together in a best of seven series. While all this success and points is great and going to make for a fun regular season, the months afterwards pushing for a Stanley Cup is where the real legacy will be born.