McDavid, Oilers set multiple high marks with historic offensive season

The Edmonton Oilers' 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night marked the conclusion of their regular season, a wild successful campaign culminating in a 50-23-9 record.

Led by the torrid play of Connor McDavid, whose generational excellence rose to new heights as the season wore on, Edmonton wraps up the 2022-23 season with their fingerprints all over their franchise and NHL record books, their phenomenal offence largely at the root.

McDavid, as mentioned, is at the head of the pack, showing once and for all that he sits head and shoulders above his peers across the league. While the Art Ross won’t be official until the conclusion of tomorrow’s slate, there’s little doubt it will be the 26-year-old’s name inscribed in short order. With 64 and 153 points, only Steve Yzerman ranks ahead of McDavid in production by a player not named Gretzky or Lemieux.

A big part of what made McDavid and the Oilers' season so lethal was their record-setting power play. Cashing in at a whopping 32.4 per cent, Edmonton stands alone, leapfrogging the 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens for the most productive man advantage in NHL history. 

Guided by McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, each tore the record books apart on special teams, with Edmonton’s German superstar finishing tied for second all-time with 32 power-play goals this season. 

His primary setup man, McDavid, conducted the unit like a world-class orchestra, becoming the first player since Wayne Gretzky in 1990-91 to record at least 51 power play assists, and the second-ever player to record at least 70 points while up a man.

While Edmonton’s power play conversion rate surpasses even the most prolific dynasties of yesteryear, their total output is perhaps equally as impressive. With Draisaitl’s tally against the Sharks Thursday night, Edmonton surpassed their previous franchise record set in 2005-06 and 1987-88 (with both years ending with Stanley Cup Finals appearances) with their 89th power-play goal. 

Above all else, however, the defining feature that differentiates this Oilers team from past iterations is the depth from which their goal-scoring came. Of course, the aforementioned McDavid and Draisaitl led the way, but the third musketeer in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was plenty productive himself. 

Nugent-Hopkins was dynamic for Edmonton this season, shattering his previous career high of 69 points with a remarkable 104-point campaign, including 37 goals and 52 power-play points. The dynamic trio also became the first to score 100 points for the same team since the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Ron Francis.

It all comes together to form the NHL’s most prolific offence this season, with the Oilers scoring a devastating 325 goals, and concluding their campaign with a franchise record-tying nine-game winning streak. 

That explosive scoring total nestles in tied for the 92nd-best scoring season in NHL history, right in line with the then-record-breaking 1996-97 Detroit Red Wings and the Broad Street Bullies of the mid-1970s. Even more impressively, however, Edmonton becomes just the second team since the turn of the millennia to crack the top 100 in team scoring, parked behind the 2021-22 Florida Panthers whose 337 goals tie them for 57th all-time.

Whether or not Edmonton can sustain these prolific scoring feats into the hard-nosed, tight-checking Stanley Cup Playoffs stands alone as an entirely separate question. It’s plausible, but against the very best across the National Hockey League, it seems improbable they’ll be able to click at quite the exceptional rate of their regular season. 

Needless to say, that shouldn’t detract from what the Oilers have accomplished this season. Equipped with the best regular season by any player in the salary cap era, Edmonton is sure to be a significant threat to make a run once the Stanley Cup Playoffs start next Monday.