NHL insider Elliotte Friedman makes insane prediction on Connor McDavid's year

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Liam McCormick
September 23, 2024 (8:01 PM)

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Connor McDavid always has a way of elevating his game after coming short of his goals, and after losing in the Stanley Cup Final, one insider thinks McDavid could score 200 points.

Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas were discussing Shohei Ohtani's incredible season of 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in MLB, and were trying to find a comparison in hockey. Friedman said he thinks the same would be 100 goals and 100 assists, and that only Connor McDavid would be able to do it.

The prospect of 100 goals and 100 assists feels absolutely ludicrous, but if anyone could do it, it would be McDavid. Only Wayne Gretzky has ever had a 200 point season, and he once came close with a 92 goal season in 1981-82. McDavid has reached 100 assists in a season, but has scored a high of only 64 goals in a year.

A more realistic milestone comparison may be 50 goals and 100 assists in one year, which is a point that's only been achieved by the greatest of the greats: Wayne Gretzky 8 times, and Mario Lemieux once. Connor McDavid has scored 50 goals and 100 assists, now he just needs to do it in the same season.

Earlier in training camp, McDavid actually said that overtraining last offseason caused him to have a sluggish start. This year he's changed his approach, and expects to be much better at the beginning of the year. It's hard to even imagine an improvement, but McDavid is consistently driven to get better.

Coming off a season where the Oilers were just short of winning it all, Connor McDavid is sure to be gunning for a career year this season. He will be focused on the Stanley Cup, but with McDavid playing at his absolute best, any scoring milestone isn't out of reach for him.