Connor McDavid Makes NHL History With Career-Best Point Streak As Hart Trophy Talk Grows

Oilers captain McDavid now first to 50 points in 2026-27 NHL© X(formerly Twitter)/@Sportsnet

Connor McDavid just keeps refusing to slow down. On Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, the Edmonton Oilers captain picked up an assist on Evan Bouchard's second-period goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs, stretching his point streak to 21 straight games — a new career best. That point also made No. 97 the first player in the league to hit 50 points this season, with his streak dating back to the very first game of the 2026-27 campaign. At 29 years old, McDavid is not just the best player in hockey right now. He may be having the best season of his life.

McDavid's 200-Point Pace Is Rewriting the Record Books

McDavid has 11 goals, 39 assists and 50 points on the year, leaving the rest of the league well behind him in the scoring race. The gap is not close. The numbers he is putting up have opened a conversation that felt almost unthinkable in the modern NHL era.

At his current pace, McDavid is on track to become the first player to reach 200 points in a single season since Wayne Gretzky scored 215 during the 1985-86 campaign. He has already snapped one of Gretzky's longest-standing records, becoming the fastest player ever to record 30 assists in a season. There is a reason coaches across the league spend entire video sessions just on him.

McDavid also became just the second player in NHL history to have multiple point streaks of at least 15 games to start a season — the other being Gretzky himself. The 2021-22 Oilers season opened with a 17-game streak from McDavid. That now feels like a warm-up act.

Part of what has fuelled this run is new head coach Mike Babcock's decision to place fellow Hart Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl on McDavid's wing, reshaping the Oilers' top line. The pairing has been a problem for every team Edmonton has faced.

Hart Trophy Race Is Already Leaning One Way

The MVP conversation was settled early for most people watching. On a recent edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, analyst Tyler Yaremchuk was blunt: “If he stays healthy, he's got it on lock…we're a quarter of the way through the season, and even the books are basically like, ‘It's his. Give it to him.'”

McDavid earned over 88% of the first-place votes on ESPN's MVP ballots through the early weeks of the season, though the fact that number is not 100% says something about how competitive the conversation remains. Nathan MacKinnon has been excellent in Colorado, and through 15 games MacKinnon had nine goals and 25 points with just three scoreless outings. He will not simply disappear.

But McDavid's streak puts this in a different league. The 21-game mark ties him for the 24th-longest point streak in NHL history alongside Dave Taylor, Adam Oates, and Bobby Hull — names that belong in any serious hockey conversation. Former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton, also speaking on Daily Faceoff LIVE, put it plainly: “I don't think anyone forecasted him taking a step back by any means, but to make this jump right now at his age and his career, and the contract situation and the coaching and everything that's gone into it, it's been a lot of fun to watch. It just goes to show you that he is the best player on the planet, hands down, without a doubt.”

There is still most of a season left. Gretzky's all-time record of 51 consecutive games with a point remains a world away. But the way McDavid is playing right now, nobody in Edmonton is ruling anything out.