Heading into the Edmonton Oilers game against the Tampa Bay Lighting on Thursday, January 19, Connor McDavid Was on pace to score 150 points this season. He has 84 points in 46 games so far, which comes in at 149.2. However, the Oilers star spent parts of the season on pace to top the 150-point mark.
McDavid, who won Art Ross Trophy As a four-time NHL scoring champion in his career, he has a great chance to reach the milestone as long as he stays healthy in the second half of the 2022-23 campaign. If he reaches the mark, he will become only the sixth NHL player to break the 150-point plateau and the first since Pittsburgh Penguins superstar and all-time great Mario Lemieux did it in 1995-96.
Phil Esposito
In the 1970–71 season, Phil Esposito The Boston Bruins became the first player in NHL history to score 150 points. He also became the first to break the 60-goal mark and subsequently, ended the 70-goal barrier with 76. He combined for 152 points with 76 assists in 78 games.
Esposito, or “Espo” as they called him, had two more seasons in which he hit the 60-goal mark but never saw 150 points again. The closest he came was in 1973–74, with 145 points, but he is considered one of the best forwards to ever play the game.
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky came into the league early in the 1979-80 season, immediately turning heads with a 137-point rookie campaign. However, he did not win the Art Ross Trophy with Marcel Dion; Dionne had more goals and got the award. The following season, the Great One left nothing to chance and steamrolled through the league with 164 points in 80 games.
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Gretzky, who holds more NHL records than anyone can count, scored 150 or more points in seven seasons before falling one point short in 1987-88 after playing just 64 games due to injury. He came back strong the following season and finished with 168 points. He had a short season (89-90) with “only” 142 points and bounced back in 1990-91 with 163 points. It was the Great One’s last season of 150 or more points.
Mario Lemieux
Lemieux became the third player in NHL history to break the 150-point barrier in 1987-88. Just under 200 points 199 with. Ironically, the Great One fell short during Gretzky’s 150-point run. Lemieux had both an injury- and illness-plagued career, or he undoubtedly would have totaled more than four 150-point seasons and possibly broken the 200-point barrier.
“Super Mario” only played 915 career games but scored 1,723 points. He averaged 1.88 points per game, placing him second all-time behind the Great One in that category.
Steve Yzerman and Bernie Nichols
Yzerman and Nicholls each had career 150-point seasons; Yzerman had 155 and Nichols 150 for the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings, respectively. They hit the mark with Gretzky and Lemieux in the 1988-89 season. Yzerman was able to play on a team without much help, but Nichols, on the other hand, had Gretzky on his team. However, the two usually only play together on the power play. Nichols recorded 101 out of his 150 points Even in power, which is still impressive.
Will McDavid do it?
As mentioned above, McDavid is a shade off pace for a 150-point season, but he’s spent time hovering above that mark and could snap at any moment. If so, he’ll put himself in a category with the game’s all-time legends Gretzky, Lemieux and Esposito.
Not to mention Yzerman, one of the Red Wings’ all-time greats and Nichols’ former 70-goal scorer. In my mind, if the Oilers captain stays healthy, he will. But there is still a long way to go.
*Unless otherwise linked, statistics courtesy of StatMuse and Quant Hockey
Scott Blair is a writer and journalist from Los Angeles, CA, Detroit, MI. Individually diverse experiences have shaped Scott’s life in the two places he calls home. He is now traveling the world, learning and growing as a person and a writer. He was a professional hockey player and then turned to the arts, becoming an actor for about 15 years. Tired of the Hollywood machine and what it represents, his passions turn to poetry, prose, politics and journalism. Scott is available for interviews and welcomes questions and topic ideas.
