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Connor McDavid, the best hockey player in the world, just broke a 32-year-old NHL record

By Alex Hayes

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October 17, 2018 2:42 pm

On Tuesday, Connor McDavid set a new NHL record. The 21-year-old captain either scored or assisted on the Oiler’s first nine goals of the season.

The previous record was held by former Capitals’ coach and player Adam Oates, who scored or assisted on his team’s first 7 goals of the 1986-87 season with the Detroit Red Wings.

Connor McDavid is the best hockey player on the planet, and the Oilers would be nowhere without him.

McDavid recorded 2 goals and 2 assists on his team’s first 4 goals in a 5-4 overtime win against the Winnipeg Jets. His streak came to an end when Darnell Nurse scored the game-winner in OT.

It took the rest of the team nearly 150 minutes to score without McDavid on the ice.

McDavid posted back-to-back 100 point seasons the past two years. The Oilers missed the playoffs and didn’t hit 80 points last season.

No team in the NHL relies more on one player than the Oilers with McDavid.

Since McDavid entered the league in 2015-16, the Oilers have controlled 52.4 percent of shots attempts when McDavid is on the ice, which is 3.85 percent more than when he’s off.

McDavid possesses a breathtaking skating ability, superhuman vision, and an instinctual scoring threat that make him a cheat code of a hockey player.

For his first goal against the Jets, McDavid received a pass from Leon Draisaitl in the neutral zone, accelerated past three Jets’ players, and placed a backhand upstairs on Connor Hellebuyck in the blink of an eye.

McDavid reaches full speed in two to three strides and makes NHL defenders look like they don’t belong in the league.

Against Boston, McDavid turns a simple breakout into a clear-cut breakaway, separating himself from the pack with ease and slipping the puck five-hole on Jaroslav Halak.

The Oilers’ captain has a gear that few NHL players can reach, and no one flips the switch better than McDavid.

If McDavid continues his torrid run, he will win the NHL scoring title for the third year in a row, a feat only accomplished by five other players in league history (Jagr, Gretzky, LaFleur, Esposito, and Howe). McDavid is on track to be one of the best players in NHL history, and barring any freak injury, he will achieve that status with ease.

The Oilers need to surround McDavid with adequate talent if they don’t want to waste his prime years. McDavid is a once-in-a-generation player, and he deserves to play for a competitive team so fans can watch more Connor McDavid.

Then again, maybe he is doomed to mediocrity with the Oilers forever.

Headline photo: NHL