Connor McDavid’s start to the 2026-27 season has the kind of numbers that make you stop and do the math twice.
The Oilers captain has piled up 26 points in his first nine games, which puts him on pace for 242 over the full season. That kind of scoring burst opens the door to a number that sits in rare air: 200 points. If McDavid keeps this rolling, he could become only the second player in NHL history to hit that mark, joining Wayne Gretzky.
Edmonton, meanwhile, has come out firing as a team, too. The Oilers own the NHL’s best winning percentage at .833 as they get ready for their October 22 matchup with the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
McDavid, Evan Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl have all been off to strong starts, with Bouchard and Draisaitl sitting third and sixth in league scoring. For a club led by defensive-minded coach Mike Babcock, that offensive eruption is not exactly what anyone expected.
Before the season, McDavid made it clear the Oilers needed a strong opening stretch. He’s answering that message with his own play. At this point, he looks as explosive as ever, and Edmonton has matched that energy.
The 200-point chase will be difficult, of course. Gretzky’s pace over a full season is a mountain by itself.
But McDavid has already made a habit of doing things that look out of reach. If Alex Ovechkin can break Gretzky’s all-time goal record, why can’t McDavid join him in the 200-point club?
Mario Lemieux came the closest, finishing with 199 points - 85 goals and 114 assists - in just 76 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1988-90 NHL season. Even coming anywhere near that total would be a massive achievement.
There’s also a practical explanation for McDavid’s early surge. He may simply be fresher.
He played the most games of any star over the past three seasons, a stretch that included two Stanley Cup Final series, the Four Nations Face-off and the 2026 Winter Olympics. After the Oilers fell to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, the break may have been exactly what he needed.
It may also have helped an aging group around him. And with no Four Nations Face-off or Olympics looming this season, McDavid isn’t carrying that extra layer of pressure for Canada.
NHL insider Darren Dreger addressed that reset when he joined Dustin Neilsen and Lieutenant Eric on Edmonton Sports Talk on Monday Oct. 19.
Dreger said…”when your body has the time to fully recover and then mentally, you know, you have time to recharge too…And do everything that goes into the world of that from nutrition to mental health training…that’s going to pay dividends.” He also pumped the brakes on a full-blown 200-point prediction while leaving room for something still huge: “It’s a long year. and you you start getting into the heavy lifting, especially as you creep closer to the second half of the season, that’s when, you know, I think we’ll we’ll start to see things level off.”
That’s the balancing act here. A 242-point pace is eye-popping, but the grind of an 84-game season has a way of flattening the wildest numbers. Still, a career-high point total is clearly in play.
And for all the talk about scoring titles and history books, McDavid’s bigger mission remains unchanged. He’d surely appreciate the milestone, but the Stanley Cup is the goal that matters most.
Even so, with 75 games left until April, Edmonton has every reason to enjoy the ride. McDavid has given the Oilers a start that feels special, and it wouldn’t be wise to dismiss the possibility that he keeps pushing this all the way to 200.
In Other News...
Oilers Keep Finding Big Moments And Fans Have Another Reason To Believe
The Oilers keep piling up the kind of nights that make a long season feel a little lighter, and this one came with another dramatic finish. Edmonton outlasted the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime, with the special teams again doing a lot of the heavy lifting as the club went 3-for-5 on the power play and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Connor McDavid was once again at the center of it all with three assists, keeping the offense humming while the Oilers found yet another way to get a result. The team has built a habit of delivering in big moments lately, and this latest win added another layer to the growing sense that Edmonton is finding its stride when the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Are Winning In A Way Fans Arent Used To
The Oilers early standing has been built in a way that feels a little different from the usual script in Edmonton. They are sitting near the top of the NHL table despite having played fewer games than some of the teams around them, and the numbers behind the start point to something more subtle than a one-man surge. A look at the advanced stats shows that few Oilers are near the top of the league in the usual individual categories, which suggests the early success has come more from system execution and efficient finishing than from one gaudy leaderboard presence.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are still driving the conversation, of course, but the bigger story may be how the group has responded to the standards being set under new head coach Mike Babcock. For a fan base that has spent years waiting for the team to look organized and dangerous at the same time, this opening stretch has offered a version of the Oilers that is winning with structure as much as star power, even if the full test of that approach is still to come. [Read more 🡒]
Nugent-Hopkins Return Creates A Big Oilers Top-Six Decision
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is finally set to rejoin the lineup, giving Edmonton its first real top-six shuffle of the season after he missed the opening stretch with an undisclosed injury. Mike Babcock confirmed the veteran forward will make his season debut against the Carolina Hurricanes, and the timing matters for a team that has already had to patch together its forward combinations without one of its most dependable playmakers.
The biggest question now is where Nugent-Hopkins fits once the puck drops. Edmonton is expected to use him in a prominent second-line role, and the ripple effect could be felt throughout the forward group as the staff sorts out the best mix around him. With the Oilers trying to settle into a rhythm early, his return adds needed stability, but it also forces a lineup decision that could reshape the balance of the entire top six. [Read more 🡒]