The Oilers Need More Than Connor McDavid’s Big Numbers

Every so often, Connor McDavid does something that makes you stop and look at the numbers twice. He's off to another remarkable start, and at some point, you have to wonder whether we've become so used to his brilliance that we don't appreciate just how unusual it is.

McDavid put up five points (two goals and three assists) in the Edmonton Oilers' 6-2 win over the Utah Mammoth on Saturday. It was his second five-point game of the season and his third game with at least four points. After eight games, he has 23 points, including six goals and 17 assists.

That's an extraordinary start by anybody's standards. He's reached 20 points faster than any player in the past three decades, putting him in the same conversation as Mario Lemieux, who got there in seven games during the 1995-96 season.

McDavid Is Making the Extraordinary Look Routine.

The thing about McDavid is that he makes this sort of production look almost normal. He sees plays other players don't see, finds passing lanes that seem to close before the puck gets through, and can change a game in a couple of shifts. The Oilers are off to a 6-1-1 start, and McDavid's production is a big reason why. At 29, he's already among the game's greats, with more than 1,200 career points and a collection of individual awards that most players can only dream about.

There's no reason to think he can't keep piling up points. Whether he can maintain anything close to this pace over a full season is another question. Even for McDavid, 23 points in eight games is a very high bar to keep clearing.

Here's where I think things get interesting. McDavid has won scoring titles, MVP honours, and just about every major individual award a player could want. What he hasn't done is win a Stanley Cup.

The Oilers Have Come Close, but the Cup Remains Elusive.

Edmonton has come painfully close, losing consecutive Stanley Cup Finals to the Florida Panthers. Those defeats remind fans that even a player as gifted as McDavid can't win it all on his own. His hot start gives the Oilers a terrific head start, but the season is long. The team will need reliable goaltending, a defence that can hold up under pressure, and contributions from players beyond its biggest stars.

McDavid's numbers are fun to follow, and they deserve celebration. But the real measure of this season won't be whether he reaches another scoring milestone or wins another Art Ross Trophy. It will be whether Edmonton is still playing when the Stanley Cup is on the line. That's the prize McDavid is chasing, and it's the one that would make all these remarkable numbers mean even more.

The question now is whether this hot start can carry through the entire season—and whether it will finally help Edmonton finish the job in the playoffs.