April 17, 2024 by Eric Friesen

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid recorded his league-leading 100th assist of the season in a decisive 9-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place on Monday.

After becoming only the sixth player in NHL history to record 150 points in a single season and the fifth player to ever win hockey’s triple crown in 2022-23, McDavid has now joined an even more exclusive club this season. With the helper on Zach Hyman’s team-leading 54th goal of the season late in the second period, McDavid became just the fourth player to ever record 100 assists in a single season.

In the 107-year history of the league, this feat has only been accomplished by three players: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr. McDavid also became the first player to reach the century mark since Gretzky did it for the 11th and final time in 1990-91.

His 100th assist milestone is amongst the rarest and most impressive achievements in a career filled with them. While he always prefers to talk about the team than himself, McDavid acknowledged how special it is to accomplish something that only the three greatest players in hockey history have done.

“It’s just cool to see some of the name that have done it,” McDavid told Sportsnet’s Gene Principe following the game on Monday. “Obviously, those other guys are the best players to ever play in this game, and it’s just cool to be in the same breath as them, in that regard. It’s pretty special.”

Although McDavid never reveals if he sets personal goals for himself before each season, when he asked he always insists that his expectations for himself are greater than anyone could place upon him. Last season, Leon Draisaitl challenged him to score 60 goals. He scored 64 and won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as goal-scoring leader.

Related: Will McDavid record 100 assists this season?

It’s doubtful any of McDavid’s teammates challenged him to put up 100 assists, but it appeared early on this season that he was more focused on setting up his teammates than putting the puck in the net himself. McDavid’s most common target in 2023-24 was Hyman, who buried 39 of his 100 assists. Considering McDavid picked up the primary assist on Hyman’s 50th goal of the season last month, it seemed fitting that Hyman would also score the goal to help McDavid reach 100 apples.

“[McDavid] is always a threat,” said Hyman during his post-game interview on Oilers TV on Monday. “He creates so much time for himself with his speed that we often get odd-man rushes, where it’s three-on-two or two-on-one opportunities. And then, he’s really deceptive. His ability change an angle on a pass, to make a saucer pass, it’s really hard for the defender to defend a guy who moves that fast, and stickhandle the way he does, as well.”

His finest playmaking performance of the season was on February 13, when he recorded a career-high six assists, including his 600th career NHL assist, in an 8-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings on February 13. He became the fourth-fastest player in NHL history to record 600 assists (616 games), trailing only Gretzky (416 games), Lemieux (514 games) and Orr (608 games). Three names McDavid continues to be mentioned with.

That night, McDavid also took over the league lead in assists and hasn’t looked back. The 27-year-old has 53 assists in 32 games (1.66 A/GP) since the All-Star break, which is more than all but three players in the entire league have points during that span. Even after…

“This is probably the hardest [milestone] he’s accomplished,” said Nugent-Hopkins during his post-game interview on Oilers TV on Monday. “I mean, you can’t really be surprised with the things he does every year, but it’s an amazing accomplishment. I probably didn’t think it was possible for it happen in this day and age, but he keeps surprising you.”