“I think it is a conscious thing for him, he is thinking pass a lot of the time and I think it’s because he’s attracting so many guys to him and he knows that somebody is going to be left open,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “A lot of times when he does shoot it, we’re getting the puck back, too, and we’re creating a lot off his attack mode.”
In 2022-23, McDavid won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the League’s top goal-scorer with 64 (89 assists, 153 points) in 82 games. He had 352 shots on goal that season, the most in his career, and had an 18.2 shooting percentage, also his best. McDavid also won his fifth Art Ross Trophy for leading the NHL in points.
The following season, McDavid had 263 shots in 76 games and had a career-high 100 assists (32 goals, 132 points).
“For sure, he’s got the mindset to get the puck to the net,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “The numbers don’t lie; he’s shooting the puck more this year. He scored 64 goals the one year and he shot the puck a lot that year.”
McDavid drives Edmonton’s offense, and his linemates have benefited from playing with him.
Nugent-Hopkins has 50 points (17 goals, 33 assists) in 56 games playing alongside McDavid on the top line for the majority of this season.
Hyman has been on McDavid’s right wing since signing with the Oilers as an unrestricted free agent prior to the 2021-22 season and is averaging over 34 goals per season in Edmonton.
Hyman scored a personal-best 54 goals (23 assists, 77 points) in 80 games in 2023-24 and is on a similar pace this season with 27 goals (17 assists, 44 points) in 46 games. Before signing with Edmonton, his highest goal total was 21 in six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“You trust Connor to make the right read, whether it’s pass or shoot,” Hyman said. “He can get 60-plus goals, he can get 100-plus assists. In hindsight, you don’t question what he does and how he does it. He always makes the right read.”
McDavid scored the winning goal in a 4-3 victory at the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, taking a pass from Draisaitl on the power play and lifting a shot over the shoulder of goalie Mackenzie Blackwood.
It was his second goal since returning from the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, where he set a record at a men’s hockey tournament featuring NHL players with 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in six games for Team Canada, which lost 2-1 in overtime to Team USA in the gold medal game.
