McDavid’s second year may eclipse Crosby’s
As far as sophomore seasons go, Sidney Crosby had one of the best the NHL had ever seen.
Crosby racked up 120 points in 79 games during his second season with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2006-07), the sixth-highest total for a sophomore in history — trailing only Wayne Gretzky (164), Mario Lemieux (141), Peter Stastny (139), Kent Nilsson (131), and Mike Bossy (126).
There’s a case to be made Connor McDavid’s second campaign with the Edmonton Oilers has been as good and maybe even better than Crosby’s, and it comes down to the way he has generated offence.
McDavid is doing almost all his damage at even strength. His 68 even-strength points lead the NHL and account for an outrageous 72 per cent of his production.
Crosby scored less than half of his 120 points at even strength, generating 61 on the power play.
Most of the highest scoring sophomores in the last 20 years were, not coincidentally, fuelled by power-play production:
1. Crosby: 61 power-play points of 120 (51 per cent of total)
2. Evgeni Malkin: 40 of 106 (38 per cent)
3. Eric Staal: 40 of 100 (40 per cent)
4. Steven Stamkos: 41 of 95 (43 per cent)
5. Alex Ovechkin: 37 of 92 (40 per cent)
McDavid, on pace for about 99 points, has generated just 26 per cent of his offence with the man advantage (24 of 94). McDavid is also producing in an era where there are fewer goals and power plays and better goaltending.
So while it might not top Crosby in pure production as the best second-year season in recent memory, it’s pretty close in quality.
UNLIKELY THREATS
Scoring is up a touch in the NHL. Here are a few goal-scoring threats that might surprise you:
Paul Byron, Montreal: Over the first 200 games of his NHL career — split between Buffalo and Calgary — Byron took only 177 shots and scored 28 times. He’s got 22 markers heading into Monday’s play, with a spike in shots and the league’s second-highest shooting percentage (23.4) fuelling the run.
Viktor Arvidsson, Nashville: The Predators speedster and 114th overall pick of the 2014 draft might just crack 30, already with 29 goals in his second full NHL season. Unlike Byron, this doesn’t appear to be some shooting percentage-driven blip; the 23-year-old is shooting 12 per cent on 240 shots — potting five short-handed, another four on the power play and 20 at evenstrength.
Conor Sheary, Pittsburgh: An unlikely post-season hero for the reigning Stanley Cup champions last spring, Sheary (when healthy) has kept rising alongside Crosby this season. The undrafted 24-year-old has scored a careerhigh 22, all but a pair coming at even strength.
Jonathan Marchessault, Florida: Another undrafted product, Marchessault showed potential as a scoring threat in earlier stops — NHL and otherwise — but 29 goals heading into Monday’s game against Montreal is obviously a pleasant surprise.
Richard Panik, Chicago: Panik flashed some skill in earlier stops with Tampa and Toronto, but he’s leaped like even the Blackhawks probably couldn’t have imagined, scoring 22 goals while playing mostly alongside captain Jonathan Toews.
Patrick Eaves, Dallas/Anaheim: Eaves came into the year with a career-high of 20 goals — a mark he reached as a rookie for Ottawa — never eclipsing 14 in the previous 10 seasons. But the 32-yearold has struck gold this season, notching 30 for the Stars and Ducks on a career-best of more than 200 shots.