In the world of hockey, there is a new Great 8 making waves in the National Hockey League. His name? Connor McDavid. TSN’s annual pre-season poll has once again crowned McDavid as the NHL’s number one player for the eighth consecutive season. Unanimously chosen as the top player on all 20 of the ballots cast, McDavid’s dominance in the league is undeniable.
With voters tasked with projecting the Top 50 players for the upcoming 2024-25 season, it was clear that McDavid stood head and shoulders above the rest. This marked a significant achievement for McDavid, solidifying his status as a true superstar in the hockey world.
However, with every rise to the top, there must be a fall. In this case, it was the original Great 8, Alex Ovechkin, who found himself outside the Top 50 for the first time since the poll’s inception in 2010. This turn of events only adds fuel to Ovechkin’s fire as he sets his sights on surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record. With 853 career goals to his name, Ovechkin enters the season just 41 goals shy of Gretzky’s mark of 894.
As for McDavid, any doubts that may have lingered following a goal-scoring slump in the previous season were quickly dispelled. A remarkable 100 assists during the regular season, coupled with a record-setting 34 assists in the playoffs, earned McDavid the prestigious Conn Smythe Trophy. Though he scored 32 goals in the regular season, a far cry from his career-high of 64 goals in the previous season, McDavid’s impact on the game cannot be understated.
Approaching what is arguably the midpoint of his career, as he gears up for his 10th NHL season, McDavid’s numbers continue to speak for themselves. With 982 career regular-season points in 645 games, McDavid is on the cusp of reaching a major milestone: 1,000 career regular-season points. If he can tally 18 points in fewer than 11 games, McDavid will surpass Mike Bossy’s record of 656 games and join the elite club of players who have reached the millennium mark in record time, behind only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
As the new season unfolds, all eyes will be on McDavid as he continues to rewrite the history books and solidify his place among the greatest to ever play the game. The Great 8 may have a new face, but his impact on the sport is nothing short of legendary.
