Connor McDavid · Biography

Connor McDavid made his National Hockey League debut on October 8, 2015, with the Edmonton Oilers in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, and scored his first NHL goal five days later against the Dallas Stars. Born on January 13, 1997, in Richmond Hill, Ontario, the Canadian centre had reached Edmonton as the first overall pick of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. In October 2016 he became the team’s captain.

Minor hockey and the Erie Otters

McDavid won four Ontario Minor Hockey Association titles with the York Simcoe Express, coached by his father, before joining the Toronto Marlboros in 2011. In 2012 Hockey Canada granted him exceptional player status, allowing him to enter the Ontario Hockey League draft at 15, and the Erie Otters selected him first overall on April 7, 2012. He was OHL rookie of the year in 2012-13 with 66 points in 63 games, scored 99 points in 56 games in 2013-14 and 120 points, 44 of them goals, in 47 games in 2014-15. He left Erie with 285 points, the Bobby Smith Trophy in 2014 and 2015, and the CHL Player of the Year award in 2015.

Arrival in Edmonton and the captaincy

His rookie season was interrupted on November 3, 2015, when he fractured his left clavicle in a collision with the boards against the Philadelphia Flyers. He missed 37 games, returned on February 3, 2016, and finished with 48 points in 45 games, earning a place on the All-Rookie Team. On October 5, 2016, the Oilers named him captain at 19 years and 266 days, the youngest in league history. That season he scored 100 points and won the Art Ross Trophy, the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award. He repeated as scoring champion in 2017-18 with 108 points and added 116 in 2018-19, a season that ended with a serious knee injury on April 6, 2019.

Scoring titles and awards

In the shortened 2020-21 season McDavid produced 105 points in 56 games and won the Hart Trophy unanimously, along with his third Art Ross and third Ted Lindsay. He scored 123 points in 2021-22 and led all playoff scorers with 33 as Edmonton reached the Western Conference Final, lost to Colorado. In 2022-23 he had 64 goals and 153 points in 82 games and collected the Art Ross, the Rocket Richard, the Hart, with 195 of 196 first-place votes, and the Ted Lindsay. On April 15, 2024, he reached 100 assists in a season, finishing 2023-24 with 132 points. On November 14, 2024, against the Nashville Predators at Rogers Place, he recorded his 1,000th point in his 659th game, the fourth-fastest pace in NHL history.

Two Stanley Cup Finals

Edmonton reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and lost in seven games to the Florida Panthers. McDavid set a single-postseason record with 32 assists, passing Wayne Gretzky, and received the Conn Smythe Trophy, becoming the sixth player to win it on the losing side of the Final. The Oilers returned to the Final in 2025 and lost again to Florida, this time in six games; McDavid shared the playoff scoring lead with Leon Draisaitl at 33 points in 21 games.

With Canada

McDavid won gold at the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championship, where he led the tournament in scoring and was named most valuable player. He added gold at the 2015 World Junior Championship and at the 2016 World Championship, scoring his first goal of that event in the 2-0 final against Finland. At the 2016 World Cup of Hockey he captained Team North America. On February 20, 2025, in Boston, his overtime goal gave Canada a 3-2 win over the United States in the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off. At the 2026 Winter Olympics he set the points record for a single Olympic tournament with NHL players and was named tournament MVP and best forward; Canada took silver after losing the final 2-1 in overtime to the United States on February 22, 2026.

Sixth Art Ross Trophy

In the 2025-26 regular season McDavid scored 138 points, 48 goals and 90 assists in 82 games, eight more than Nikita Kucherov. It was his sixth Art Ross Trophy, after 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023, tying Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux for second place all time behind Gretzky’s ten. In the playoffs the Anaheim Ducks eliminated Edmonton in the first round, winning the series 4-2 on April 30, 2026.