The NHL is one of the most exciting leagues in the world today, and we can see that the excitement won’t end. Therefore, we enjoy every single part of the game. This year has given us more to explore, and the moments are lacking. The same as you check out online game ratings, you can consider NHL stats.
With the new season already on, we are looking forward to what it has for us. Some players are at the top of the pile, and we expect them to push for more wins. Some of these players had an incredible 2022. Therefore, we want to explore their season and what we expect in 2023.
1. Connor McDavid
With 1.43 points per game, McDavid is now behind Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Mike Bossey in league history. Fourth highest goalscorer. Since joining the league in 2015-16, McDavid has scored 73 more points than any other NHL player.
As for the latest on that number, Sidney Crosby averaged 1.40 points per game in his first seven seasons in professional hockey. McDavid is the highlight of his reel each night. He’s fast, agile, has great vision, and still has room to improve his scoring ability. This guy is unstoppable and unlike any other striker.
He scored 100 points in five of his seven seasons, but was injured as a rookie and failed to score 100 points in any other season due to the pandemic. But we were able to achieve that milestone. Unbelievable.
2. Victor Hedman
The second defender on our list, Hedman is sometimes overshadowed by Makar’s TV flare-ups, but he’s still one of the consistently dominant players in his position. Hedman, 31, posted his career-high 85 points last year and added another 19 points in his next 23 playoff games.
Especially over the last three seasons, Tampa has made it to the finals of his Stanley Cup his back-to-back, but his heavy workload has never held him back. During that time, Hedman averaged over 25 minutes in both regular and postseason games.
He has won Norris his trophy in his career so far, and he has been inside the top three six times. With all the young talent that has just arrived, can he still get one in his 30s?
3. Auston Matthews
Matthews and Makar can be considered 2A and 2B. Because last year’s MVP picks dot the two apart. Matthews became the 40th player in league history to score his 60th goal, setting a new Leafs record for his Maple season. He also skipped nine games.
Consider Matthews has scored 259 goals since his NHL debut in 2016-17. Meanwhile, Matthews has amassed 196 constant strength points, putting him in second place, Conor, who has 23 more points than McDavid.
Among players with over 200 appearances, his 0.64 goals per game average are sixth all-time in NHL history behind Bossy, Lemieux, Cy Denneny, and Babe Dye. Ovechkin averaged 0.63 goals per game in his first six seasons in the NHL.
4. Roman Josi
Josi has had a great season scoring 96 points. This is the most by a defender since Phil Housley scored 97 points in his one season from 1992 to 1993. In the last 50 years, only six defenders have scored more goals in a single season: Paul his Coffey, Howsley, Brian Leach, Al McInnis, Bobby Orr, and Dennis Potvin. Joshi contributed to 36.6% of Nashville’s goals.
This was the third-highest ever for a defenseman and the best since Bobby Orr’s 39.1% in the 1974-75 season. Josi, with an average age of 25: His 33 ice times per game for Nashville last season are back-end rock. He won Norris his trophy in 2020 and was a finalist in 2022.
He has played the 7th most average minutes on the ice since joining the league in 2011/12, and only Brent Barnes has attempted more shots.
5. Leon Draisaitl
While McDavid gets a lot of attention in Edmonton, great center Dry Sale is playing behind him. Much of the work that Draisaitl eventually completes, especially the power of his play, was developed by McDavid.
Last season, the German scored his 50th goal for the second time in his career, matching his career-high of 110 points. He would be a regular at almost every club in the league.
6. Nathan MacKinnon
One of the biggest top lines in the league, McKinnon is a bull on the ice with the ideal combination of speed and unrivaled heads-down power. The first overall winner in 2013, and it took several seasons to fully develop as an NHL player, but since the 2017-18 season, when he tallied 97 points, McKinnon now stands tall in points and per game.
No, he still doesn’t meet the usual criteria of a season-best of 100 points or his 50 goals. However, some of this could be attributed to missed games due to various factors.
McKinnon is third in the NHL in points per game in his pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, behind Dry Sale and McDavid. They scored 24 points in 20 playoff games last spring and now also own the Stanley Cup.
