Oilers’ McDavid becomes fourth player to reach 100 assist milestone

Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid recorded his 100th assist of the season on Monday against the San Jose Sharks, becoming the fourth player in NHL history to reach the century milestone.

McDavid, no stranger to having his name said among the greatest players to ever play in the NHL, joins Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr on that exclusive list.

“It means a lot. Those three are obviously three of the greatest players to ever play,” McDavid said after a 9-2 win. “To share a little something with them, it means a lot to me. I’m thankful for my teammates, the staff here in Edmonton, the coaches and everybody.

“I feel very grateful for our staff here in Edmonton and all of the players here. It has been a different type of year, but everybody stuck with it and we’ve put ourselves in a good spot heading into when it matters most.”

Gretzky, who achieved the feat most recently during the 1990-91 season, recorded 100 assists 11 times in his career.

Lemieux had 114 assists during the 1988-89 season and Orr was the first to reach 100 in a season when he collected 102 assists during the 1970-71 campaign.

McDavid’s previous career high in assists was 89, which he set last year as part of a 153-point season.

“It was not something that you ever set out saying, ‘I want to do this.’ It just kind of happened naturally,” he added. “I had that weird stretch where I didn’t score any goals but I had a bunch of assists. That was kind of when I was made aware of it. It is not something you set out to do or whatever, it was just a product of playing with some really good players, playing on a good team and putting in a lot of hard work.”

The 27-year-old captured his third-consecutive Art Ross Trophy in 2022-23, and has five since breaking into the league in 2015-16. He sits 10 points back of Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov with just two games left in the Art Ross race this season.