It’s not often that one of Wayne Gretzky’s records is in danger.
But a player has never begun a season quite like the way Connor McDavid has for the Edmonton Oilers.
McDavid has played nine games this season. He has dished out 20 assists.
That’s the most assists through nine games in NHL history:
Oilers Connor McDavid
Sets NHL record with 20 assists through the first 9 games of a season https://t.co/33BWNyIGH4
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) October 21, 2026
McDavid dished out three assists in a 4-3 overtime win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night to reach this mark.
It was his second consecutive three-assist game — the last time out, he had two goals to go with his three assists in a 6-2 win over the Utah Mammoth.
Overall, McDavid has six goals and 20 assists for 26 points through nine games. It’s an astounding start.
Connor McDavid’s Pace
McDavid is on pace to shatter Wayne Gretzky’s single-season assists record.
Gretzky set that mark in 1985-86 when he had 163 assists.
Gretzky actually holds the top-eight places on the single-season assists record board. Second place is well off that 163 — Gretzky had 135 in 1984-85.
McDavid is on pace for 186 assists in the new 84-game schedule. But for those worried about the schedule being the culprit, he’d break Gretzky’s mark with 10-plus games to go if he continued on his current pace.
This also puts McDavid on pace to break Gretzky’s record for points in a single season, which he also set in 1985-86 when he had 215 points in 80 games — adding 52 goals to his 163 assists.
McDavid’s current pace would get him to about 242 points, again breaking Gretzky’s mark before he got to the full 84 games of the new schedule. He’d finish with about 56 goals on his current pacing.
Obviously it’s quite early, but even just the fact that such a thing could be in play is some eye-catching stuff.
2 Obstacles
The first obstacle here is health. If McDavid doesn’t stay healthy, none of these pace stats will matter.
The other obstacle, in a sense, is gravity — not literally, but figuratively. McDavid will likely come back down to earth, at least a little bit. He’s never kept up a pace like this before, so until proven otherwise, it seems like he’ll slow down at least for stretches.
There is the reality this season, though, that many goalies around the league are struggling. There could be more goals on the table for the Oilers to score when McDavid is on the ice.
He’s given himself a head start in all the single-season record paces, so maybe he can actually shock the hockey world and keep this up in pursuit of Gretzky.
Oilers’ Connor McDavid On Pace To Break Wayne Gretzky’s Season Assists Record