BLOG: McDavid feels he 'can do more' despite record-setting start to season

EDMONTON, AB – McDavid has been typical McDavid so far this season.

But even by his standards, this has been some kind of start from No. 97.

The Oilers captain has talked over the years about his incredible accolades – the three Hart Memorial Trophies, the five Ted Lindsays, the scoring titles, and more – but always brings the attention back to the team itself and its play, because that’s where he feels the real focus needs to be.

McDavid always wants the best for the Oilers as a whole, and he's said time and time again that if that means sacrificing individual success for collective gain, he’d agree in a heartbeat. Whatever it takes to help them win the last game of the season.

Despite all the success on the stat sheet so far this season, he still feels there are elements of his game that can improve to help raise the team's collective level after starting the season 6-1-1 and feeling they have plenty more growth to come.

That's all that matters to No. 97.

"I think the team's just playing well," he said after Monday's practice. "Any time the team plays well, you're going to have guys have success, and I think you're seeing that kind of throughout. It's not necessarily on the stat sheet for everybody, but everybody's playing really well, doing things detailed, structured, and playing hard.  A lot of really good things."

“I think I care more about how the game looks overall and how it feels out there,” he added. “It's been good at times, and there's been times where I feel I can do more and everyone can do more, so that's more important.”

McDavid punctuated his historic start to the 2026-27 NHL season with a five-point performance in Saturday’s 6-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth, which made him the fastest player in the last 30 years to reach 20 points to begin a season after Mario Lemieux did it in seven games back in 1995-96.

Lemieux had 27 points (10G, 17A) through eight games that season.

McDavid made plenty of history in Salt Lake City, starting in the opening 20 minutes after scoring the seventh first-minute goal of his career, tying him for the franchise record with Mark Messier, before adding another assist on Zach Hyman’s power-play goal over half a frame later.

Another goal in the third period and two more assists extended his point streak to eight games and his league lead in the scoring race to six goals and 17 assists, with the Mammoth becoming the 25^th franchise he’s recorded four or more points against in his career.

So far, he’s on pace to record 242 points, an obscene total that is likely unachievable, but his teammates won't put it past him given what they've seen so far this season.

"It's crazy. He's flying," Hyman said post-game on Saturday of his captain. "It looks like he's hit another gear this year, finishing like crazy, so it's a good sign for our team.

But the biggest number of them all for Head Coach Mike Babcock?

“Well, I like that he’s plus-19, so that would be my focus,” he said.

"I just think he's a really good player, but what is better is that he's a better person, a better man, and he drives his teammates by what he does, not by what he says, because we get confused with leadership. It's not what you say, it's what you do.  It's what you model each and every day, and he does it right.”

McDavid has been a fixture alongside Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin this season, getting some extended run time beside one of his longest-tenured teammates in the German, while the Russian has settled in as the heavy lifter on the forecheck for the line and is enjoying his own career-best start on the unit with the Dynamic Duo.

Having some extended time alongside Draisaitl has been something new for him this season, and being able to tap into the talents of the German & the rest of his regular counterparts like Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm and Vasily Podkolzin is somethign he believes is a major factor to his success.

"I think Leo and I always thought that when we did play together, it was kind of just a one-off or just a situation where we needed to find a goal, and we knew it wasn't necessarily a long-term thing," McDavid said. "So to be able to have a stretch of games playing together, who knows what happens moving forward.  But playing together has been so much fun.

"Obviously Podzy as well, Ekky and Bouch, I've said it all along that being out there with those five guys, everybody knows where each other are. Everybody's reading off each other, playing fast, and everyone can make a play.  It's a pretty fun group to be a part of.