Friday, January 13th marks Connor McDavid‘s 20th birthday, officially ending his tenure as an NHL teenager.
In his first season and a half, McDavid has taken the NHL by storm and wakes up Friday as the league’s leading scorer with 50 points, five up on second-place Sidney Crosby.
It’s a shame McDavid was limited to 45 games by injury last season or else he’d rank much higher on this list. Still, even with that missed time, McDavid’s production as a teenager ranks among the best players since 1986-87.
Since Wayne Gretzky played as an NHL teen in 1979-80 and part of the 1980-81 season (his birthday is January 26), he doesn’t appear on this list, but his numbers would blow everyone else’s away. For context, teenaged Gretzky totalled a staggering 76 goals, 154 assists and 232 points in 127 games.
Here is how everyone since 1987 stacks up:
T-10. Matt Duchene: 98 points
Duchene, whose own birthday is Jan. 16, played 81 games in his rookie season, so he got to 98 points in more games played than Connor McDavid. The Colorado star scored 24 goals and 55 points as an NHL freshman, but lost out on the Calder Trophy to Tyler Myers — and actually finished third in voting behind Jimmy Howard.
T-10. Connor McDavid: 98 points
McDavid put up two assists against the Devils Thursday night to pull into a tie on this list with Duchene. We have to wonder, though, how high he may have ended up had he stayed healthy and played all 82 games in his rookie season. Consider he produced at greater than a point-per-game pace in the 45 games he did play, so let’s pretend McDavid would have finished with 80 points as a rookie — that extra production would have ranked him in a tie for third on this list.
McDavid cracks the top 10 thanks largely to his assist totals, which rank third among all teenaged NHL players since 1987-88.
9. Nathan MacKinnon: 101 points
With a Sept. 1 birthday, the first overall pick from the 2013 draft got two full NHL seasons in before he turned 20. MacKinnon had a great rookie season, scoring 24 goals and 63 points in 82 games to earn the Calder Trophy, and followed it up with 38 points in 64 games. MacKinnon’s first season still ranks as his best in terms of games played, goals, assists and points — and he still isn’t on pace to top any of those totals this season.
T-7. Jeff Skinner: 107 points
The seventh overall pick from the 2010 draft stepped right into the NHL and became one of the most dangerous goal scorers in the league. With a May 16 birthday, Skinner also got two full seasons in before he turned 20, although he only played 64 games in his sophomore season due to his first concussion as an NHLer. The Hurricanes youngster scored 31 goals in his first season and won the Calder Trophy, then scored another 20 in his second year. Multiple concussions have impacted Skinner’s career so far, although he is again emerging as a top goal scorer and is once again on pace to reach the 30-goal mark.
T-7. Steven Stamkos: 107 points
The first overall pick in 2008, Stamkos’ birthday is on Feb. 7, so he makes this list despite getting less than two seasons in. Stamkos played 79 games as a rookie, missing three when Lightning coach Barry Melrose famously made him a healthy scratch and forcing the next face of the franchise to watch from the press box. Stamkos started slow, but finished with 23 goals and 46 points, then exploded for his first 50-goal season in his sophomore year. Of those 51 goals and 95 points he got in his second season, 32 goals and 61 points are included for this list, with all the rest of his production coming as a 20-year-old. Stamkos lost out on the Calder Trophy to Steve Mason, and actually finished ninth in the voting.
6. Jaromir Jagr: 108 points
The Mulleted One and ageless wonder came into the NHL after being picked fifth overall by the Penguins in the 1990 draft. Jagr scored 27 goals and 57 points as a rookie, finishing sixth in Calder voting, which was awarded to Ed Belfour who also won the Vezina Trophy. With a Feb. 15 birthday, not all of Jagr’s 69 sophomore season points count towards this list, but he did take a big step up in the 1991-92 season.
5. Trevor Linden: 110 points
Drafted second overall in 1988 after Mike Modano went to the Minnesota North Stars, Linden stepped right into the NHL and was immediately a 30-goal scorer. Linden scored 59 points as a rookie and finished third in Calder voting behind 20-year-old Brian Leetch (who won it) and 30-year-old Jiri Hrdina. With an April 11 birthday, Linden too had two full seasons before he turned 20, but didn’t do as well as a sophomore, scoring 21 goals and 51 points.
4. Ilya Kovalchuk: 118 points
We really do forget how terrific an NHLer Kovalchuk was, possibly because he spent his best years with very poor Atlanta Thrashers teams. After being picked first overall in 2001, Kovalchuk scored 29 goals and 51 points as a rookie, but finished second in Calder voting to teammate Dany Heatley, who was picked second overall in the 2000 draft. Kovalchuk, born on April 15, added another 38 goals and 67 points in his second season to shoot up this list. Among all teenaged NHLers since 1986-87, Kovalchuk ranks second in goals behind only the best teen the NHL has seen since Jimmy Carson or Wayne Gretzky.
3. Pierre Turgeon: 130 points
The first overall pick of the 1987 draft (Brendan Shanahan was No. 2!) Turgeon makes it high on this list despite the fact his rookie season wasn’t all that fantastic. He managed 14 goals and 42 points in his first season and didn’t get any Calder Trophy votes, which went to 20-year-old Joe Nieuwendyk. But in Turgeron’s second season, he led the Sabres with 34 goals and 88 points, all of which count towards his teenaged total since he was born on August 28. Had McDavid played his full rookie season, he may have surpassed Turgeon on this list.
2. Jimmy Carson: 186 points
Mostly famous for being the big young asset heading back to Edmonton in the Wayne Gretzky-to-Los Angeles trade, Carson was the second overall pick in the 1986 draft behind Joe Murphy. Carson’s best three NHL seasons were his first three and he never again came close to reaching these high point totals. Born on July 20, Carson got in two full seasons with the Kings to make this list. As a rookie, he put up 79 points in 80 games, but lost out on the Calder Trophy to teammate Luc Robitaille, who led the Kings with 84 points and was two years older than Carson. In Carson’s second season, he scored 55 goals and 107 points. He was traded to the Oilers that summer, scored 100 points in his only season in Edmonton before he demanded a trade, and never reached 70 points in a season again.
1. Sidney Crosby: 222 points
It really says something that Crosby ranks No. 1 on this list by a fairly large margin even though didn’t play in the higher scoring late-’80s or early-’90s. However, Crosby did benefit from a post-lockout environment when the NHL focused on cutting back the amount of obstruction that was being allowed. After being picked first overall in 2005, Crosby burst onto the NHL scene with a 39-goal, 102-point season, but finished second in Calder voting to Alex Ovechkin, who was drafted a year earlier but missed what would have been his rookie season because of that lockout. Crosby got even better in his second season, winning the Art Ross and Hart Trophies with a 36-goal, 120-point season. With an August 7 birthday, all of these totals count.
Again, let’s point out that Gretzky reached 232 points as a teenager in 127 games — Crosby was 10 short of Gretzky’s total, but played 33 more games as an NHL teen.
