Every NHL season you hear the same thing:

“Yeah, but it’s early.”

When does it stop being too early? We were discussing this on my podcast and the wise Jesse Blake said American Thanksgiving. I like that.

Once American Thanksgiving hits, it’s not too early anymore. You can panic or plan the parade to your heart’s content. After American Thanksgiving, there will be no more, “He’s just having a slow start.” Instead it will change to “Uh oh, he might just suck.” Similarly, after American Thanksgiving we can confidently say anybody having a hot start is Gretzky times McDavid.

So let me just say it: Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are on pace to be one of the most dominant duos in NHL history.

They let me ask Sportsnet’s stats department questions. I don’t know why either. But this is an opportunity I use often. The question I asked them today:

“How many times have two players from the same team been 1-2 in league scoring and what were the biggest gaps between them and the third-place player?”

What I found – well, what they found – was fascinating.

As it turns out, teammates have only finished first and second in league scoring a total of 33 times in NHL history. That might sound high but remember that the league only had six teams for half a century.

Here are the five biggest gaps between teammates who lead the league in scoring together and whoever finished in third behind them.

I’m not sure what’s more impressive: Lemieux and Jagr setting the record in 1995-96 or the fact that Jagr is still playing over two decades later.

Here’s where Stamkos and Kucherov come in.

Stamkos has 31 points in 18 games so far. I know, I can’t believe it, either. More unbelievable still is that this means Stamkos is on pace to score 141 points this season. That’s not a typo.

Similarly, Kucherov has 30 points in 18 games so far, just one point behind his teammate. That’s a pace of 136 points. Seriously.

So, who’s third?

Right now, Johnny Gaudreau sits third in NHL scoring with 26 points in 18 games. That puts him on pace for 118 points.

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If all three of Stamkos, Kucherov, and Gaudreau end up with the point totals they’re all currently on pace to reach, this means that the gap between the Stamkos-Kucherov duo and third-place Johnny Gaudreau would be 18 points. If you read the chart I posted earlier, you’ll see that this would be the third-largest gap in a single season in NHL history. That’s dominance.

Now, there are a lot of “ifs” in this seemingly unlikely scenario. First, everybody needs to stay healthy and ideally play in all 82 games this season. I’m sure Stamkos in particular would view that as a miracle in itself.

Second, both Stamkos and Kucherov have to maintain this ridiculous pace. If it’s just one of them then we’re writing about a completely different topic.

Forget one or both of them – can anyone keep up this pace in today’s game? The NHL has gone 10 straight seasons without a player reaching the 118 points Gaudreau is on pace for this season. The last player to do it was Sidney Crosby in 2006-07.

As for Kucherov and Stamkos, the last players to reach 141 or even 136 points in a season was when Lemieux had an astonishing 161 points while Jagr put up 149 in 1995-96. Ironically, that season ended up being the most dominant by any duo ever, as Jagr finished 29 points ahead of the NHL’s third-leading scorer, Joe Sakic.

Stamkos and Kucherov either have to speed up or Gaudreau has to slow down in order for Tampa’s two-headed monster to break the record in this niche, yet prestigious, category. Either way, what Stamkos and Kucherov are pulling off right now is spectacular.

This can’t be for real though, can it? I mean really, 141 and 136 points? They’ve got to slow down, right?

Hey – American Thanksgiving is one week away. It won’t be “too early” for long.