Not long ago, the prospect of any of Wayne Gretzky's records being broken felt far-fetched.
Fast forward to today, and Alexander Ovechkin has taken the top spot in the all-time goal tally, and Connor McDavid may be on pace to erase another Gretzky high point.
Despite seeing his records at risk, Gretzky had nothing but praise for the current Oilers superstar as he pushes to break The Great One's single-season points record.
“Remarkable,” Gretzky said at a ceremony on Friday at the Hockey Hall of Fame. “What he’s doing for his hockey team, and for the game, and for the city of Edmonton, it’s unmatched right now. I think he’s on a mission to win a Stanley Cup. He wants it desperately, and that’s what you need out of your best player and out of your captain."
“You need that leadership that, you want to get to the next level, and he has that.”
McDavid has been on a historic tear to start the season, picking up 44 points in 17 games, and is on pace to reach 217 — a mark that would top Gretzky’s record of 215 points set in 1985-86.
The 29-year-old has had some stellar point tallies over the course of his 12-year career, including a 153-point benchmark (with a league-leading 64 goals and 89 assists) in the 2022-23 season, but breaking the 200-point threshold has still been a ways away — as it has for every player not named Gretzky
Gretzky is the only NHL player to ever reach 200 points in a season, passing the plateau four times over his 20-year career.
--with files from the Canadian Press
