Most NHL points in a season: Connor McDavid becomes 6th player to hit 150 points in a single year

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Connor McDavid continues to prove the NHL is just too easy for him. 

The Oilers captain became just the sixth player ever to hit 150 points in a single season, and first since Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96. 

He joins Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Phil Esposito and Bernie Nicholls as the only players to do so. 

It feels like as soon as we have given the 26-year-old superstar all the praise in the world, the four-time Art Ross winner comes back the next season and is even more astonishing.

He already set a new career-high in goals this year, hitting 50 goals for the first time in his NHL tenure, and becoming just the fourth player in the salary cap era to hit 60. 

McDavid's insane statistics this year beg the question: What is the single-season record for most points by an NHL player?

MORE: How close is Alex Ovechkin to breaking Wayne Gretzky's record

The Sporting News has you covered on that and where McDavid could end up ranking on the all-time list. 

How many points does Connor McDavid have this year?

As of April 11, McDavid has 151 points in 80 games during the 2022-23 NHL season. 

His 1.89 points per game rate is the highest of any season in McDavid's career and well above his career average of 1.49. 

If the Edmonton star continues to put up points at the rate he has been and plays in both of the remaining games for the Oilers, he will add at least another three points to his total, finishing the year with roughly 154 points. 

Who has the most points in an NHL season?

McDavid already broke the salary-cap era for points in a season. Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov previously owned that record with the 128 points he put up in the 2018-19 season, but McDavid surpassed it to become the new leader. 

But in terms of all-time NHL leaders for points in a single season, McDavid's rapid pace in 2022-23 ... doesn't even sniff the top.

Wayne Gretzky (ever heard of him?) has the record for most points in a single season. He also has the second-most. And third-most. And fourth-most. 

Gretzky's career-high came in 1985-86 when he finished the season with an astonishing 215 points. He's the only player in NHL history to hit at least 200 points in a single season, and he did it four times in his career. 

Most Points in a single NHL season
Rank Player Season Team Points
1. Wayne Gretzky 1985-86 Edmonton Oilers 215
2. Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 Edmonton Oilers 212
3. Wayne Gretzky 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers 208
4. Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers 205
5. Mario Lemieux 1988-89 Pittsburgh Penguins 199
6. Wayne Gretzky 1982-83 Edmonton Oilers 196
7. Wayne Gretzky 1986-87 Edmonton Oilers 183
8. Mario Lemieux 1987-88 Pittsburgh Penguins 168
9. Wayne Gretzky 1988-89 Edmonton Oilers 168
  Wayne Gretzky 1980-81 Edmonton Oilers 164
11. Wayne Gretzky 1990-91 Edmonton Oilers 163
12. Mario Lemieux 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins 161
13. Mario Lemieux 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins 160
14. Steve Yzerman 1988-89 Detroit Red Wings 155
15. Phil Esposito 1970-71 Boston Bruins 152
16.  Connor McDavid  2022-23 Edmonton Oilers 151
17. Bernie Nicholls 1988-89 Los Angeles Kings 150
18. Jaromir Jagr 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins 149
  Wayne Gretzky 1987-88 Edmonton Oilers 149
20. Pat LaFontaine 1992-93 Buffalo Sabres 148
Author(s)
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Bryan Murphy is an NHL content producer at The Sporting News.