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McDavid leads NHL in offensive importance, not just productivity

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

The 2016-17 season has been the Connor McDavid show from day one, as the young Edmonton Oilers captain has ramped up his production to a league-leading level in his second campaign.

It's clear the 20-year-old is one of the top scorers in the game at this point, likely rivaled only by fellow phenom Sidney Crosby, but that's only half the story. He's also emerging as the most important offensive presence in the league.

Why exactly? Because McDavid isn't just putting up more points than the opposition, he's also carrying more of his team's offensive load than any other player in the big leagues.

Bob Waterman of the Elias Sports Bureau elaborated on the subject for the Edmonton Journal's Terry Jones.

"The best McDavid MVP argument would be that he's recorded a point on 40.2 percent of his team's goals this season (66 of 164)," Waterman said. "The highest percentage of any NHL player in 2016-17. Brent Burns is second at 38.4 percent (61 of 159)."

McDavid has been on the ice for 52.4 percent of the Oilers' goals this season - the second-highest such percentage in the league, topped only by Nathan MacKinnon's 53.2 percent, Waterman also pointed out.

A look at the rest of the league's top scorers shows just how much of the load McDavid has taken on. While Crosby sits just two points back of the league lead, he's recorded a point on only 32 percent of the Pittsburgh Penguins' total goals.

Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeni Malkin round out the top five scorers in the league, and the two centermen have factored in on just 31.4 and 29.5 percent of their team's total goals, respectively.

It isn't simply a matter of McDavid posting more points than the competition; it's also a statement about his supporting cast. While the rest of these stars have other elite talents on their rosters, McDavid has pushed the Oilers up the standings largely through his own sheer will.

That's a strong argument for the young pivot's Hart Trophy chances, and surely just the beginning of a long line of impressive numbers illustrating the Oilers leader's importance to the game.

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