Predicting the NHL's top 5 scorers
Connor McDavid. Sidney Crosby. The rest.
That's basically the hierarchy of talent in today's NHL, with those two greats expected to battle it out once again for the Art Ross Trophy as the top point producer.
There's other contenders, however, and it's quite possible that any of the following five players could take the scoring title:
5. Mark Scheifele
With 30 goals and 52 assists for the Winnipeg Jets last season, Mark Scheifele finished with the fifth-highest point total among all NHL players. He reached 82 points while appearing in only 79 games, and despite the fact high-scoring winger Patrik Laine missed nine games due to injury.
One would figure his assist total will be boosted if both he and Laine remain on the ice together over a full season, but his goal production may fall off a bit considering he scored at a 20 percent success rate in 2016-17.
Still, the Jets offense is loaded, and Scheifele will be at the middle of a large part of the action.
4. Patrick Kane
Over the past two seasons, no player has been more productive than Patrick Kane, and it's not even really close.
The Chicago Blackhawks winger registered 80 goals and 115 assists for 195 points in his last 164 regular season games, 21 more points than the second-ranked Crosby.
It remains to be seen whether his numbers were boosted by playing with Artemi Panarin, who's since been traded to Columbus for Brandon Saad. For now, Kane is riding the wave of his career, and should be expected to keep it going.
3. Nikita Kucherov
By the end of last season, Nikita Kucherov had put his name in the Hart Trophy conversation, and would have garnered some votes had the Tampa Bay Lightning made good on a late playoff push.
The Russian winger is a superstar few have yet to give the title, a station earned after registering 40 goals and 45 assists in 74 games last season. And that was without Steven Stamkos in the lineup for the majority of the season.
One gets the sense this 24-year-old is just getting started.
2. Sidney Crosby
He very well may have been supplanted as the best player in the world, but Crosby is second to one.
The Pittsburgh Penguins' all-world center recorded 44 goals and 45 assists in 75 games last season, missing the opening seven contests with a concussion. That 0.59 goals per game average is the second-highest of his career, proving he's aging quite well.
Crosby excelled once again in the playoffs, where he meshed well with young wingers Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary.
Expect Sid to continue to do what he does best, and that's produce.
1. Connor McDavid
It's hard to imagine any player topping the Edmonton Oilers phenom anytime soon.
McDavid was the only player to reach 100 points last season, topping Crosby and Kane by 11 points in the Art Ross Trophy race. For his career, he's averaging 1.17 points per game, which works out to 96 over an 82-game season.
Only Kane has surpassed that total in any of the past three seasons, recording 106 in 2015-16.
In short, McDavid is the perennial favorite to win the scoring race until further notice.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)