By Collin Murray
As of October 5, 2021
With the NHL preseason currently underway, and many fans anxious for the start of the regular season, many are left wondering how this season will unfold. Will the Tampa Bay Lighting achieve a three-peat, having won the Stanley Cup these past two years in a row? Will Connor McDavid finally reach 150 points in one season, this being his 7th season in the league? How close will Alexander Ovechkin get to Wayne Gretzky’s career-regular season goal record of 894 goals?
The Tampa Bay Lighting, Stanley Cup champions in both the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons, are heavy favorites to win it all once again, alongside the Colorado Avalanche and the Las Vegas Golden Knights. With stars like captain Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, and Andre Vasilevskiy, it certainly looks like they could get their names engraved on the cup once again.
One of the game’s top stars, Connor McDavid, certainly has not been a disappointment since being drafted first overall in 2016. Amassing 195 career goals and 379 assists, for a career point total of 574, the Canadian star still has yet to reach the milestone of 150 goals in a single season. Many think this could be the year, but just like every star athlete, McDavid definitely has his doubters.
Along with Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin is a force to be reckoned with in the NHL today. Since going first overall in the 2005 NHL entry draft to the Washington Capitals, Ovechkin has become widely recognized as one of the greatest players in NHL history. With his career beginning to slow down, many wonder if he will ever reach Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 career regular season goals; he is currently sitting at 730. With only 164 goals to go, many believe he will be able to reach this record in a couple years, if he can manage to stay in the league for a few more years.