More often than not, both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have looked otherworldly. It’s often been said that there is no way the two Edmonton Oilers superstars can get any better, and then they go out and raise the bar even higher. It’s already clear that these two will go down as some of the best to ever play the game.
What really makes them stand out from the competition, of course, is their offensive outputs. McDavid has amassed an NHL-leading 1,124 points since the 2016-17 season. Draisaitl, his partner in crime, sits second with 966. And, as everybody knows, they dial up their offence even more in the playoffs.
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One talked about trait of theirs, though much less discussed, is their ability to always remain effective over the course of an entire 82-game season. It’s very rare to see either go through a lengthy drought, which separates them from the vast majority of competition. Making it all the more impressive is that they log massive minutes.
That has been the case once again in 2025-26, as McDavid – who already has 93 points on the season – is averaging north of 23 minutes per game. Draisaitl, who has amassed 70 points, is averaging a tick over 22 minutes. That is nothing unusual for the dynamic duo, though this could be the season where it finally does start to impact them.
McDavid and Draisaitl Have Played a Ton of Hockey
As mentioned in the opening sentence, these two so consistently dominate that many of us often forget of them as being human beings. While they are incredibly exceptional, everybody will begin to burn out at some point or another, and the Oilers organization has to start to become aware of that possibility.
Not only have these two played a ton of minutes over the course of several regular seasons, but they’ve also done so for several playoff runs. It’s not just the back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final, either. This team has advanced past the first round in four-straight years, and have reached the Western Conference Final in three of them. Both have logged 75 postseason outings over that span.
Their schedule this season won’t be getting any lighter, either. Before the playoffs even begin, these two will have played several more games than usual with the Olympics coming up. That break in the NHL schedule should be beneficial for several Oilers players, but not for their dynamic duo up front.
McDavid has already logged a few more games, as well, having suited up in the highly-intense 4 Nations Face-Off last February. He should be in for another intense and lengthy Olympic bout as he and the Canadians are the favourites to win gold.
Oilers Could Be Affected This Season
Given how much both McDavid and Draisaitl have played in recent years, along with several of the key members of their team including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm, it may be hard for this Oilers team to reach its ultimate goal this season.
It’s never wise to count out McDavid and Draisaitl, and they could very well wind up making this story look foolish. That said, they have to eventually begin to show signs of fatigue at some point given all their heavy usage, and we may wind up seeing that later in the 2025-26 season or perhaps in playoff action.
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The silver lining for Oilers fans is that if McDavid and Draisaitl aren’t able to drag their team back to the Cup Final this year, it will give them a longer offseason to rest and recharge. After all, they have at least two more kicks at this thing after this season thanks to McDavid’s two-year extension he inked shortly before the 2025-26 campaign got underway.
