Another stat under Connor McDavid's belt: Most newsworthy NHL player, research shows

Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid waits to take a faceoff against the Vancouver Canucks during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Vancouver, on May 8, 2024. (Darryl Dyck)

It's no surprise to hear Connor McDavid breaking records and leading in numerous statistics when his name comes up in conversation. But here's another stat he can put his name onto: leading in the most news article mentions in the past 12 months, according to online search data.

Betway, an online gambling company, looked at the number of articles mentioning each NHL player in the past 12 months and revealed the most newsworthy in the league.

With 5,338 articles – and even more now with this article – McDavid leads the way, but he's not the only Oiler to make the list: Leon Draisaitl was ranked fourth among most newsworthy hockey players with 2,520 articles in the last year.

Here are the most mentioned names in the NHL in the past 12 months:

Betway has done a similar report on the NBA with LeBron James leading the league with 77,802 news article mentions, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks with 21,607 articles and Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry with 18,800 articles.

The data was compiled until Oct. 23 using Buzzsumo, an online tool that analyzes content performance.

The Edmonton Oilers visit the Nashville Predators without their injured captain Thursday at 6 p.m.