Connor McDavid basically went wire to wire in the Rocket Richard race in the 2022-23 NHL season.

McDavid, who also won the Hart Trophy as league MVP, scored 64 goals in 82 games, and although David Pastrnak made a late push to get to 61 it never seemed as if No. 97 was ever under any real threat to lose his spot at the top of the table. 

And while McDavid is a worthy favorite to repeat as the league’s goal-scoring leader in 2023-24, the race for the Rocket Richard seems wide open going into 2023-24.

We had five 50-goal scorers in 2022-23 and 19 players who topped 40, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a handful of players put some pressure on McDavid as he tries to repeat.

Here are a couple of long shots worth backing to pace the NHL in goals next season (odds via BetMGM):

Although he didn’t light up the scoresheet in the postseason, Meier should be in for a monster season with the high-flying Devils.

The 26-year-old scored 40 goals in 78 games between the Sharks and Devils in 2022-23, and 31 of those tallies came when Meier was playing for one of the worst teams in the league. 

Bettors should feel comfortable that they’ll get their money’s worth out of this bet, as only six players have registered more shots on goal than Meier has over the past two seasons.

There were a lot of people pointing to Connor in this market last year after he notched 47 goals in 2021-22, but the 26-year-old took a step back in what ended up being a funky season for basically everybody on the Jets.

Connor wound up with a respectable 31 goals and 80 points in 82 games, but it felt a bit underwhelming considering the hype that surrounded the Michigan native last October. 

The main culprit for Connor’s relatively mundane performance was that his shooting percentage fell off a cliff.

In the five seasons leading up to 2022-23, Connor scored on 15.4 percent of his shots on goal, making him one of the better shooters in the league.

That number came down to 11.4 percent in 2022-23, meaning he either lost his touch or was a bit unlucky. I’ll lean towards the latter and back Connor as a post-hype sleeper in this market.

Expectations will be raised around the Senators in 2023-24 and Tkachuk will play a massive role in whether or not the Sens can make good on their promise.

Tkachuk potted a career-high 35 goals in 2022-23, but there’s reason to believe he will continue his upward trajectory going forward.

Not only is he surrounded by some terrific playmakers like Tim Stutzle and Claude Giroux, but Tkachuk hasn’t met a shot he doesn’t like yet.

Only three players — McDavid, Pastrnak and Nathan MacKinnon — registered more shots on goal than Tkachuk did last season. 

If Tkachuk can start to bury more scoring chances consistently, he has the potential to take a massive leap in the goal-scoring department and could be a gatecrasher in the Rocket Richard race.