Like many other NHL records, it won’t come as a surprise who’s at the top of the list for the most assists in a single season, be it just regular season assists or when you include the postseason as well.
However, the NHL record for the most assists in one campaign is perhaps the ultimate one for The Great One as, unless there are drastic rule changes, it seems to be the most unlikely to be defeated.
Here’s another display of Wayne Gretzky’s historical dominance in the sport of hockey.
Who Scored the Most Assists in a Single NHL Season?
Wayne Gretzky has scored the most assists in a single NHL season, and it’s not even close to the next-highest tally from another player. In 1985/86, for the Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky collected 163 assists in a 215-point campaign.
His dominance wasn’t just during one campaign, either. Gretzky’s 1981/82, 82/83, 83/84, 84/85, 85/86, and 86/87 seasons with the Oilers make up six of the top seven for this NHL record.
The other in the mix came in 1990/91 and also belongs to Gretzky. That season, he played 78 games and put up 122 assists with the Los Angeles Kings.
In the modern NHL, any player averaging more than an assist per game is hailed as enjoying a strong season.
At the time of writing, both Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes were doing exactly that, setting them at betting odds of -189 and -175, respectively, to score over one assist in their next games.
Yet, while the odds set them as likely to score another assist in each game, Makar’s average 17 games in was 1.35 to Quinn’s 1.16 after 19 games.
That’s quite some way back of Gretzky’s top-ranking average of 2.04 assists per game.
Who Scored the Most Total Assists in an NHL Season?
Again, Wayne Gretzky takes the crown for the most total assists in an NHL season. In 1985/86, he built on his record of 163 regular season assists with another 11 in the playoffs, totalling 174 assists that season.
When you bundle in The Great One’s postseason exploits, his dominance atop the records extends from owning the top seven spots for a single regular season to the top ten when you include assists in the playoffs.
Rounding out the top ten is Gretzky’s 1980/81 season with the Oilers, in which he only put up 123 assists in 89 games in his second season of NHL play.
The best of the rest is Mario Lemieux, who clocked in 121 assists in 87 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1988/89, followed by the 120 of Doug Gilmour in 1992/93 and then Gretzky again in 1989/90 with 109.
Which Active Player has the Most Assists in a Single NHL Season?
The active player with the most assists in a single NHL season is Gretzky’s most recent heir apparent, Connor McDavid, who put up 89 assists in his 82 games of the 2022/23 campaign.
Were this article written earlier in 2023, Joe Thornton would have taken the crown. “Jumbo” retired at the start of the 2023/24 season, so if he didn’t, his 92 assists in 2006/07 would top this category.
Pull the count out to include the playoffs, and McDavid is still atop the charts for active players with the most assists in a single season, having scored 102 assists in 2021/22 and 101 in 22/23.
When he’s hot, McDavid is as close to a sure thing to getting an assist in any game, which is why so many hockey fans keep tabs on Number 97 in the live betting.
McDavid’s closest active rival for the most total assists in one season is Evgeni Malkin. In 2008/09, “Geno” scored 100 assists in 106 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Again, though, if Thornton had played another season to still be active at 44-years-old, he would narrowly beat McDavid, courtesy of his 96 regular season and seven postseason assists to hit 103 total assists in 2005/06 between the Bruins and Sharks.
Top 11 Most Total Assists in a Single NHL Season (Without Gretzky’s Top 10)
Wayne Gretzky is the top ten for the total assists in a single NHL season, and basically, he’ll never be unseated. So, the list below gives a nod to those who have come the closest.
- Mario Lemieux, 121 assists (1988/89)
- Doug Gilmour, 120 assists (1992/93)
- Wayne Gretzky, 109 assists (1989/90)
- Bobby Orr, 109 assists (1970/71)
- Paul Coffey, 109 assists (1984/85)
- Mario Lemieux, 108 assists (1995/96)
- Adam Oates, 106 assists (1992/93)
- Mark Messier, 106 assists (1989/90)
- Doug Gilmour, 106 assists (1993/94)
- Mario Lemieux, 105 assists (1991/92)
- Pat LaFontaine, 105 assists (1993/93)
Alex Ovechkin may be closing in on the career goals record if he remains healthy and firing on all cylinders, but the season assists count in all regards looks to remain as one of Wayne Gretzky’s most unassailable NHL records.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to Alamy*
