In the NHL history books, one name reigns supreme in just about every scoring metric and doesn’t look to get usurped from his throne anytime soon.
Still, there is an active player who’s vying to close the gap as much as possible even now at 38-years-old, as well as an upstart sniper who is actually scoring at a greater rate than the two with the most goals in an NHL career.
Here’s a look at the unsurprising leader for the most goals in an NHL career, as well as who joins the mix when you include postseason scoring, and who among the younger active crowd could attempt to close in on the record holder.
Who has the Most Goals in an NHL Career?
Wayne Gretzky has the most goals in an NHL career – to the surprise of not a single hockey fan reading this.
Across his 1,487 games for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers, he scored a massive 894 goals in the NHL.
For his hockey career, you could also throw in the pro goals he scored in the WHA, which came to 46 goals in 80 games for the Indianapolis Racers and Edmonton Oilers.
To entrench himself at the top, Gretzky had to play for 20 seasons, one of which was shortened by a lockout (1994/95), scoring a goal every 1.66 games, or 44.7 goals per season.
Who has the Most Total Goals in an NHL Career?
Combining the goals scored in the NHL regular season as well as the playoffs, the leader with a total goals count of 1,016 is, again, Wayne Gretzky.
The Great One was just as menacing in the postseason as he was during the regular season, with his average games per goal rate only marginally drifting out to 1.67 from the 1.66 established in just regular season games.
To put that into a modern context, Gretzky’s most promising heir apparent, Connor McDavid, has scored a total of 334 goals in 624 games at the time of writing – good for a goal every 1.87 games.
Still, in the modern NHL, this is an incredible rate of scoring, which is why McDavid remains a hot favourite in the goalscorer and point scorer markets of the NHL betting each game.
Which Active Player has the Most Goals in an NHL Career?
Second in the overall standings, but still some way back of Gretzky, Alex Ovechkin continues to score at an incredible rate to bring his tally to 824 goals at the time of writing.
It’s taken the hefty Russian 1,355 games to get to the tally that trails Gretzky by 70 goals, having made it to the second spot in late 2022.
However, he has been scoring at a better rate, sniping a goal every 1.64 games or 45.7 goals per season – which includes two shortened campaigns (2012/13 and 2020/21).
Last season, as a 37-year-old, ‘The Great 8’ put up another 42 goals in 73 games and has started this season with two goals in eight games. He’d likely need to play into his 40s to try to catch Gretzky.
When you include playoff goals, you’re looking at 896 goals in 1,502 games, which is an average of a goal every 1.67 games – the same as Gretzky.
Top 10 Players with the Most Goals in an NHL Career
This is the list of the current top ten players with the most goals in an NHL career, combining regular season and postseason goals.
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Wayne Gretzky, 1,016 goals
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Alex Ovechkin, 896 goals (still active)
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Gordie Howe, 869 goals
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Brett Hull, 844 goals
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Jaromír Jágr, 844 goals
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Mark Messier, 803 goals
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Phil Esposito, 778 goals
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Mario Lemieux, 766 goals
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Steve Yzerman, 762 goals
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Marcel Dionne, 752 goals
Who Else Could Catch Gretzky’s NHL Goals Record?
Ovechkin’s longevity and incredible knack for scoring has made him Gretzky’s top contender, but for the younger batch of top skaters, scoring is arguably even more difficult than when the Washington Capitals star started playing.
Still, there are some names who stand out as potential contenders if they can up their outputs a little and remain consistent throughout a long career. Chief among them looks to be Auston Matthews.
The American center is a huge reason why the Toronto Maple Leafs remain among the frontrunners for the Stanley Cup in the NHL futures markets, having scored exactly 100 goals between the last two seasons.
This season, Matthews has started off hot again, scoring seven goals in his first nine games. His tally, at the time of writing, sits at 306 goals in 490 regular season games, which is good for a goal every 1.60 games.
Now in his eighth NHL season – one of which was shortened due to the pandemic – he’d have to keep up this rate of scoring and remain healthy enough to amass 1,434 games (54 fewer than Gretzky) to claim the record.
If you were to include Matthews’ 22 goals in 50 postseason games, the rate of scoring gets pulled out to 1.65, which is still a strong enough rate to close in on Gretzky if he plays nearly as many games.
That said, averaging 7.1 playoff games per season to Gretzky’s 10.4 won’t help the Maple Leafs center reach the hard numbers required to rival The Great One.
Many would think of the scoring of McDavid (one goal every 1.89 NHL games) or perhaps teammate Leon Draisaitl (2.08), David Pastrnak (1.95), Mikko Rantanen (2.21), or Elias Pettersson (2.37) as potential rivals, but all are a fair bit off the pace compared to Matthews.
Including postseason goals for the most prolific of the bunch, Draisaitl, it only brings the rate to 2.04 games per goal.
As it stands, Wayne Gretzky is the outright king with the most goals scored in an NHL career, be that in the playoffs or regular season. Alex Ovechkin is on the hunt, and Auston Matthews may be the next best bet to catch him.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to Alamy*
