Everyone knows that goals win ice hockey games. You can have a team with a watertight defense and the most flamboyant playmakers. Still, it all counts for nothing if you do not have someone who can regularly take advantage of opportunities and put the puck past the opposition goaltender. Elite-level goal scorers are a rare commodity, so they often command the highest salaries from their teams and the most respect from their peers.
Some NHL players have an almost unnatural goal-scoring ability. Their names are regularly featured in the NHL best bets to make because they are practically guaranteed to turn a game on its head because they are the difference between winning and losing on the ice. The following five NLH stars and former players top the all-time goal-scoring charts; you may not believe how many goals they have scored during their illustrious careers.
Wayne Gretzky – 894 regular season goals (1,016 overall)
It should not come as a surprise to discover that the legendary Wayne Gretzky is the all-time leading goal scorer in the history of the National Hockey League. Gretzky started his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers in 1979, but hockey experts and pundits predicted he would struggle on the ice because his size and strength were below average for hockey players at the time. However, those experts did not consider Gretzky’s incredible intelligence and ability to read the game like no other player.
Gretzky’s unique approach to hockey, using his superior skills during a time when opponents were more concerned with being physical on the ice, led to him becoming a legendary figure. He scored goals for every team he played for and created dozens of chances every game. Indeed, Gretzky ended his career with 1,963 regular-season assists, a figure higher than the total points scored (which includes goals) of any NHL player before or since!
Through 1,487 regular-season games, Gretzky scored 894 goals and made 1,963 assists. Add playoff games, and Gretzky’s amazing totals are 1,016 goals and 2,223 assists. Nobody else in NHL history has scored over 1,000 career goals or created over 2,000 assists.
Alexander Ovechkin – 840 regular season goals (912 overall)
Russian star Alexander Ovechkin is the only player on this list still actively playing in the NHL and is the only man with a chance of catching Gretzky in the goal-scoring charts. Ovechkin started his NHL career with the Washington Capitals after they selected him as the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft.
Ovechkin holds the Washington Capitals record for most seasons with 50 or more goals, achieving the awe-inspiring feat nine times. The winger’s goal-scoring prowess and his consistency throughout his career have resulted in Ovechkin scoring 840 goals and assisting 693 others across 1,407 games, meaning he is only 54 goals away from breaking Gretzky’s record.
Having signed a five-year, $47.5 million contract extension in July 2021, Ovechkin has at least another two years to become the NHL’s all-time leading scorer.
Gordie Howe – 801 regular season goals (869 overall)
Gordie Howe is one of only three NHL players to score at least 800 regular-season goals during his career; Watne Gretzky and Alexander Ovechkin are the other two. Howe played for the Detroit Red Wings from the 1946-47 season to 1970-71. He made a brief one-season comeback in 1979-80, eight years after his retirement. Howe was 52 years old when he officially retired for the second time, making him the oldest player to turn out for an NHL team.
Howe’s longevity means he is the NHL’s record appearance maker, and until Gretzky came onto the scene, Howe topped the goals and assists leaderboards.
Sadly, Howe suffered from dementia during the latter years of his life and suffered a major stroke in October 2014. Howe passed away on June 10, 2016, aged 88, but his memory will live on forever in hockey circles.
Jaromir Jagr – 766 regular season goals (844 overall)
Jaromir Jagr played 1,733 regular season games between the 1990-91 season through to the 2017-18 campaign, turning out in the uniforms of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers, and the Calgary Flames. It is fair to say Jaagr got around!
Jagr scored goals and created assists wherever he played, racking up 766 regular season goals and 844 goals overall. He also made 1,155 assists during regular season games, an impressive number that increases to 1,278 with playoff games considered.
Although Jagr hung up his skates in the NHL at the end of the 2017-18 season, after only 22 appearances for the Calgary Flames, he is still playing professional hockey for Rytiri Kladno in his native Czech Republic at the tender age of 52!
Brett Hull – 741 regular season goals (844 overall)
Brett Hull earned the nickname “Golden Brett” thanks to his impressive goal-scoring figures throughout his career. Hull began his NHL career with the Calgary Flames but moved to the St. Louis Blues after two seasons. He spent 11 seasons with the Blues before departing for the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings and ending his NHL career with the then-Phoenix Coyotes.
Hull scored 741 regular season goals in 1,269 games, which is an impressive feat. When you work that out in terms of goals per game, Hull’s prowess is up there with the great Gretzky. Hull scored an average of 0.58 goals per game compared to Gretzky’s 0.60.
Hull tried his arm at management once he retired from playing and is currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues, the team he spent more than a decade with as a player.
The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Hull in 2009, when he joined his father, Bobby Hull. They are the first father-son combination to score either 1,000 career points or 600 goals in the NHL. You could say hockey is in their blood.