The 10 greatest ‘Cy Young’ seasons in NHL history

Columbus Blue Jackets right winger Kirill Marchenko

Credit: Mar 25, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko (86) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

We’re in the thick of the NHL calendar now, and that means the hot topics have reached a boil. Whether we’re debating how to save the New York Rangers or who should make the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters, it can get a little intense.

Which is why some of the sport’s goofier stats can be a nice diversion and reminder that we’re all supposed to be enjoying ourselves. The faux ‘Masters leaderboard standings,’ ranking the NHLers by the worst plus-minus, is often good for a laugh. Another annual staple: the NHL’s ‘Cy Young’ race.

For the uninitiated: The Cy Young race explores which NHLers have the wildest discrepancies between goals and assists. Those who do end up with stat lines that resemble the win-loss records of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball, two of whom take home the Cy Young Award every year. Right now, the Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield is enjoying a Cy Young worthy campaign, with 16 goals and seven assists. A 16-7 record would probably make him an MLB All-Star. Not to be outdone: the Rangers’ Chris Kreider has 10 goals with no assists so far this season. He’s “undefeated” on the mound. For a first-line player to go 21 games without a single assist is absolutely mind-boggling. We’ve also got the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Brayden Point at 16-5, the Ottawa Senators’ Adam Gaudette at 12-1 and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Jack Roslovic at 12-3. This year’s Cy Young race will be tight.

It got me thinking: which NHLers have delivered the most absurd Cy Young stat lines in NHL history? I went through the season numbers of every player ever to score 20 or more goals in a season and came up with a tiered all-time Cy Young leaderboard.

Why tiered? Because assists were tougher to accumulate in the early days of the sport. The forward pass wasn’t fully implemented in all three zones until 1929-30, which meant there was an average of just 0.53 assists per goal over the NHL’s inaugural dozen seasons. Assists were also originally awarded only on passes within the offensive zone, and, after some on and off experimenting, secondary assists weren’t handed out full-time until the 1945-46 season onward. Since the 1950s, every season has featured at least 1.5 assists per goal. Today, the NHL awards about 1.7 assists for every goal, making some of these modern Cy seasons all the more remarkable. The players’ stats before the modern era were heavily skewed toward tabulating goals, not assists, resulting in some peerless Cy Young stat lines.

Special thanks to my friend and colleague Paul Pidutti of Adjusted Hockey for contributing to this story.

THE ’UNDEFEATED’ PITCHERS

Pit Lepine, 1926-27 (16-0)

While largely overshadowed by legends like Howie Morenz and Aurele Joliat, Lepine played on two Stanley Cup winning Canadiens teams and also delivered the most pristine Cy Young stat line ever: 16 goals and no assists. While helpers were scarcer then, six Montreal players had at least four that season, so Lepine’s line stood out even for its time. Over his first four seasons, Lepine’s line was a head-scratching 35-3.

John McKinnon, 1926-27, (13-0)

Playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates – even more fitting for the Cy Young theme! – McKinnon’s perfect stat line was a bit easier to understand given he was a defenseman and thus less consistently involved in offensive play in theory. Then again, he was second on the team in goals, and six of his teammates recorded multiple apples in 1926-27. McKinnon’s career as a Pirate: a sparkling 27-8.

THE OLD-SCHOOL LEGENDS

Joe Malone 1917-18 (44-4)

No one can touch Malone’s epic totals from the NHL’s inaugural season, in which he buried 44 goals in 20 games. In 1917-18, NHL teams averaged a total of 9.5 goals per game, but only four assists were awarded per contest. The sport was just so different then; the league leader had 10 assists. Still, it’s fun to marvel at the purest Cy Young stat line in NHL history.

Babe Dye, 1920-21 (35-4)

Dye’s 82-game average in his career was a 61-goal, 15-assist line. He pretty much had a mantle full of faux Cy Youngs, but his 1920-21 campaign, in which he sniped 35 goals in 24 games, was his best. Amazingly, he was held off the scoresheet in two playoff games that year, but he got his revenge the following season, helping the Toronto St. Patricks win a Stanley Cup in 1921-22.

Bill Cook, 1926-27 (33-4)

The criminally underrated Cook burst onto the scene as a 30-year-old freshman NHLer, led the league in goals with 33 and finished second in the Hart Trophy vote. He posted a 33-4-37 stat line even when assists were starting to become more common, with seven players recording double-digit totals league-wide.

THE MODERN CY YOUNGS

Peter Bondra, 1994-95 (34-9)

Bondra led the NHL in goals during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign with an incredibly anomalous stat line that looked straight out of the 1920s. The Caps lacked a deadly secondary scoring threat, with no other player topping 12 goals, so perhaps he felt the need to do it all himself – especially when he had some quality playmakers to work with in Joe Juneau and Michal Pivonka. If only the Rocket Richard Trophy had been created a few seasons earlier, Bondra would have a Rocket to go with his alternate universe Cy.

Brandon Pirri, 2014-15 (22-2)

Pirri’s stat line elicits a double take. He had 22 goals and two assists? He also did it while playing just 14:46 per game. He was one of the sport’s most efficient offensive weapons that season, ranking top-15 in the league in goals and shots per 60 at 5-on-5. Pirri’s teammates began calling him Doc Halladay, after late Hall of Fame pitcher Roy Halladay. Pirri was utterly baffled by his own numbers, even pointing out that he led his AHL team in assists two seasons prior.

Kirill Marchenko, 2022-23 (21-4)

Marchenko’s Cy Young year was memorable because he was a rookie. Through 29 games that season, he was tracking for perfection, sporting 13 goals and no assists before finally collecting his first career apple in game No. 30. Two years later: he has more assists than goals and has blossomed into a point-per-game player for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Jason Zucker, 2014-15 (21-5)

Zucker had been knocking on the door of regular NHL duty when, bam, he stuck for good in 2014-15. It’s fascinating how many modern-day Cy Young seasons came from new NHLers or role players, perhaps because those players simplify their games trying to stick with their clubs, which leads to more dump-ins and less finesse. Could that be why the assist totals get suppressed? Zucker’s 21-5 campaign fell during the same season as Pirri’s 22-2 year, so Zucker was “robbed” of an imaginary Cy Young.

Jeff Carter, 2012-13, (26-7)

Like Bondra, Carter delivered his Cy Young campaign on a shortened schedule. That’s common among every player on the modern-day leaderboard, by the way; none played more than 59 games, which is probably why the statistical anomalies were possible. Carter was a beast in the lockout-shortened 2012-13. His 26 goals were fourth most in the NHL, and he paced the league in game-winners with eight.

Honorable Mention: Reggie Leach, 1975-76 (61-30)

While you might think no pitcher could ever win 60 games, it did happen. Old Hoss Rabourn went a preposterous 60-12 and threw 678 innings in 1884! Different times, to say the least. In the spirit of Old Hoss, Reggie Leach holds the NHL record for fewest assists in a 60-goal season with just 31. Leach would then go 19-5 in the playoffs on the way to a Conn Smythe Trophy in a losing cause for the Flyers. 80 goals vs. 35 assists for the season and playoffs combined.

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