Which storied NHL record will be the next to fall?

Apr 12, 2025, 09:00 EDT

Credit: Mar 16, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) skates against the New York Rangers during the first period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images

So long, 894 goals. It happened. The Washington Capitals‘ Alex Ovechkin topped Wayne Gretzky’s record last week, scoring career goal No. 895. One of hockey’s most heralded milestones has fallen.

Suddenly, it feels like the most pie-in-the-sky records are within reach. None of us thought 894 would ever be broken 20 years ago, right? So, Roundtable: Looking at some of the other most storied stats in NHL history…what will be the next supposedly unbreakable record to fall?

MATT LARKIN: I never thought anyone could touch Gretzky’s single-season playoff records. Then Connor McDavid beat his assist mark last postseason, compiling 34. McDavid also came within five of tying Wayne Gretzky’s single-season playoff points record of 47. That tells us it’s within reach. Whether it’s McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon or Nikita Kucherov, we have the all-world superstar talents capable of making history one of these springs.

PAUL PIDUTTI: Bobby Orr is famously the only defenseman to win the Art Ross Trophy — which he did twice. I’ve always thought that in perfect conditions it could be done again. While it seems far-fetched in an NHL where the last three point leaders had at least 123 points, that might not always be the case. The current generation of top scorers that Matt mentioned above are all approaching or past 30 years old. NHL scoring will inevitably dip again at some point. Picture a Cale Makar type. He gets off to a hot start…he’s in the race at Christmas and people get behind it… the top candidates (in his case, Colorado Avalanche teammate MacKinnon) miss some games. 100 or so points tops the NHL. It feels doable with how involved defensemen are in today’s NHL offensively, how lethal some team’s power plays have become, and how many empty netters are scored. Erik Karlsson came fourth in 2015-16 with 82 points, and while he was well back of Patrick Kane’s monster season (106 points), he was just seven points back of second-place. I wouldn’t bet on it, but among the unbreakable, it feels gettable.

SCOTT MAXWELL: To be honest, I probably agree with Matt just because of how close we were to already seeing that record be broken last season. But for the sake of being different, I’m going to go with a different playoff scoring record: Reggie Leach and Jari Kurri’s single-season playoff goal record of 19. If anything, we’ve actually seen this record threatened more times in the past five to 10 years than Gretzky’s points record. Ovechkin had 15 when he won his Stanley Cup in 2018. Draisaitl managed to score 13 in just two rounds in 2023. Zach Hyman scored 16 last season during the Oilers’ trip to the Cup Final. Players have proven to get close to this record as well, although never overtake it, but I think as the game has progressively gotten more skilled, we’ll see this happen. There’s a good chance that someone on a high-octane offense like the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars or Colorado Avalanche will do it, but even in a down year, I wouldn’t count out Auston Matthews pulling it off if that Toronto Maple Leafs core ever gets its act together and goes on a deep run.

STEVEN ELLIS: I don’t think Ovi is going to hold the career goal-scoring record for decades to come. As it stands, Matthews looks like a legitimate threat, but he needs to stay healthy. Draisaitl and McDavid might be behind the eight ball, but I won’t ever count them out. Beyond that, stick technology continues to get better and off-season training programs have never been better. I think it’s only a matter of time until we see someone crack 1,000.

ANTHONY DI MARCO: It’s more of a milestone than a record, but 50 goals in 50 games is one I think can be matched. Between Matthews, David Pastrnak, Draisaitl and others, goal scoring is at an elite level right now across the NHL. With all these diverse candidates scoring at this clip, there is no doubt in my mind that 50 in 50 is as attainable as ever. The only question now is: who has the best the chance to do so? My money is on Draisaitl.

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Which storied NHL record will be the next to fall?

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