Honestly, looking at the NHL record books usually feels like staring at a museum exhibit. It's all "don't touch" and "this will never happen again." For decades, we’ve just accepted that Wayne Gretzky’s numbers are basically fictional. 2,857 points? It’s a joke. You could take away every single goal he ever scored and he’d still be the all-time leader in points because of his assists. That’s the kind of stat that makes you want to put the controller down and go for a walk.
But things are changing. The "dead puck era" is a distant, boring memory. Scoring is up. Equipment is space-age. And we have players like Connor McDavid and Alex Ovechkin who are doing things that, frankly, shouldn't be possible in the modern game.
When we talk about the most NHL points all time, we aren't just talking about a list of names. We're talking about eras colliding.
The Great One and the Unreachable Summit
Let's just get the Gretzky of it all out of the way first. He has 2,857 career points. To put that in perspective, the guy in second place—Jaromir Jagr—is nearly a thousand points behind him. Jagr has 1,921. That gap is larger than the entire career output of most Hall of Famers.
Gretzky played in an era where goalies stood upright and looked like they were wearing couch cushions for pads. The average game in the 80s looked like a track meet. But don't let that fool you into thinking he was just a product of his time. He was playing chess while everyone else was playing tag.
The list of the top five is basically a Mount Rushmore of hockey:
- Wayne Gretzky: 2,857
- Jaromir Jagr: 1,921
- Mark Messier: 1,887
- Gordie Howe: 1,850
- Ron Francis: 1,798
Jagr is the interesting one here. If he hadn’t spent three years in the KHL during his late 30s, he’d likely be over 2,000 points. He was still putting up 60-point seasons in his 40s. It's kind of wild to think about.
The Active Legends: Crosby and Ovechkin
As of early 2026, the leaderboard is being rewritten in real-time. Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin have spent two decades locked in a battle that has defined a generation.
👉 See also: Oklahoma High School Football Score: What Really Happened This Season
Sidney Crosby recently hit a massive milestone. By late 2025, he surpassed 1,700 career points, moving him into 8th place all-time. He actually passed his mentor, Mario Lemieux, who finished with 1,723 points. Now, "Super Mario" did that in only 915 games, which is a whole other conversation about "what if" scenarios involving health. But Crosby’s longevity is its own kind of greatness. He’s 38 now and still playing at a point-per-game pace.
Then there’s Ovechkin.
Everyone talks about the goals—and yeah, he’s already passed Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history, hitting the 900-goal mark in late 2024 and continuing to climb in 2026. But in terms of total points, he's currently sitting at 10th all-time with around 1,663 points. He isn't the playmaker Crosby is, but when you score that many goals, the points take care of themselves.
The McDavid Factor
If anyone is going to make the "unreachable" Gretzky records look nervous, it’s Connor McDavid.
He’s currently sitting at 1,164 points. That doesn't sound like a lot compared to 2,800, right? But look at the age. He just turned 29. He is entering his absolute prime in an era where the league is the fastest it’s ever been. He’s already 58th on the all-time list. He’s jumping 10 to 15 spots every single season.
McDavid is averaging about 1.52 points per game. If he plays another 10 seasons—which is a big "if" given how hard he plays—he will be right there in the 2,000-point club.
🔗 Read more: Why what is the score of the bengals game today is the Wrong Question to Ask
Why the Era Matters (The Points per Game Argument)
Total points tell you who stayed healthy and played forever. Points per game (P/G) tell you who was the most dominant while they were actually on the ice.
| Player | Points Per Game |
|---|---|
| Wayne Gretzky | 1.92 |
| Mario Lemieux | 1.88 |
| Connor McDavid | 1.52 |
| Mike Bossy | 1.50 |
You see the gap? Gretzky and Lemieux are in a different stratosphere. McDavid is the only modern player even sniffing that territory. For a long time, it was thought that nobody would ever average 1.5 points per game again because the defense got too good. McDavid is proving that wrong, but he's the outlier of all outliers.
What Most People Get Wrong About the All-Time List
People love to say, "If Mario Lemieux had been healthy, he'd have the record."
It's a popular take. It’s also probably wrong. Mario was incredible—maybe the most talented person to ever lace up skates—but he would have needed to play nearly 600 more games at his career average to catch Wayne. That’s seven or eight full seasons. Given his back issues and his battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his body just wasn't built for that kind of volume.
The most NHL points all time isn't just a skill trophy; it's an endurance trophy.
📖 Related: How to Stream ESPN 850 WKNR Listen Live Without the Headache
Gretzky didn't just score; he stayed available. He played 80 games a year consistently during his peak. In today's NHL, with "load management" and the physical toll of the game, seeing a player go 82 games a year for a decade is getting rarer and rarer.
Actionable Insights for Hockey Fans
If you're tracking these records, here’s what you should actually be watching over the next 12 months:
- The Crosby Climb: Watch as Sidney Crosby moves toward the 1,755 mark to pass Steve Yzerman for 7th all-time. Every game he plays now is a piece of history.
- McDavid’s Pace: Track his points-per-game average. If he stays above 1.50, he remains on the "Gretzky-lite" trajectory. If it dips toward 1.2 or 1.3, the dream of 2,000 points starts to fade.
- The 1,000 Point Club: Keep an eye on guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl. They are both closing in on the top 100 all-time, which is the gateway to the "legend" conversation.
- Check Real-Time Boards: The NHL's official records site is the best place to see these totals update after every West Coast nightcap.
The hunt for the most NHL points all time is essentially a marathon that lasts 20 years. We are currently watching three different players—Crosby, Ovechkin, and McDavid—run that marathon at a pace we haven't seen since the 1980s. Enjoy it. We might not see this kind of talent density again for another fifty years.