Hockey is a game of arguments. You go to any bar in Montreal, Edmonton, or Detroit, and you'll hear the same debates raging over a pint of Molson. Who was better? The guy who scored 200 points in a season or the guy who basically invented the modern defenseman? Honestly, trying to nail down the top 10 NHL players of all time is a fool's errand because the eras are just so wildly different. You've got guys playing in the 50s with wooden sticks and no helmets, and then you've got modern cyborgs like Connor McDavid.
But we're going to try anyway.
Statistics give us a baseline, but they're kinda liars sometimes. They don't show you the grit of Gordie Howe or the way Mario Lemieux played through things that would put most people in a hospital bed for months. This isn't just a list of who has the most points; it’s about who changed the DNA of the sport forever.
1. Wayne Gretzky: The Great One for a Reason
Let's not overthink this. You can't start a list of the top 10 NHL players of all time anywhere else.
The numbers are just stupid. They look like typos. Wayne Gretzky finished his career with 2,857 points. To put that in perspective, if he had never scored a single goal in his entire life, he would still be the NHL's all-time leading scorer based on assists alone. He had 1,963 assists. The next closest guy in total points is Jaromir Jagr, who is nearly 1,000 points behind him despite playing hundreds more games.
Gretzky wasn't the biggest. He wasn't the fastest. He sort of looked like a guy who might work at a bank. But his brain worked at a frequency no one else could touch. He famously said he "skates to where the puck is going to be," which sounds like a cliché until you realize he actually did it for 20 seasons. He won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers and changed the market for hockey forever when he was traded to Los Angeles in 1988.
2. Mario Lemieux: The Most Talented Human to Ever Lace Them Up
If Wayne was the smartest, Mario was the most gifted. Period. At 6'4" with the hands of a magician, "Super Mario" was a physical anomaly.
What really sucks is thinking about what his stats could have been. He missed huge chunks of his prime fighting Hodgkin’s lymphoma and chronic back pain. In the 1992-93 season, he literally finished a radiation treatment for cancer, hopped on a plane, and scored a goal against the Flyers that same night. He still ended up with 1,723 points in only 915 games.
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His points-per-game average is 1.88, which is just a hair behind Gretzky’s 1.92. If Lemieux had stayed healthy? Honestly, he might have been number one. He won two Cups as a player and then literally saved the Penguins franchise as an owner.
3. Bobby Orr: The Man Who Invented the Modern Defenseman
Before Bobby Orr, defensemen were basically large men who stood in front of the net and hit people.
Orr changed that. He decided he was going to be the fastest guy on the ice and lead the rush. He remains the only defenseman to ever win the Art Ross Trophy (the league's leading scorer), and he did it twice. In the 1970-71 season, he had a plus-minus of +124. That is a record that will never, ever be broken.
His knees eventually gave out, ending his career after only 657 games. It’s tragic. But in those 12 seasons, he won eight straight Norris Trophies. Every offensive defenseman playing today, from Cale Makar to Quinn Hughes, is basically just trying to do a Bobby Orr impression.
4. Gordie Howe: Mr. Hockey
Longevity is an understatement when you're talking about Gordie Howe. He played professional hockey in five different decades. Five.
He was the perfect blend of skill and absolute terror. You didn't want to go into a corner with Gordie because you were probably coming out with a broken nose or a few less teeth. He held the scoring records before Gretzky came along, finishing with 801 goals. He was a 21-time All-Star and won four Stanley Cups with Detroit. The "Gordie Howe Hat Trick"—a goal, an assist, and a fight—perfectly sums up his legacy.
5. Maurice "Rocket" Richard: The First Superstar
You can't talk about the top 10 NHL players of all time without mentioning the man who became a cultural icon in Quebec.
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Maurice Richard was the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was pure electricity. When he was suspended in 1955, it literally sparked a riot in the streets of Montreal. He won eight Stanley Cups and was the first player to reach 500 career goals. He didn't just play for the Canadiens; he was the Canadiens.
6. Sidney Crosby: The Most Complete Player
A lot of people hate on Sid, but you have to respect the grind. He came into the league with the weight of the world on his shoulders as "Sid the Kid" and actually exceeded the hype.
Crosby is arguably the best "grinder" among the superstars. He wins puck battles, he’s incredible on the backhand, and his vision is elite. With three Stanley Cups and two Olympic gold medals, he's won everything there is to win. He currently sits high on the all-time scoring list and is still producing at an elite level well into his late 30s.
7. Jean Beliveau: The Class of Montreal
They called him "Le Gros Bill." Beliveau was the epitome of grace and power. He won 10 Stanley Cups as a player—a number so high it feels like a fake stat from a video game.
He was a giant of his era, but he played with a level of sophistication that made him the most respected man in the league. He was the first winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy and finished his career with 1,219 points.
8. Jaromir Jagr: The Ageless Wonder
Jagr is second all-time in NHL scoring with 1,921 points. He had a reach that made it impossible to get the puck off him and a work ethic that became legendary (the guy used to practice at midnight with a weighted vest).
He won two Cups early in his career with Pittsburgh alongside Lemieux, but he spent the next two decades proving he could dominate anywhere. If he hadn't spent three years in the KHL during his late 30s, he would have easily cleared 800 goals.
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9. Nicklas Lidstrom: The Perfect Human
He wasn't flashy. He didn't hit hard. He just never made a mistake.
Lidstrom won seven Norris Trophies and four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings. He played the game like a game of chess, always two moves ahead of the opposing forwards. You rarely saw him out of position. He's the greatest European defenseman to ever play, and honestly, the most "boring" great player because he made everything look so easy.
10. Alexander Ovechkin: The Greatest Goal Scorer
We are currently watching history. As of 2026, Ovechkin has cemented himself as the greatest pure goal scorer the game has ever seen.
While Gretzky has more goals, Ovechkin did it in an era where goalies actually knew how to play the position and wore equipment larger than a sofa. His "office" at the left faceoff circle is the most predictable and yet unstoppable thing in sports. He broke the 894-goal record through sheer force of will and a slap shot that defies physics.
Actionable Insights for Hockey Fans
If you want to truly understand why these guys are the top 10 NHL players of all time, don't just look at the back of a trading card.
- Watch the "Old" Film: Go to YouTube and watch Bobby Orr's end-to-end rushes. It looks like he's playing a different sport than everyone else on the ice.
- Contextualize the Stats: When you see Gretzky's 215-point season, remember that the average game back then ended about 6-5. When you see Ovechkin's 50-goal seasons, remember he's doing it in a league where 2-1 games are common.
- Respect the Two-Way Game: Players like Crosby and Lidstrom aren't just about points. Watch how they play without the puck; that's where the greatness usually hides.
The debate will never end, and that's the best part. Whether you value the raw power of the Rocket or the surgical precision of Gretzky, these ten men define what it means to be a legend on the ice.
Check the current NHL standings and scoring leaders to see which modern stars are climbing the ranks toward this list. Analyze the points-per-game metrics of active players like Connor McDavid to see if they are on pace to crack the top five by the end of their careers.