Books chronicling the NHL’s vast history are littered with the accomplishments of its prolific scorers and dominant offensive players. Likewise, the NHL can be encapsulated by the countless iconic images of the game’s top players doing what they do best — scoring. It’s true that the NHL is a game of equal parts offense and defense, but lets face it, the offensive players are the ones that garner the most attention and are most fondly remembered.
We at FanSided wanted to dissect this facet of NHL history and bring to life an objective list of the sport’s 25 most dominant offense players. For this list we put together a weighted system that measures every player’s offensive output. We focused merely on the hard numbers. Thus, Stanley Cups, awards, defensive skills, leadership, intangibles, and other factors have all been taken out of the equation. This isn’t a list of the NHL’s top 25 players of all-time, but instead a list of the sport’s 25 most dominant offensive players according to the following categories.
Point Breakdown:
Led League in Points (Art Ross Trophy): 8 Points
Led League in Goals (Rocket Richard Trophy): 4 Points
Led League in Assists: 4 Points
100 Point Season: 2 Points
50 Goal Season: 2 Points
Career Points-Per-Game:
1.0: 2 Points
1.1: 4 Points
1.2: 6 Points
1.4: 8 Points
1.5: 10 Points
1.6: 12 Points
1.7: 14 Points
1.8: 16 Points
1.9: 18 Points
2.0: 20 Points
This point breakdown allows one the ability to compare the NHL’s many stars across all eras. No matter the era, someone had to lead the league in these categories. Thus, whoever dominated their era the greatest will be high on this list. Players that simply compiled gaudy statistics throughout their career but never truly dominated their peers aren’t rewarded as heavily.
Frequently people compare career statistics, which is unfair as often times players’ career numbers from specific eras do not translate to how spectacular they truly were. Not to mention, injury or the longevity of mediocre play influences the career totals in either direction. That is where the points-per-game category comes in. It allows all players to be judged by how great they were every time they stepped out on the ice — not by how many times they stepped on it. Let me reiterate, this isn’t listing the best hockey players in NHL history, but it is a listing of the most dominant offensive players in NHL history.
Six current NHL players cracked the top 25. Did your all-time favorite player make the list?