As of the completion of the 2023–24 regular season, 126 ice hockey players in the National Hockey League (NHL) have scored at least 100 points in a single NHL regular season.
Collectively, these players have achieved this feat on 312 occasions, playing for 26 franchises. This includes nine additions in 2023–24, two first-timers and seven players who achieved a repeat 100-point season. Including eight franchises that have changed cities, there have been 29 teams with 100-point players.
The first NHL season in which a player scored 100 points was 1968–69, when Phil Esposito scored his hundredth point on March 2, 1969. Esposito finished the season with 126 points, and two other players achieved 100 points that season: Bobby Hull, who finished with 107 points, and Gordie Howe, who finished with 103 points.[1] The first (of six) defencemen to reach the 100-point mark in the NHL was Bobby Orr, in 1969–70.[2]
Since 1968–69, there have only been seven seasons without a 100-point player. No player achieved 100 points during the lockout years of 1994–95, 2004–05 (which was cancelled outright), and 2012–13. In addition, no player achieved 100 points in the full seasons of 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04, and 2014–15.[3]
A record 21 players scored 100 points in 1992–93, the same season that a record 14 players reached the 50-goal plateau. The second most to achieve 100 points in the same season was 16, in 1984–85. By contrast, the 100-point player became a rarity in the eight seasons from 1996–97 to 2003–04; only eight players, on eleven occasions, playing for five teams, reached the century mark.[3]
The player with the most 100-point seasons is Wayne Gretzky, with 15. Mario Lemieux is second, with 10 seasons of 100 points. Gretzky also holds the record of 13 consecutive 100-point seasons. In addition, Gretzky holds the record as the quickest – and second quickest – to achieve 100 points in a season, scoring his 100th point in game 34 of the 1983–84 season, followed by scoring his 100th point in game 35 of the 1984–85 season.[4] The defenceman with the most 100-point seasons, and the most consecutive, is Bobby Orr, with six.[2] Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey share the record for fastest 100 points by defenseman, with Orr scoring his 100th point in the 59th game of the 1970-71 season, and Paul Coffey scoring his 100th point in his 59th (team's 60th) game of the 1985-86 season.
Five players could have made the list on assists alone: Orr, Gretzky (11 times), Lemieux, Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov have had at least 100 assists in a single season.[5]
On six occasions a player has been traded during a 100-point season: Jean Ratelle, Bernie Nicholls, John Cullen, Teemu Selanne, Wayne Gretzky, and Joe Thornton.[3] Thornton is also the only NHL player in history to be traded in the same year they won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer.
Excluding the six split-team situations above, and excluding franchises that have simply changed cities, 17 players have achieved complete 100-point-or-more seasons with two teams. The first was Marcel Dionne in 1974–75 with the Detroit Red Wings and then 1976–77 with the Los Angeles Kings. No player has done this with three teams, unless the split-team situations are counted, in which case Gretzky would be considered the only player to accomplish this: Edmonton Oilers (9 times), Los Angeles Kings (5 times), and, in 1995–96, combined Kings/St. Louis Blues.[3] Gretzky, Coffey, and Adam Oates are the only players to have two 100 point seasons with two different teams (Joe Sakic scored 100 points with the Quebec Nordiques and also with the Colorado Avalanche, which are two different teams, though technically the same franchise).
Six defencemen have scored at least 100 points in a season. They are Bobby Orr (six times, including the overall defenceman record of 139 points in 1970–71), Paul Coffey (five times), Denis Potvin, Al MacInnis, Brian Leetch, and Erik Karlsson (the most recent, in 2022–23).[2]
The youngest player to achieve a 100-point season is Sidney Crosby, at 18 years, 253 days old. He scored his 100th NHL point on April 17, 2006, the Pittsburgh Penguins' 81st game of the 2005–06 season, his rookie season. The oldest player to achieve a 100-point season is Gordie Howe, at 40 years, 364 days—the day before his 41st birthday. He scored his hundredth point of the 1968–69 season on March 30, 1969 – only four weeks after Phil Esposito became the first ever player to score 100 points – while playing for the Detroit Red Wings. Joe Sakic had the greatest time period between first and last 100 point seasons, achieving his first in 1988-89, and his last in 2005-06, for a span of 17 years.
Wayne Gretzky is the only player to achieve or surpass a 200-point season, doing so with the Edmonton Oilers four times: 1981–82 and three consecutive from 1983–84 to 1985–86. When he accomplished this feat in 1981–82, Gretzky also became the first ever player to surpass 160, 170, 180, and 190 points in a season. While Gretzky would surpass each of the 160 through 190-point thresholds multiple times, only one other player has ever reached those marks – Mario Lemieux. It is only at the 150-point threshold that a few other players (four) have joined those two players: the six players to achieve or surpass a 150-point season are Wayne Gretzky (nine times), Mario Lemieux (four times), and once each for Phil Esposito, Bernie Nicholls, Steve Yzerman and Connor McDavid. Names and number of seasons quickly escalate below 150 points.[3]
Excluding the six split-team players above, the Edmonton Oilers have had the most incidents of a player achieving 100 points during the franchise's history, with 39. Excluding the same six players, the Pittsburgh Penguins have had the greatest number of unique players achieve 100 points, with 12. The Boston Bruins have had 11 different players achieve 100 points, and the Edmonton Oilers have had ten different players achieve 100 points while with the team.[3]
The Boston Bruins were the first team to have four players achieve 100 points in the same season, 1970–71. The Edmonton Oilers are the only team to achieve this feat multiple times, seeing four players score 100 points three different times – 1982–83, 1983–84 and 1985–86. The Pittsburgh Penguins are the only other team to register four players with 100 points in the same season, 1992–93.[3]
The Pittsburgh Penguins have had at least one 100-point player in 23 different seasons. The Edmonton Oilers have achieved the feat in 19 different seasons, including at least one 100-point player in eleven consecutive seasons, from 1979–80 to 1989–90.[3][6]
The Los Angeles Kings are the only team to have two players achieve 150+ points in the same year, with Wayne Gretzky (168 points) and Bernie Nicholls (150 points) achieving this in 1988–89.[3]
Four franchises have had 100 point players before and after the entire team moved: the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes, the Atlanta Flames/Calgary Flames, the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche, and the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars. Two franchises have had 100-point players in their original city, but not their new city: original Winnipeg Jets (now Arizona Coyotes) and Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets).[3]
Of the 32 franchises in the NHL in 2022–23, five have never had a player achieve a 100 point season: New Jersey Devils (started as Kansas City Scouts in 1974–75),[7] Nashville Predators (1998–99),[8] Columbus Blue Jackets (joined in 2000–01 season),[9] and the two newest teams, the Vegas Golden Knights (2017–18)[10] and Seattle Kraken (2021–22).[11]