By Jared Clinton, with contributions from the author<\/p>\n
Many players in the Edmonton Oilers franchise have faced the challenge of living in the immense shadow cast by Wayne Gretzky\u2019s legendary achievements. This is the daily reality for those skating behind Gretzky\u2019s monumental legacy.<\/p>\n
Take Connor McDavid\u2019s remarkable 42-point run in the 2024 playoffs\u2014an impressive feat for today\u2019s fans. However, it still falls short of Gretzky\u2019s all-time NHL playoff record of 47 points set in 1985. McDavid is not alone in this experience; Evgeni Malkin has also seen his playoff heroics overshadowed by the legendary Mario Lemieux. Malkin\u2019s best postseason effort of 36 points in 2009 ranks only seventh in his franchise\u2019s history, unable to surpass Lemieux\u2019s remarkable 44 points from 1991.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, not all franchise playoff records belong to recent stars\u2014almost half of NHL teams have had their best playoff scoring performances come within the last two decades. Here\u2019s a rundown of the top single-playoff point leaders for each NHL franchise:<\/p>\n
1. Edmonton Oilers \u2013 Wayne Gretzky, 47 points (1984-85)
\n2. Pittsburgh Penguins \u2013 Mario Lemieux, 44 points (1990-91)
\n3. Los Angeles Kings \u2013 Wayne Gretzky, 40 points (1992-93)
\n4. New York Islanders \u2013 Mike Bossy, 35 points (1980-81)
\n5. Toronto Maple Leafs \u2013 Doug Gilmour, 35 points (1992-93)
\n6. Colorado Avalanche \u2013 Joe Sakic, 34 points (1995-96)
\n7. New York Rangers \u2013 Brian Leetch, 34 points (1993-94)
\n8. Tampa Bay Lightning \u2013 Nikita Kucherov, 34 points (2019-20)
\n9. Boston Bruins \u2013 Rick Middleton, 33 points (1982-83)
\n10. Washington Capitals \u2013 Evgeny Kuznetsov, 32 points (2017-18)
\n11. Calgary Flames \u2013 Al MacInnis, 31 points (1988-89)
\n12. Vancouver Canucks \u2013 Pavel Bure, 31 points (1993-94)
\n13. Philadelphia Flyers \u2013 Daniel Briere, 30 points (2009-10)
\n14. San Jose Sharks \u2013 Logan Couture, 30 points (2015-16)
\n15. Chicago Blackhawks \u2013 Denis Savard, 29 points (1984-85)
\n16. Dallas Stars \u2013 Steve Payne, 29 points (1980-81)
\n17. Carolina Hurricanes \u2013 Eric Staal, 28 points (2005-06)
\n18. Detroit Red Wings \u2013 Henrik Zetterberg, 27 points (2007-08)
\n19. Montreal Canadiens \u2013 Frank Mahovlich, 27 points (1970-71)
\n20. Vegas Golden Knights \u2013 Jack Eichel, 26 points (2022-23)
\n21. Florida Panthers \u2013 Matthew Tkachuk, 24 points (2022-23)
\n22. New Jersey Devils \u2013 Patrik Elias, 23 points (2000-01)
\n23. St. Louis Blues \u2013 Ryan O\u2019Reilly, 23 points (2018-19)
\n24. Ottawa Senators \u2013 Daniel Alfredsson, 22 points (2006-07)
\n25. Buffalo Sabres \u2013 Gilbert Perreault, 21 points (1979-80)
\n26. Winnipeg Jets \u2013 Blake Wheeler, 21 points (2017-18)
\n27. Anaheim Ducks \u2013 Ryan Getzlaf, 20 points (2014-15)
\n28. Minnesota Wild \u2013 Marian Gaborik, 17 points (2002-03)
\n29. Nashville Predators \u2013 Filip Forsberg, 16 points (2017-18)
\n30. Seattle Kraken \u2013 Yanni Gourde, 13 points (2022-23)
\n31. Columbus Blue Jackets \u2013 Artemi Panarin, 11 points (2018-19)
\n32. Utah Mammoth \u2013 N\/A (franchise moved; Dale Hawerchuk had 13 points in 1987 playoffs)<\/p>\n
This piece is part of the 2025 Champions issue, highlighting the Florida Panthers\u2019 Stanley Cup victory, Seth Jones\u2019 defensive mastery, and key moments from the 2024-25 NHL season. Subscribers to Hockey News gain access to this content and over 76 years of hockey archives.<\/p>\n
Fan Take: This rundown of playoff point leaders underscores how historic legends continue to set the bar high, even as newer stars chase their legacies. It reminds hockey fans of the enduring greatness within the sport and the exciting potential for emerging players to carve out their own place in history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Jared Clinton, with contributions from the author Many players in the Edmonton Oilers franchise have faced the challenge of living in the immense shadow cast by Wayne Gretzky\u2019s legendary achievements. This is the daily reality for those skating behind Gretzky\u2019s monumental legacy. Take Connor McDavid\u2019s remarkable 42-point run in the 2024 playoffs\u2014an impressive feat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[730],"tags":[734],"class_list":{"0":"post-16972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}