Greatest NHL players of all time

Wayne Gretzky▲ Rising

The Great One rewrote the record book so thoroughly that he could have retired with zero goals and still led the NHL in career points on assists alone — a stat so absurd it still stops bar arguments cold. Four Cups in Edmonton, 2,857 career points, and a trade to LA that literally grew the sport in a new hemisphere. There's no ranking conversation; there's just where everyone else fits below him.

Stanley Cups: 4Career points: 2,857

added by IJRin 3 rankingsWayne Gretzky

Mario Lemieux▲ Rising

Cancer, chronic back injuries, and a hip that should've ended him at 30 — and Le Magnifique still glided through defenses like they were standing still, dropping a legendary 5-goals-in-5-ways game in 1988 for good measure. He dragged an otherwise middling Penguins roster to back-to-back Cups in '91 and '92 while battling Hodgkin's lymphoma mid-career, then came back years later to save the franchise as an owner. Pound for pound, the most unstoppable skill the game has ever seen when healthy.

Stanley Cups: 2Career points: 1,723

added by IJRin 2 rankingsMario Lemieux

Bobby Orr▲ Rising

Orr didn't just play defense, he obliterated the position's job description, flying end-to-end and finishing his 1970 Cup-clinching goal in the most iconic photograph in hockey history — horizontal, arms raised, having just beaten Glenn Hall in overtime. Two Cups, three Harts, eight straight Norris Trophies, all before his knees gave out in his mid-20s and cut short what should've been an all-time-leader résumé. Nobody changed what a defenseman could be more violently or more beautifully.

Stanley Cups: 2Career points: 915

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Gordie Howe▲ Rising

Mr. Hockey played competitive professional hockey across five decades, finishing his NHL career at 52 years old after literally suiting up alongside his own son. The 'Gordie Howe hat trick' — goal, assist, fight — is named after him for a reason: he was the most complete power forward of his or arguably any era, racking up six Hart Trophies and setting scoring records that stood for a generation. Durability and dominance rarely coexist like this.

Stanley Cups: 4Career points: 1,850

added by IJRin 4 rankingsGordie Howe

Mark Messier▼ Falling

The only captain to hoist the Stanley Cup with two different franchises, Messier's 1994 'guarantee' before Game 6 against the Devils — and then delivering a natural hat trick to back it up — is the single greatest leadership moment in modern hockey. Six Cups, a Gretzky-sized void in Edmonton he somehow filled by winning a title without him in 1990, and a physical, snarling edge that made him the prototype for every 'captain' conversation since.

Stanley Cups: 6Career points: 1,887

added by IJRin 3 rankingsMark Messier

Alex Ovechkin▼ Falling

The Great Eight turned goal-scoring into pure spectacle, owning the left circle one-timer like it was a copyrighted move, and in 2024 he passed Gretzky's all-time goals record — a number many thought untouchable. It took him until 2018 to finally win the Cup and shed the 'empty stats' label, but by then he'd already redefined what a power forward's shot could look like at max volume for two straight decades.

Stanley Cups: 1Career points: 1,620

added by IJR

Jaromír Jágr

With his mullet and freight-train frame, Jágr terrorized the league for so long he was still putting up point totals in his 40s that would end most careers early, retiring with the second-most goals and points in NHL history. Two Cups alongside Lemieux in Pittsburgh in the early '90s proved he could win big, and his sheer longevity — playing pro hockey into his 50s across the KHL and Czech league — makes his statistical shadow one of the largest in the sport's history.

Stanley Cups: 2Career points: 1,921

added by IJRJaromír Jágr

Sidney Crosby▼ Falling

Drafted as 'The Next One' and somehow living up to it, Crosby delivered the golden goal for Canada in Vancouver 2010 in overtime, a moment so perfect it froze an entire country in place. Three Stanley Cups, two Conn Smythes, and a game built on relentless two-way effort and vision rather than flash — the ultimate captain's captain who's spent nearly two decades as the league's measuring stick for complete hockey players.

Stanley Cups: 3Career points: 1,600

added by IJRSidney Crosby