Alex Ovechkin holds the NHL career goals record with 929 through the 2025-26 season, having passed Wayne Gretzky (894) in April 2025; Gordie Howe's 801 is third.
Alex Ovechkin has the most goals in NHL history: 929 in the regular season as of the end of the 2025-26 season. Wayne Gretzky is second with 894 and Gordie Howe third with 801. The ranking uses career regular-season NHL goals; Ovechkin is the only active NHL player in the top ten, so his total will rise.
For three decades Wayne Gretzky's 894 goals looked untouchable. Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals broke the record on April 6, 2025 with his 895th goal, in his 1,487th game, the same number of games Gretzky played in his whole career. On November 5, 2025 he became the first player to score 900. This list ranks players by career regular-season NHL goals as of the end of the 2025-26 season, the league's 108th. Ovechkin re-signed with Washington for 2026-27, so his figure is a snapshot; the other nine totals are final in the NHL.
Ovechkin passed Gretzky with his 895th goal on April 6, 2025, became the first player to 900 on November 5, 2025, and finished 2025-26 with 929 goals in 1,573 games, all for Washington. He has won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league's top goal scorer a record nine times.
Gretzky's 894 goals in 1,487 games were the record from 1994 until 2025. He still holds the single-season record of 92 goals and reached 500 goals faster than anyone, in his 575th game.
Howe scored 801 goals over 26 NHL seasons between 1946 and 1980, the first 25 with Detroit, and held the career record until Gretzky passed him in 1994. His 1,767 games are the second-most in NHL history.
Jagr scored 766 goals for nine NHL teams, and his 1,733 games are the fourth-most in league history. He is still playing professionally in the Czech Extraliga, so he is not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame.
Hull scored 741 goals. His 86 in 1990-91 are the third-highest single-season total, behind two Gretzky seasons, and he won the Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999 and Detroit in 2002.
Dionne scored 731 goals, with six 50-goal seasons including five in a row from 1978-79 to 1982-83. He scored his 700th goal after a late-career trade to the New York Rangers.
Esposito scored 717 goals. He was the first player to reach 100 points in a season (126 in 1968-69), and his 76 goals in 1970-71 set the single-season record at the time.
Gartner scored 708 goals on consistency rather than peaks: he holds the record of 15 consecutive 30-goal seasons, starting in 1979-80, but reached 50 only once, in 1984-85.
Messier scored 694 goals and is the only player to captain two different teams, Edmonton and the New York Rangers, to the Stanley Cup. In the 1994 conference final he guaranteed a Game 6 win over New Jersey and scored a third-period hat trick to deliver it.
Yzerman scored 692 goals, all for Detroit, and captained the Red Wings from 1986-87 for two decades, including their 1997 Stanley Cup, the club's first in 42 years. He won the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in 1999-2000.
| # | Name | NHL seasons | Games played | Teams | Hall of Fame |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Ovechkin | 2005-present | 1,573 | WSH | Active |
| 2 | Wayne Gretzky | 1979-1999 | 1,487 | EDM, LAK, STL, NYR | 1999 |
| 3 | Gordie Howe | 1946-1971, 1979-80 | 1,767 | DET, HFD | 1972 |
| 4 | Jaromir Jagr | 1990-2008, 2011-2018 | 1,733 | PIT, WSH, NYR, PHI, DAL, BOS, NJD, FLA, CGY | Not yet eligible |
| 5 | Brett Hull | 1986-2006 | 1,269 | CGY, STL, DAL, DET, PHX | 2009 |
| 6 | Marcel Dionne | 1971-1989 | 1,348 | DET, LAK, NYR | 1992 |
| 7 | Phil Esposito | 1963-1981 | 1,282 | CHI, BOS, NYR | 1984 |
| 8 | Mike Gartner | 1979-1998 | 1,432 | WSH, MNS, NYR, TOR, PHX | 2001 |
| 9 | Mark Messier | 1979-2004 | 1,756 | EDM, NYR, VAN | 2007 |
| 10 | Steve Yzerman | 1983-2006 | 1,514 | DET | 2009 |
Players are ranked by career regular-season NHL goals, most first, as listed on Wikipedia's list of NHL players with 500 goals (as of the end of the 2025-26 season), which draws on the NHL record book and NHL.com. Games played and Hall of Fame years come from the same table. Playoff goals and goals in other leagues (WHA, Europe) are excluded. Ovechkin's 929 goals and 1,573 games are as of the end of the 2025-26 regular season and will change during 2026-27. There are no ties in the top ten.
Alex Ovechkin, with 929 regular-season goals as of the end of the 2025-26 season. He passed Wayne Gretzky's 894 on April 6, 2025.
No. Only regular-season NHL goals count. Including playoffs, Ovechkin became the second player after Gretzky to reach 1,000 combined goals, on March 22, 2026.
Lemieux is 11th with 690 goals in only 915 games, about 0.75 goals per game, the highest rate of anyone in the top 11. He reached 500 goals in his 605th game, the second-fastest after Gretzky.
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