The 2026-27 NHL season is right around the corner, set to expand to 84 games per team, the most since 1993-94, giving several of these chases a little extra runway to close out should they need it. Some of the milestones below are likely to fall in the season’s opening weeks; others will take a full year to reach.
Two of the game’s defining stars are climbing the all-time scoring lists, a 41-year-old defenseman is on track to own one of the sport’s most demanding records, and a wave of players in their late 20s and early 30s are reaching the round numbers that define a career. Here’s a look at some of the milestones worth tracking going into the season.
Alex Ovechkin passing 950 goals: Ovechkin enters the season with 929 career goals, having passed Wayne Gretzky‘s long-standing record of 894 back in April 2025. He’ll cross 950 early in the year and sits 71 goals from 1,000, which at his recent scoring pace projects to roughly two more seasons, no longer the far-fetched number it once seemed. He re-signed with Washington on a one-year deal for his 22nd NHL season. Beyond the goals record he already owns, he’s also 26 points from passing Mario Lemieux (1,723) for ninth on the all-time scoring list, and he’ll play his 1,600th career game at some point during the season.
Sidney Crosby moving to 7th all-time in assists: Crosby enters the season with 1,107 career assists, two behind Joe Thornton’s 1,109, which sets up a pass into seventh place within the first few weeks. From there, Paul Coffey (1,135), Jaromír Jágr (1,155), and Ray Bourque (1,169) are all within range over a full healthy season, which would carry him into fourth all-time in assists, trailing only Gretzky, Ron Francis, and Mark Messier. He’s also seventh all-time in total points at 1,761, with Marcel Dionne (1,771) and Francis (1,798) both in reach; a strong year could push him as high as fifth. Crosby is 39 and will enter his 21st NHL season in Pittsburgh.
Connor McDavid reaching 1,300 career points: McDavid enters the year with 1,220 points in 794 career games and should cross 1,300 around midseason. What sets the number apart is pace: he’s reaching four-figure career totals in a games-played count that has historically taken players into their thirties, and his current rate remains the fastest points-per-game of any player in NHL history among those with significant career length. He’s also 89 assists from 900, sitting at 811 entering the year.
Brent Burns breaking the NHL’s Iron Man record: Burns starts the season with 1,007 consecutive games played, second all-time behind Phil Kessel‘s 1,064, a mark Kessel set in October 2022. Burns needs 58 straight appearances to break it, a total he’s projected to reach in late January if he stays in the lineup. He re-signed with Colorado for a 23rd NHL season specifically with the record in mind. Burns is a converted forward who moved to defense early in his career and hasn’t missed a game since 2013, making him the first player in years with a realistic shot at breaking Kessel’s record.
Evgeni Malkin reaching 900 career assists: Malkin re-signed with Pittsburgh on a one-year, $5.5 million contract for what’s been widely reported as his 21st and final NHL season. He enters it with 874 career assists, 26 short of 900, a plateau reached by fewer than two dozen players in NHL history. He’s also 31 games from 1,300 for his career and 17 goals from 550. With Sidney Crosby still in Pittsburgh, this is likely the last season the two share the ice as teammates chasing milestones together.
Sergei Bobrovsky moving into the top 5 in goaltender wins: Bobrovsky enters the season seventh all-time in NHL wins with 456, and Henrik Lundqvist‘s 459 should fall within the first two weeks of the year, moving him into sixth. From there, Ed Belfour (484) and Roberto Luongo (489) are both within range this year, should Toronto have a successful season, which would put him in the top five. The two time cup winner has reached his current win total in 802 games, fewer than any goaltender near him on the all-time list.
Patrick Kane climbing the all-time points list: Kane enters the season 24th all-time in NHL scoring with 1,400 points, sitting directly behind Evgeni Malkin (1,407), Dale Hawerchuk (1,409) and Doug Gilmour (1,414), all reachable over a full season, with Adam Oates (1,420) and Bryan Trottier (1,425) very much in range. Kane re-signed with the Chicago Blackhawks, the team that drafted him first overall in 2007, after three seasons in Detroit. He remains one of just ten American-born players to reach 1,000 career points, a mark he passed years ago.
John Tavares reaching 1,200 career points: Tavares enters the season with 1,185 career points, 525 goals and 660 assists in 1,266 games, putting his 1,200th within reach around the midpoint of the year. He’s also 25 goals from 550. Now in his 17th NHL season split between the Islanders and Maple Leafs, Tavares crossed 500 career goals last season and moved into the top 50 all-time in that category.
Connor Hellebuyck reaching 350 career wins: Hellebuyck enters the season with 345 career wins in 625 games, putting his 350th within the first few weeks. He’s the 2025 Hart Trophy winner as league MVP, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner, and has established himself as the league’s best goaltender over the past several seasons in Winnipeg; the 350-win mark is notable mostly for how quickly he’s reaching it relative to his games played.
William Nylander reaching 400 career assists: Nylander enters the season with 399 career assists, one away from 400. He’s signed to an eight-year, $92 million contract extension with Toronto and has developed into one of the league’s most consistent point producers. Toronto will lean heavily on Nylander as they aim for a big bounce back year.
Jack Eichel reaching 700 career points: Eichel enters the season with 698 career points, putting his 700th within Vegas’s first week or two of games. He came to the Golden Knights via trade from Buffalo in 2021 after an injury-interrupted stretch with the Sabres, and has since developed into one of the league’s most productive centers, helping Vegas win the Stanley Cup in 2023 and reach the Cup Final again in 2025.
Jamie Benn reaching 1,000 career points: Benn enters the season with 992 career points, 414 goals and 578 assists, across 1,252 games, all with Dallas. He’s eight points from 1,000, a total that’s realistic within the first two or three weeks of the season. Now 36 and in his 17th NHL season, Benn has spent his entire career as a Star and has served as team captain since 2013.
Ryan O’Reilly reaching 900 career points: O’Reilly enters the season with 898 career points, two shy of 900 with Nashville. Fewer than 400 players in NHL history have reached the mark. A former Selke Trophy winner for his two-way play and the 2019 Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP with St. Louis, O’Reilly has built one of the more complete, if under-hyped, résumés of his generation.
Nico Hischier reaching 200 career goals: Hischier, New Jersey’s captain, enters the season one goal shy of 200 for his career. He was the first Swiss-born player selected first overall in the NHL Draft, taken by the Devils in 2017, and has grown into the centerpiece of a team built to contend, while also representing Switzerland internationally.
Veterans chasing 400 goals – Matt Duchene and Claude Giroux: Duchene enters the season with 387 career goals for Dallas, 13 shy of 400. Giroux, now with Ottawa on a one-year deal, sits at 379, 21 away. Both are in their late 30s and playing regular roles rather than winding down, which puts 400 in play for each of them this season rather than next. One name notably absent from this group is Jeff Skinner, who also sits at 379 goals but signed with EHC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland this offseason after going unsigned by an NHL team, ending his chase for now.
The 1,000-games club: A handful of players enter the season within reach of 1,000 career games. Ian Cole (990 games, newly signed with Chicago) and Taylor Hall (989, Carolina) are both about ten games away; Reilly Smith (988) and Brandon Saad (984) are both back with Vegas on one-year deals and should get there not long after, and Casey Cizikas (978), who is headed into the final year of his six year deal with the Islanders, is a bit further off but should cross it well before the season ends.