{"id":869929,"date":"2026-08-24T17:22:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T17:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/869929\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T17:22:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T17:22:19","slug":"nhl-milestone-watch-2026-27-ovechkin-mcdavid-burns-can-do-what-no-player-ever-has","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/869929\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Milestone Watch 2026-27: Ovechkin, McDavid, Burns can do what no player ever has"},"content":{"rendered":"

We continue to be spoiled in this era of generational NHL superstars, many of whom are continuously smashing records year after year. Last season alone, Alex Ovechkin became the league\u2019s first 900-goal scorer, Joel Quenneville became the second coach to win 1,000 games, Sidney Crosby leapfrogged fellow Pittsburgh Penguins <\/a>legend Mario Lemieux in points, Patrick Kane became the all-time points leader among American-born players, Steven Stamkos eclipsed 600 goals and Mathew Schaefer tied the single-season rookie defenseman record for goals.<\/p>\n

What benchmarks are likely to fall this coming season? Welcome to NHL Milestone Watch 2026-27.<\/p>\n

Brent Burns: IRON MAN RECORD (1,065 consecutive games played)<\/p>\n

Doug Jarvis held the ironman record for 36 years, but these days it changes hands like a combat-sport title belt. Keith Yandle set the new mark in 2022 only to be usurped by Phil Kessel less than a year later, and Kessel\u2019s run is set to end at four years. Burns, 41, returns for a 23rd NHL season. He\u2019s hoping to win that elusive Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche<\/a>, but he\u2019ll also set a new ironman mark if he can play 58 more games in a row. Add in his 2016-17 Norris Trophy and the fact he\u2019ll be top-10 in defenseman points by season\u2019s end, and Burns is a Hall of Fame shoo-in.<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin: MOST TOTAL GOALS INCLUDING PLAYOFFS (1,017)<\/p>\n

\u2018Ovi,\u2019 already the goal-scoring G.O.A.T., is back for one more ride with a stacked Washington Capitals<\/a> team primed for a Stanley Cup push in 2026-27. Sitting at 929 regular-season goals, he left Wayne Gretzky\u2019s long-standing record of 894 in the rearview mirror in spring 2025, but Gretzky still has the most total NHL goals between the regular season and postseason with 1,016. Ovechkin sits just 10 back at 1,006, meaning his 11th goal of 2026-27 will grant him undisputed supremacy as the NHL\u2019s pre-eminent twine bulger.<\/p>\n

Paul Maurice: 1,000 COACHING WINS<\/p>\n

Maurice\u2019s longevity and gift for media-friendly quips have made him one of the most memorable bench bosses of his generation, but he\u2019s backed up his likability with a legitimate resume including two Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers<\/a>. He\u2019ll chase a third in four years this season and, after becoming the second coach ever to log 2,000 games in the NHL, he\u2019ll join Scotty Bowman and Quenneville as the third 1,000-game winner if the Panthers win 44 games this season. With a healthier roster and the acquisition of Brady Tkachuk, hitting that number shouldn\u2019t be a problem for Florida in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

Sidney Crosby: TOP FIVE ON ALL-TIME SCORING LIST (1,799)<\/p>\n

Remember the despair of 2011, when concussions were threatening Crosby\u2019s career, leaving us wondering if he\u2019d become an Eric Lindros what-if story? A decade and a half later, Sid is still playing at a near-elite level, and he needs just 38 points to pass Ron Francis for fifth on the NHL\u2019s all-time scoring list. Crosby will also become the sport\u2019s fifth 1,800-point scorer with his 39th point of 2026-27. It remains to be seen how many years left we have of this hockey icon, but it\u2019s thankfully not close to the end yet.<\/p>\n

Sergei Bobrovsky: TOP FIVE IN GOALIE WINS (485)<\/p>\n

With two Stanley Cups, two Vezina Trophies and 400-plus wins, \u2018Bob\u2019 has already cemented an easy Hall of Fame legacy, but he\u2019s not done collecting accolades. He needs 29 victories to pass Ed Belfour for fifth in NHL history. Whether Bobrovsky does so this season depends on how large of a role he carves out with the Toronto Maple Leafs <\/a>and how well the revamped roster performs as a whole. If Bobrovsky wins 29 or more games while sharing the net with Anthony Stolarz, that likely means Toronto returns to the playoffs after missing them in 2025-26.<\/p>\n

Brent Burns & Erik Karlsson: TOP 10 IN DEFENSEMAN SCORING (949 points)<\/p>\n

Even if Burns falls short in the ironman quest and\/or doesn\u2019t win the Cup this season, he\u2019s a strong bet to enter the top 10 in blueliner points, albeit with a brief foray as a forward puffing up his total slightly. He needs only four points to pass Chris Chelios for 10th on the all-time list. Erik Karlsson, another surefire Hall of Famer, will get there with 13 more points. Karlsson, younger and more productive, might pass Burns during the season, but with Larry Robinson only 10 points north of Chelios, Burns and Karlsson should each pass both of them and finish this season comfortably in the top 10.<\/p>\n

Andrei Vasilevskiy: 400 WINS<\/p>\n

Vasilevskiy\u2019s resume will rank among the best of all-time at his position by the time his career ends. It does already, really, and he\u2019s still just 32, not exactly ancient by goalie standards. He already has two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy, two Vezina Trophies and multiple first-team All-Star nods to his name. Having led the NHL in victories six times in the past nine seasons playing for a perennial contender in the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a>, \u2018Vasy\u2019 needs just 30 more wins to reach 400. Bobrovsky is the fastest netminder ever to hit the milestone \u2013 keeping in mind we live in the era of shootouts, 3-on-3 overtime and no ties, inflating goalie win totals \u2013 and he did it in 707 career games. Vasilevskiy opens the year at 598; he\u2019ll obliterate the record for fastest to 400 Ws.<\/p>\n

Benn, Perry, Panarin, Pastrnak and Scheifele: 1,000 POINTS<\/p>\n

The five names here approach the milestone at wildly different paces. I\u2019ve listed Jamie Benn (992), Corey Perry (972), Artemi Panarin (954), David Pastrnak (933) and Mark Scheifele by proximity to 1,000 points, but if we order them by how fast they\u2019ll likely get there, from fewest to most games: Panarin, Pastrnak, Scheifele, Benn, Perry.<\/p>\n

The Connor McDavid category<\/p>\n

What will happen on the latest episode of \u2018McDavid did what?\u2019 If he wins the Art Ross Trophy as the league\u2019s leading scorer this season, he\u2019ll do so for a seventh time and pass Lemieux and Gordie Howe to sit alone in second all-time behind Gretzky\u2019s 10. McDavid is tied with Gretzky for the most times winning the Ted Lindsay\/Lester B. Pearson Award for most outstanding player as voted by his fellow players; a sixth win would break the record. McDavid also just needs 80 points to reach 1,300; when he does so, he\u2019ll be the third-fastest to get there behind, you guessed it, Gretzky and Lemieux. We know McDavid is a once-in-a-century talent when only G.O.A.T.-tier scorers are his peers now.<\/p>\n

Other milestones to watch in 2026-27<\/p>\n

\u2013 Sidney Crosby and Corey Perry: 1,500 games
\u2013 Steven Stamkos: 1,300 points
\u2013 Connor Hellebuyck: 350 wins
\u2013 John Tavares, Claude Giroux, Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov: 1,200 points
\u2013 Leon Draisaitl and Brad Marchand: 1,100 points
\u2013 Matt Duchene, Mark Scheifele and Filip Forsberg: 400 goals<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Credit: –<\/p>\n

Off The Roster is Toronto sports. Hosted by Cabbie Richards, Lindsay Dunn, and Dan Riccio, this is the go-to morning conversation for everything happening in the 6ix \u2013 Hockey, Baseball, Basketball and everything in between. From breakout performances and questionable trades to throwback jerseys, viral moments, and the stories fans are actually talking about \u2013 it\u2019s smart, sharp, and never scripted. Live weekday mornings on the Nation Network YouTube channel<\/a> and available wherever you stream podcasts, the show delivers real opinions, real chemistry, and real Toronto energy. Missed an episode? Catch up anytime. Off The Roster\u2014The new sound of the 6ix.<\/a><\/p>\n

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