Examining the Most Notable Wayne Gretzky Records
By
Richard Janvrin
Contributor Updated: 26 September 2024
Richard Janvrin Contributor
Richard has been writing about sports since he was a teenager. Still, his first professional role came in 2015, covering all things NFL and fantasy football-related. From there, in December 2018, he started in the sports betting industry, covering sportsbook reviews before arriving to where he is today.
The Career and Records of Wayne Gretzky
In baseball, there’s Babe Ruth.
In basketball, there’s Michael Jordan.
In football, there’s Tom Brady.
And in the NHL, there’s “The Great One,” Wayne Gretzky.
At the time of his retirement in 1999, the number of Wayne Gretzky records topped 60 at 61. Today, there are still 57 standing.
A number of his records will never be broken. If you were to look at NHL sports betting sites and they somehow had props for players to break his records, the odds would be some of the longest we’ve ever seen for any betting market.
Below, I have eight records from the legendary Gretzky career to remind us all of.
Let’s dive in.
- Most Goals: 894
- Most Single-Season Goals: 92
- Most Assists: 1,962
- Most Single-Season Assists: 163
- Most Points: 2,856
- Longest Game Streak With a Point: 51
- Most Games With Three Goals or More: 50
- Most Seasons With 100+ Points: 15
Most Goals: 894
Across 1,487 games, Gretzky scored 894 goals. He had one season with 92 goals, four seasons with 71 or more, and 14 with 31 or more. This speaks to how insane the Gretzky career was.
Behind him is Alexander Ovechkin, who’s 38 years old as of the end of the 2023-24 season, and he’s 41 behind him (853). In 2023-24, Ovechkin had 31 but has had 41 or more every season since 2017.
This one is certainly up for grabs, but besides Ovechkin, the only other player with 800 or more goals was Gordie Howe, with 801.
We’ll see if Ovechkin can hold up over another season or two, but nonetheless, this is an insane amount of goals that led to many Wayne Gretzky trophies.
Most Single-Season Goals: 92
As mentioned above, Gretzky scored 92 goals during the 1981-82 season, a highlight of Gretzky’s career. This is five ahead of the second-place record of 87, which Gretzky also set in 1983-84. Since 2000, the best season for single-season goals was Auston Matthews, which was this past season with 69. This is a record that’ll never be touched. No player has hit 70 goals in a season since Teemu Selanne in 1992-93 with 76. These incredible records are a testament to Wayne Gretzky’s trophies and his dominance in the sport.
Most Assists: 1,962
While Gretzky’s career goals are up for grabs, and his single-season record will never be touched, another record that isn’t even remotely possible to pass is his all-time assists.
Throughout his career, Gretzky racked up 1,963 assists. The next closest player is Ron Francis, with 1,249. That’s a gap of 714. To put that in perspective, that’s essentially the entire career of Claude Giroux.
In his career, Gretzky had 11 seasons with 100 or more assists. The most assists in a single season came in 1985-86 with 163. That’s more than two per game.
Gretzky reached 1,000 career assists faster than any other player in just 435 games.
Most Single-Season Assists: 163
One of the most eye-popping Wayne Gretzky records is his single-season assists.
The 1985-86 season resulted in Gretzky scoring 163 assists across 80 games. He also scored 52 goals that season.
During that season, he had two games with seven assists, four with five or more, 12 with four or more, and even more impressively, nine games without a single assist.
Most Points: 2,856
While Gretzky finished 144 points shy of 3,000, what’s even more impressive is that no other player in NHL history has hit the 2,000-point mark. The next closest player is Jaromir Jagr, with 1,921.
Gretzky accumulated these points through his 894 goals and 1,962 assists.
He reached 1,000 points in just 424 games. In 1989, Gretzky passed Howe’s record of 1,850 and played another ten seasons.
This is the most prolific of the Wayne Gretzky career stats.
Longest Game Streak With a Point: 51
Next in the line of the Wayne Gretzky records is his longest streak with at least one point.
Gretzky had a streak of 51 games with at least one point during the 1983-84 season. In the season’s first game, he scored a goal and assisted in a 5-4 win over Toronto.
Throughout this streak, he scored 153 points – 61 goals and 92 assists.
The next closest player was Mario Lemieux, who scored 46 in 1989-90.
Gretzky also had a season with 39 games and 30 games straight, with at least one point, which ranked third and fourth, respectively.
Most Games With Three Goals or More: 50
Lemieux was just behind Gretzky in the point streak, and he’s also second to Gretzky in career games with three goals or more.
Gretzky holds the record with 50, and Lemieux is behind him with 40. No other player has more than 39 (Mike Bossy).
Most Seasons With 100+ Points: 15
Points in hockey are generated through goals and assists, and Gretzky holds the record for the most 100-plus point seasons with 15. Again, Lemieux is behind him with 10. Within that, Gretzky holds the record of 13 straight seasons with 100 or more points.
Looking Back at Gretzky’s Career
Gretzky played in the NHL from 1978 to 1999 for the Indianapolis Racers, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers.
During that time, he won four Stanley Cups, all with the Oilers (1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988).
Now, let’s look at the Wayne Gretzky awards.
Gretzky also won nine Hart Memorial Trophies — the NHL MVP award. Of those nine, he earned one in eight straight seasons (1980-1987) and another in 1989.
He was the scoring leader ten times, won two Conn Smythe Trophies, five Lady Byng Memorial Trophies, five Ted Lindsay Awards, went to 18 All-Star games, won three All-Star MVPs, was an eight-time NHL first-team All-Star, and a seven-time NHL second-team All-Star.
He’s enshrined in the NHL Hall of Fame and was inducted immediately after retiring as the waiting period was waived.
Gretzky is regarded as one of the greatest athletes in professional sports history.
