NHL All-Time Most Valuable Assets

Edmonton Oilers, centre

1981-82 season, age 21

Ninety-two goals and 212 points in 80 games. The goals are still the record, and the points were until he broke them himself. He was 21, with a third straight Hart Trophy and a second Art Ross, won by 65 points over Mike Bossy. He had lost his first scoring title on a tiebreak, level with Marcel Dionne at 137 points with two fewer goals. Edmonton had the best player who has ever played, at 21, with his whole career ahead.

Boston Bruins, defence

1969-70 season, age 22

The first defenceman to win the scoring title: 33 goals and 87 assists for 120 points in 76 games. Then the Hart, the Norris, the Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup in the same spring. No one else has held all four trophies from one season. He was 22. The 139-point season and the plus-124 came next.

Pittsburgh Penguins, centre

1988-89 season, age 23

Eighty-five goals and 199 points in 76 games, a second straight Art Ross, a year after his first Hart. He was 23. Only Gretzky has scored more in a season, and no one else has come within forty. Pittsburgh had a centre scoring at Gretzky’s rate, almost five years younger than Gretzky.

Edmonton Oilers, centre

2016-17 season, age 20

A hundred points, 30 goals and 70 assists, to lead the league at 20, with the Hart, the Art Ross and the Ted Lindsay Award in his second season. That July he signed for eight years at $12.5 million a year, the highest cap hit in the league, from 2018-19 through 2025-26. Edmonton had the best player in the world from 20 to 29 on a contract he had already outgrown.

Pittsburgh Penguins, centre

2006-07 season, age 19

The youngest scoring champion in any of the four major North American leagues: 36 goals and 84 assists for 120 points in 79 games at 19, plus the Hart and the Lester B. Pearson Award, the seventh player to win all three in one year. He signed that July for five years at $8.7 million a year, through 2012-13. Pittsburgh had the best teenager the sport had produced, for six more seasons, at a price that would not buy a second-line centre today.

Detroit Red Wings, right wing

1952-53 season, age 24

Forty-nine goals and 95 points in 70 games, a third straight scoring title, this one by 24 points over his linemate Ted Lindsay, and a second straight Hart. He had Cups from 1950 and 1952. He was 24. Detroit had the most dominant player in the league with all of it still ahead.

Washington Capitals, left wing

2007-08 season, age 22

Sixty-five goals and 112 points at 22, the most goals by a left wing in a season, and the first player to win the Hart, the Art Ross, the Rocket Richard and the Pearson in the same year. In January he had signed for thirteen years and $124 million, the first nine-figure contract in the league, a cap hit of $9.54 million through 2020-21. Washington had the best goal scorer of his generation from 22 to 35 on one contract.

Pittsburgh Penguins, right wing

1995-96 season, age 24

Sixty-two goals and 149 points at 24, second only to Lemieux. His 87 assists were the most by a winger in a season until Nikita Kucherov had 100 in 2023-24. He had won the Art Ross the year before, in the lockout season, and had Cups from 1991 and 1992. Pittsburgh had the best winger in the world, at 24, with two rings, and Lemieux beside him.

New York Islanders, centre

1978-79 season, age 22

The Hart and the Art Ross at 22, on 47 goals and 87 assists for 134 points and a plus-76 that led the league. He was the first player from a post-1967 expansion team to win the scoring title. The Islanders had not won anything yet; the four straight Cups started the next spring. What they had in 1979 was the best all-round centre in the game, four seasons in.

Pittsburgh Penguins, centre

2008-09 season, age 22

The Art Ross with 113 points, then the Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup, at 22. He was the first player since Lemieux in 1992 to lead the regular season and the playoffs in scoring. He had the Calder from 2007 and a 106-point season in between. Pittsburgh had two of the best centres in the world at 21 and 22, and Malkin was the one who had just won the scoring title.

Philadelphia Flyers, centre

1994-95 season, age 22

The Hart and the Pearson at 22, for 70 points in 46 games in the shortened season, level with Jagr for the scoring lead and beaten to the Art Ross on goals. His price had been set before he played a game: in 1992 Quebec took Peter Forsberg’s rights, Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, Mike Ricci, Kerry Huffman, Chris Simon, two first-round picks and $15 million for him. At 22 with a Hart, he was worth all of it.

Colorado Avalanche, defence

2021-22 season, age 23

The Norris, the Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup in one spring at 23, after 28 goals, the most by any defenceman, and 86 points, second only to Roman Josi. He was in the first year of a six-year contract at $9 million, through 2026-27. Only Orr and Leetch had won the Calder, the Norris and the Conn Smythe. Colorado had him for five more years at a second-pair price.

Montreal Canadiens, goaltender

1985-86 season, age 20

A rookie who was in goal for all fifteen of Montreal’s playoff wins in 1986: 15-5, a 1.92 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage, the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe at 20, the youngest player to win it.

New York Islanders, defence

1975-76 season, age 22

Thirty-one goals and 98 points in 78 games at 22, the most by any defenceman that season, and the Norris Trophy that ended Orr’s run of eight. He had the Calder from 1974. The Islanders had the best defenceman in the league at 22, four years before the first of their four straight Cups.

Detroit Red Wings, centre

1988-89 season, age 23

Sixty-five goals and 155 points at 23, third in the league behind Lemieux’s 199 and Gretzky’s 168, and the Pearson Award from the players over both. The goals are still the Detroit record. A 23-year-old captain at the top of his scoring, before the Cups, before the Selke.

New York Islanders, right wing

1978-79 season, age 22

Sixty-nine goals at 22 to lead the league, a year after 53 as a rookie, then a record, and the Calder. Two seasons, 122 goals, and the highest goals-per-game rate in the history of the sport already under way. The Islanders had the purest scorer the league had seen, a year before the first Cup.

Montreal Canadiens, centre

1955-56 season, age 24

Forty-seven goals and 88 points at 24, the Art Ross and the Hart in the same season, then 12 goals and 19 points to lead the playoffs as Montreal won the first of five straight Cups. He did it with 143 penalty minutes. He had won everything a forward could win that year.

Chicago Black Hawks, left wing

1961-62 season, age 23

Fifty goals at 23, the third player to reach the number, and a second Art Ross, taken from Andy Bathgate on a goals tiebreak at 84 points each. He had won the Cup the year before. Two scoring titles and a championship by 23. Chicago had the best left wing there had been, at the start of his prime.

Montreal Canadiens, right wing

1944-45 season, age 23

Fifty goals in fifty games, the first time it was done, the fiftieth on March 18, 1945 in the last game of the schedule. The season before he had scored 32 in 46, and 12 more in nine playoff games to win the Cup. He was 23. Nobody else had scored 50 in a season at any pace.

Winnipeg Jets, right wing

1992-93 season, age 22

Seventy-six goals and 132 points as a rookie, both still records, and the Calder, at 22. Winnipeg had a 22-year-old who had just set two rookie records that have stood for three decades, and did not keep him for long.

Detroit Red Wings, goaltender

1951-52 season, age 22

Forty-four wins, twelve shutouts and a 1.90 goals-against average at 22, for a first Vezina. Then eight straight playoff wins over Toronto and Montreal, with four shutouts and five goals against, a 0.63 average, the first sweep of a whole postseason. He had won the Calder the year before. No goaltender has matched that postseason.

Edmonton Oilers, defence

1985-86 season, age 24

Forty-eight goals, past Orr’s record for a defenceman, and 138 points, one short of Orr’s 139, with a second straight Norris at 24 and Cups from 1984 and 1985. The most productive defenceman since Orr, in his prime, on the best team in the league.

Montreal Canadiens, right wing

1976-77 season, age 25

Fifty-six goals and 136 points at 25, a second straight Art Ross, the Hart, the Conn Smythe and a third Cup, for the best team of the decade. Three of his six straight 50-goal, 100-point seasons were done. He was the best player in the world at 25, and Montreal had him for the rest of the dynasty.

Boston Bruins, defence

1983-84 season, age 23

Thirty-one goals and 96 points at 23, a third First Team All-Star selection in five seasons, with Second Team places in the other two. He had won the Calder as the first rookie skater ever named to the First Team. The Norris took three more years. He would finish with 19 All-Star selections, the most by any defenceman. In 1984 Boston had the start of it.

Colorado Avalanche, centre

1995-96 season, age 22

Thirty goals and 116 points in his first full season, then 21 points in the playoffs as Colorado swept Florida for the Cup. He was 22, a year past the Calder, and had come to the franchise as the centrepiece of the Lindros trade. The injuries that took half his career were years away.

Colorado Avalanche, centre

2017-18 season, age 22

Ninety-seven points in 74 games at 22, second in the league at 1.31 a game, and a Hart vote lost to Taylor Hall by 70 points, the closest since 2013. Colorado improved by 47 points in the standings. He was in the second year of a seven-year contract at $6.3 million, through 2022-23: five more seasons of a first-line centre entering his prime at half the going rate.

Ottawa Senators, defence

2011-12 season, age 21

The Norris at 21, on 78 points in 81 games, 25 more than any other defenceman. The vote was 1,069 to 1,057 over Shea Weber. He signed a new contract the day before he collected it. Ottawa had the most productive defenceman in the league at 21.

Chicago Black Hawks, centre

1964-65 season, age 24

A second straight Art Ross at 24, on 87 points, with the 1961 Cup already won. He would win two more scoring titles and sweep the Hart, the Art Ross and the Lady Byng twice by 28. Chicago had Hull and Mikita together, and Mikita was the younger by a year.

Toronto Maple Leafs, centre

2021-22 season, age 24

Sixty goals in 73 games, the first 60-goal season in a decade, and 106 points, with the Hart, the Rocket Richard and the Ted Lindsay Award, at 24. The goals broke the Toronto record and the record for an American-born player.

Tampa Bay Lightning, centre

2011-12 season, age 22

Sixty goals at 22, a second Rocket Richard and second in the Hart vote, two seasons after 51 goals at 20. Only Malkin also reached 50 that year. A 22-year-old centre with two goal-scoring titles who had outscored the league by ten.

Edmonton Oilers, centre

2019-20 season, age 24

A hundred and ten points in 71 games, 43 goals and 67 assists, the Art Ross by 13 over McDavid, the first German-born player to win it, and the Hart and the Ted Lindsay Award, at 24. He was in the third year of an eight-year contract at $8.5 million, through 2024-25. Five more seasons of a scoring champion at $8.5 million.

Tampa Bay Lightning, right wing

2018-19 season, age 25

A hundred and twenty-eight points, the most by anyone since 1995-96, with 87 assists that tied Jagr’s record for a winger, the Hart on 164 of 171 first-place votes, the Art Ross and the Ted Lindsay Award, at 25. He had signed the previous July for eight years at $9.5 million, starting in 2019-20. Eight seasons of the scoring champion at well under the top of the market.

Vancouver Canucks, right wing

1993-94 season, age 23

Sixty goals for the second straight season, 107 points, and a run to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final, at 23, two years after the Calder. Vancouver had the fastest player in the league and its best finisher. The knees were still whole.

Detroit Red Wings, centre

1993-94 season, age 24

Fifty-six goals and 120 points, second in the league to Gretzky, with the Hart, the Selke and the Pearson in the same season. No one else has won the Hart and the Selke in the same year. He was 24, a first-line centre who was also the best defensive forward in the league, before any of the three Cups.

Philadelphia Flyers, centre

1972-73 season, age 23

The Hart at 23 on 104 points, the first of three, a season before the first of two Cups as captain. Philadelphia had the player its two championships were built on, with both of them ahead.

Winnipeg Jets, centre

1984-85 season, age 22

A hundred and thirty points at 22, 53 goals and 77 assists, and second in the Hart vote behind Gretzky. It was his fourth season, all four over 90 points and three over 100. Winnipeg had a 22-year-old centre with 426 points in four seasons, in the same division as Edmonton.

Edmonton Oilers, left wing

1983-84 season, age 23

The Conn Smythe and a first Cup at 23, on 101 points in 73 games, two seasons after 50 goals. Edmonton had Gretzky, Coffey, Kurri and Messier at 23, 22, 23 and 23, and Messier was the one the playoffs had just named.

Calgary Flames, right wing

2001-02 season, age 24

Fifty-two goals and 96 points at 24, for the Art Ross, the Rocket Richard and the Lester B. Pearson Award, and second in the Hart vote, on a team that missed the playoffs. Calgary had the scoring champion at 24 and built the run to the 2004 Final around him.

New York Rangers, defence

1991-92 season, age 24

Twenty-two goals and 80 assists for 102 points at 24, the fifth defenceman to reach 100 and the last until Erik Karlsson in 2022-23, with a first Norris and the Calder from 1989. The Rangers had a number-one defenceman at 24 whose Conn Smythe was two springs away.

New Jersey Devils, goaltender

1994-95 season, age 22

Sixteen wins in twenty playoff games, a 1.67 average, and a sweep of Detroit for the Cup at 22, a year after the Calder. He would play 1,266 games. At the time he was 22 with a ring, and every counting record was ahead of him.

Los Angeles Kings, defence

2009-10 season, age 20

Fifty-nine points at 20, third among all defencemen, a Norris finalist, and an Olympic gold medal as the youngest player on the Canadian team, in his second season. Los Angeles had a number-one defenceman at 20, with the Cups of 2012 and 2014 ahead.

St. Louis Blues, right wing

1990-91 season, age 26

Eighty-six goals at 26, the third-highest total ever, behind two of Gretzky’s, with 131 points and the Hart, in the middle of three straight goal-scoring titles and three straight First Team selections. St. Louis had a scorer who had just done something only Gretzky had done.

Boston Bruins, centre

1968-69 season, age 27

The first 100-point season: 126 points on 49 goals and 77 assists, the Art Ross and the Hart, at 27, in his second season in Boston. He would win four more scoring titles in the next five years and push the record to 152. Boston had him and Orr.

Colorado Avalanche, centre

1995-96 season, age 26

Fifty-one goals and 120 points, then the Conn Smythe as Colorado won the Cup, at 26. A captain with a championship and 120 points at 26, kept for another decade.

Montreal Canadiens, goaltender

1972-73 season, age 25

A 33-7-13 record and a 2.26 average for the Vezina, then 12-5 in the playoffs for a second Cup, at 25. He already had the Conn Smythe of 1971 and the Calder of 1972, in that order. Two Cups, a Vezina, a Conn Smythe and a Calder at 25.

St. Louis Blues, defence

1999-2000 season, age 25

The Hart and the Norris in the same season at 25, the first defenceman to do it since Orr and still the last, on 62 points and a plus-52 that led the league. The Hart was decided by one vote over Jagr. St. Louis had the best defenceman in the league at 25.

Tampa Bay Lightning, goaltender

2020-21 season, age 26

A second straight Cup and the Conn Smythe at 26, with a shutout to end every series, five in a row across two springs, a record. He had won the Vezina two years earlier. He was in the first year of eight at $9.5 million, through 2027-28. A goaltender in his prime with two Cups, a Vezina and a Conn Smythe, signed for seven more years.

Montreal Canadiens, defence

1976-77 season, age 25

A first Norris at 25, on 85 points and a plus-120 that is still second only to Orr’s plus-124, with Cups from 1973, 1976 and 1977. Montreal had the best defenceman in the league at 25, on a team about to win two more.

Detroit Red Wings, defence

1953-54 season, age 26

The first Norris Trophy ever awarded, with the Lady Byng in the same season on 18 penalty minutes in 62 games, and a third Cup, at 26. His 49 points led all defencemen and were sixth in the league. Detroit had the best defenceman in the league, with Howe, Lindsay and Sawchuk beside him.

Edmonton Oilers, right wing

1984-85 season, age 24

Seventy-one goals, then the record for a right wing, and 135 points at 24, with the Lady Byng and a second straight Cup. A club with a 24-year-old who had just scored 71 goals and won two Cups would not have taken a call.

What he had done by the end of that season, measured against his own era: scoring titles, trophies, Cups and All-Star teams, the same record the hundred was built on. A 100-point season in 1953 and one in 1993 are different things, and so are a Norris Trophy won against Orr and one won without him.

How many good years he had left. The best offensive seasons in the sport’s history came in the mid-twenties, so a scoring champion at 21 is worth more than the same champion at 27. This is the difference between this list and the hundred. The hundred counts a whole career. This list counts what was still to come.

How long the club could keep him. Contracts are not compared across eras, because a 1962 contract and a 2017 contract have nothing in common, and before free agency a club kept a player as long as it wanted. What counts is the years of prime the club still had. Where a contract is part of the record, as it is for the modern players, it is noted.

How hard the position is to fill. First-line centres and number-one defencemen almost never reach the market. Goaltenders are the hardest position to project, so they are judged on a shorter horizon and sit lower here than on the hundred.