List of NHL career assists leaders

The following is a list of ice hockey players who have recorded 600 assists in the National Hockey League (NHL).^[1] All players who reach this mark receive an NHL Milestone Award from the league; the award was introduced in 1982, and all who achieved the accomplishment prior to then were also granted the award.^[2]

Players with 600 NHL assists

Wayne Gretzky

Ray Bourque

Steve Yzerman

As of completion of the 2023–24 season, 100 players have recorded 600 assists while playing in the NHL.

Of these players, 14 have recorded 1,000 assists while playing in the NHL, led by Wayne Gretzky who has a 714 assist advantage over second-place Ron Francis. Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey are the only defensemen to reach 1,000 assists while Jaromir Jagr is the only non-Canadian player with 1,000 career assists. This alone would place these players on the list of NHL players with 1,000 points, which also earns the NHL Milestone Award.^[2]

Legend

Rank – Ranking on all-time assists list

Assists – Career regular season assists

GP – Career regular season games played

A/GP – Mean assists per game played, rounded to two decimal places

With team – Team for which the player recorded their 600th assist

Final season – Final NHL season player competed in

HHOF – Year of induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame

  Active NHL player

  Active player outside of NHL

Rank	Player	Assists	GP	A/GP	With team	Final season	HHOF
1	Wayne Gretzky	1,963	1,487	1.32	Edmonton Oilers	1998–99	1999
2	Ron Francis	1,249	1,731	0.72	Pittsburgh Penguins	2003–04	2007
3	Mark Messier	1,193	1,756	0.68	Edmonton Oilers	2003–04	2007
4	Ray Bourque	1,169	1,612	0.73	Boston Bruins	2000–01	2004
5	Jaromir Jagr	1,155	1,733	0.67	Pittsburgh Penguins	2017–18	Not eligible yet
6	Paul Coffey	1,135	1,409	0.81	Pittsburgh Penguins	2000–01	2004
7	Joe Thornton	1,109	1,714	0.65	San Jose Sharks	2021–22	Eligible 2025
8	Adam Oates	1,079	1,337	0.81	Boston Bruins	2003–04	2012
9	Steve Yzerman	1,063	1,514	0.70	Detroit Red Wings	2005–06	2009
10	Gordie Howe	1,049	1,767	0.59	Detroit Red Wings	1979–80	1972[lower-alpha 1]
11	Marcel Dionne	1,040	1,348	0.77	Los Angeles Kings	1988–89	1992
12	Mario Lemieux	1,033	915	1.13	Pittsburgh Penguins	2005–06	1997[lower-alpha 2]
13	Joe Sakic	1,016	1,378	0.74	Colorado Avalanche	2008–09	2012
14	Sidney Crosby	1,004	1,190	0.79	Pittsburgh Penguins	Active
15	Doug Gilmour	964	1,474	0.65	Toronto Maple Leafs	2002–03	2011
16	Mark Recchi	956	1,652	0.58	Philadelphia Flyers	2010–11	2017
17	Al MacInnis	934	1,416	0.66	Calgary Flames	2003–04	2007
18	Larry Murphy	929	1,615	0.58	Pittsburgh Penguins	2000–01	2004
19	Stan Mikita	926	1,394	0.66	Chicago Black Hawks	1979–80	1983
20	Bryan Trottier	901	1,279	0.70	New York Islanders	1993–94	1997
21	Phil Housley	894	1,495	0.60	Calgary Flames	2002–03	2015
22	Dale Hawerchuk	891	1,188	0.75	Buffalo Sabres	1996–97	2001
23	Nicklas Lidstrom	878	1,564	0.56	Detroit Red Wings	2011–12	2015
24	Phil Esposito	873	1,282	0.68	Boston Bruins	1980–81	1984
25	Denis Savard	865	1,196	0.72	Chicago Blackhawks	1996–97	2000
26	Bobby Clarke	852	1,144	0.74	Philadelphia Flyers	1983–84	1987
27	Henrik Sedin	830	1,330	0.62	Vancouver Canucks	2017–18	2022
28	Alex Delvecchio	825	1,550	0.53	Detroit Red Wings	1973–74	1977
29	Gilbert Perreault	814	1,191	0.68	Buffalo Sabres	1986–87	1990
30	Johnny Bucyk	813	1,540	0.53	Boston Bruins	1977–78	1981
	Patrick Kane	813	1,230	0.66	Chicago Blackhawks	Active
	Mike Modano	813	1,499	0.54	Dallas Stars	2010–11	2014
33	Pierre Turgeon	812	1,294	0.63	St. Louis Blues	2006–07	2023
34	Evgeni Malkin	798	1,145	0.70	Pittsburgh Penguins	Active
35	Jari Kurri	797	1,251	0.64	Los Angeles Kings	1997–98	2001
36	Guy Lafleur	793	1,126	0.70	Montreal Canadiens	1990–91	1988
37	Anze Kopitar	792	1,373	0.58	Los Angeles Kings	Active
38	Peter Stastny	789	977	0.81	Quebec Nordiques	1994–95	1998
39	Mats Sundin	785	1,346	0.58	Toronto Maple Leafs	2008–09	2012
40	Brian Leetch	781	1,205	0.65	New York Rangers	2005–06	2009
41	Jean Ratelle	776	1,280	0.61	Boston Bruins	1980–81	1985
42	Vincent Damphousse	773	1,378	0.56	San Jose Sharks	2003–04	—
	Teemu Selanne	773	1,451	0.53	Anaheim Ducks	2013–14	2017
44	Chris Chelios	763	1,651	0.46	Chicago Blackhawks	2009–10	2013
45	Nicklas Backstrom	762	1,105	0.69	Washington Capitals	Active
46	Bernie Federko	761	1,000	0.76	St. Louis Blues	1989–90	2002
47	Doug Weight	755	1,238	0.61	St. Louis Blues	2010–11	—
48	Larry Robinson	750	1,384	0.54	Montreal Canadiens	1991–92	1995
49	Denis Potvin	742	1,060	0.70	New York Islanders	1987–88	1991
50	Norm Ullman	739	1,410	0.52	Toronto Maple Leafs	1974–75	1982
51	Ryan Getzlaf	737	1,157	0.64	Anaheim Ducks	2021–22	Eligible 2025
52	Bernie Nicholls	734	1,127	0.65	New Jersey Devils	1998–99	—
53	Rod Brind'Amour	732	1,484	0.49	Carolina Hurricanes	2009–10	—
54	Luc Robitaille	726	1,431	0.51	Los Angeles Kings	2005–06	2009
55	Claude Giroux	716	1,182	0.61	Philadelphia Flyers	Active
56	Daniel Alfredsson	713	1,246	0.57	Ottawa Senators	2013–14	2022
57	Jean Beliveau	712	1,125	0.63	Montreal Canadiens	1970–71	1972
	Scott Stevens	712	1,635	0.44	New Jersey Devils	2003–04	2007
59	Jeremy Roenick	703	1,363	0.52	Philadelphia Flyers	2008–09	2024
60	Dave Andreychuk	698	1,639	0.43	New Jersey Devils	2005–06	2017
	Brendan Shanahan	698	1,524	0.46	Detroit Red Wings	2008–09	2013
62	Dale Hunter	697	1,407	0.50	Washington Capitals	1998–99	—
	Alexander Ovechkin	697	1,426	0.49	Washington Capitals	Active
64	Sergei Fedorov	696	1,248	0.56	Columbus Blue Jackets	2008–09	2015
65	Henri Richard	688	1,256	0.55	Montreal Canadiens	1974–75	1979
66	Brad Park	683	1,113	0.61	Boston Bruins	1984–85	1988
67	Bobby Smith	679	1,077	0.63	Montreal Canadiens	1992–93	—
	Ray Whitney	679	1,330	0.51	Phoenix Coyotes	2013–14	—
69	Jarome Iginla	675	1,554	0.43	Boston Bruins	2016–17	2020
70	Brett Hull	650	1,269	0.51	Detroit Red Wings	2005–06	2009
71	Daniel Sedin	648	1,306	0.50	Vancouver Canucks	2017–18	2022
72	Connor McDavid	647	645	1.00	Edmonton Oilers	Active
73	Bobby Orr	645	657	0.98	Boston Bruins	1978–79	1979
74	Martin St. Louis	642	1,134	0.57	Tampa Bay Lightning	2014–15	2018
75	Gary Suter	641	1,145	0.56	San Jose Sharks	2001–02	—
76	Dave Taylor	638	1,111	0.57	Los Angeles Kings	1993–94	—
77	Borje Salming	637	1,148	0.55	Toronto Maple Leafs	1989–90	1996
	Darryl Sittler	637	1,096	0.58	Philadelphia Flyers	1984–85	1989
79	Peter Forsberg	636	708	0.90	Philadelphia Flyers	2010–11	2014
80	Neal Broten	634	1,099	0.58	New Jersey Devils	1996–97	—
	Brad Richards	634	1,126	0.56	Chicago Blackhawks	2015–16	—
82	Theoren Fleury	633	1,084	0.58	New York Rangers	2002–03	—
83	Jason Spezza	632	1,248	0.51	Toronto Maple Leafs	2021–22	Eligible 2025
84	Patrick Marleau	631	1,779	0.35	Toronto Maple Leafs	2020–21	—
85	Erik Karlsson	628	1,002	0.63	Pittsburgh Penguins	Active
86	Mike Gartner	627	1,432	0.44	Phoenix Coyotes	1997–98	2001
87	Brent Burns	626	1,415	0.44	Carolina Hurricanes	Active
88	Andy Bathgate	624	1,069	0.58	Pittsburgh Penguins	1970–71	1978
89	Henrik Zetterberg	623	1,082	0.58	Detroit Red Wings	2017–18	—
90	Blake Wheeler	622	1,172	0.53	Winnipeg Jets	Active
91	Sergei Zubov	619	1,068	0.58	Dallas Stars	2008–09	2019
92	Patrik Elias	617	1,240	0.50	New Jersey Devils	2015–16	—
93	Rod Gilbert	615	1,065	0.58	New York Rangers	1977–78	1982
94	Patrice Bergeron	613	1,294	0.47	Boston Bruins	2022–23	Eligible 2026
95	Marian Hossa	609	1,309	0.47	Chicago Blackhawks	2016–17	2020
96	Eric Staal	608	1,365	0.45	Florida Panthers	2022–23	Not eligible yet
97	Michel Goulet	605	1,089	0.56	Chicago Blackhawks	1993–94	1998
98	Pavel Datsyuk	604	953	0.63	Detroit Red Wings	2015–16	2024
99	Kirk Muller	602	1,349	0.45	Dallas Stars	2002–03	—
100	Glenn Anderson	601	1,375	0.44	St. Louis Blues	1995–96	2008

Notes

1. Gordie Howe initially retired from hockey at the end of the 1970–71 season and was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972. He returned to playing professional hockey, in the World Hockey Association, in 1973–74, where he played until returning to the NHL for the 1979–80 season.
2. Mario Lemieux initially retired from hockey at the end of the 1996–97 season and was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997. He returned as an NHL owner in 1999, then returned to playing in the NHL in the 2000–01 season.

References

1. "NHL & WHA Career Leaders and Records for Assists". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
2. "Players such as Eddie Shack, accorded much attention but..." United Press International. July 20, 1982. Retrieved December 22, 2023.