Breaking down the greatest lines in NHL history

Today we’re going to look at some of the greatest lines in NHL history. A more accurate way to put that is to say that we’re going to look at some of the most productive lines in NHL history.

Originally when I started this article I wanted to look at which lines produced the most goals, but that quickly becomes difficult to define.

Let’s say the line in question is Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. What if McDavid scores assisted by Hyman and Evan Bouchard, while Nugent-Hopkins is on the ice? Should that count as a goal for the line? I’d say probably because Nugent-Hopkins probably helped the goal be scored in some way or another. What if Nugent-Hopkins scored and Hyman assisted before McDavid got on the ice? Should that count? What if the goal was Bouchard from Mattias Ekholm but all three forwards were on the ice? As you can see it gets kind of tricky to define.

In the end it didn’t matter. I didn’t have access to who was on the ice when goals were scored so I was forced to take these stats only from the goal, and first and second assist.

So here we have a list of the top ten forward lines that factored in the most goals together. Meaning each one of them appeared on the score sheet with the goal, the first assist, or the second assist. This includes power play goals but not playoffs and does not include any trios with a defencemen.

All-time most productive lines

Vic Hadfield, Rod Gilbert, and Jean Ratelle; New York Rangers, 157 goals

This wouldn’t have been my first guess, nor would it have been in my guess for the top ten, but looking at the stats it’s not surprising. The biggest factor is that they were on the New York Rangers together for 13 years from the 1961–73 seasons.

However, it wasn’t just longevity that allowed them to take the top spot. They were in the top five highest scoring lines seven times in the late 60s and early 70s. The Rangers never won while they were on the team but it wasn’t for lack of scoring.

Charlie Simmer, Marcel Dionne, and Dave Taylor; Los Angeles Kings, 134 goals

I wouldn’t have known which linemates would join him, but Marcel Dionne is one of the most underrated and greatest scorers of all time. So I think I would have guessed that he would appear on the list. The three played together for eight years on the Los Angeles Kings from 1977–84. In the 1979–80 season this trio scored 37 goals together.

It’s impressive for an individual player to score 37 goals, but for a trio to have factored in on 37 goals together is incredible. Just to put it in perspective: in 2021–22 Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Elias Lindholm were an unstoppable force. Gaudreau had 40 goals and 115 points, Tkachuk had 42 goals and 104 points, and Lindholm had 42 goals and 82 points. They led the league in goals as a trio that year with only 20. Imagine what Simmer, Dionne, and Taylor must have been like that year!

Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, and Bryan Trottier; New York Islanders, 113 goals

Again, this one doesn’t come as much of a surprise. From 1977–78 to 1985–86 Mike Bossy averaged 59.4 goals a season. These three players were all on the Islanders for all nine of those years. The Islanders won four Stanley Cups in that span which really doesn’t come as a surprise at all.

Ken Hodge, Wayne Cashman, and Phil Esposito; Boston Bruins, 103 goals

Again, I wouldn’t have known who his linemates would be, but it’s no surprise that Phil Esposito is on here. From 1968–69 to 1974–75, Espo averaged 130 points a season and a big chunk of those were goals.

In 1970–71 he scored 76 goals, which was a record for most goals in a season until Wayne Gretzky shattered it 10 years later with 92–a seemingly unbreakable record. Hodge, Esposito, and Cashman played together for nine seasons from 1967–1975 and the Bruins won two cups in that time.

Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, and Rene Robert; Buffalo Sabres, 95 goals

For me, this is another wholly unexpected member of this list. While a lot of these lines have one clear goal scorer, these three are notable for all being capable goal scorers. Each one had at least one 40-goal season while they played together on the Sabres for eight years from 1971–78. They didn’t win any cups for the Sabres in that time but looking at their stats I’m sorry I never saw them play.

Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak; Boston Bruins, 93 goals

The first line from the modern era! The three Boston Bruins were on the team together for nine seasons from 2014 to 2022 when Bergeron retired. While I’m sure a lot of lines in the past were playing together on the power play, this one I know for certain had a lot of success with the man-advantage. Boston never won with these three, but they were a playoff mainstay and made the finals in 2018–19 before losing to the Blues.

Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, and Bryan Trottier; New York Islanders, 90 goals

Yes Mike Bossy scored so many goals that he appears on this list with Trottier twice. I don’t mean to write off Trottier and Potvin’s influence though. Trottier has 524 career goals and scored over 100 points six times. Potvin wasn’t quite as prolific but was also an excellent set-up man, putting up 70 assists in the 1978–79 season. The three played together for the Islanders for 10 seasons from 1977–86 and again, won four Stanley Cups in that time.

Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Leon Draisaitl; Edmonton Oilers, 90 goals

This is a surprising and not surprising line to be on the list. It’s not surprising because the line consists of two certified all-stars and a very solid supporting player who spend a lot of time on the power play together. All three players have had 100 point seasons.

What is surprising about this line is that they have actually spent an astoundingly small amount of 5v5 time together. That says a lot about how dominant the Edmonton Oilers first power play is. The three started playing together 11 years ago when McDavid was drafted in 2015. They are the only line on this list who are still on the same team together and they have made the Stanley Cup final twice as a group.

Henrik Sedin, Alexandre Burrows, and Daniel Sedin; Vancouver Canucks, 88 goals

It’s great to see this line in the mix. The Sedin twins produced some of the most revolting displays of PhD level organic chemistry. Again this is not really a line I would have thought of but it makes sense. They played together for 12 long years from 2005 to 2016 in Vancouver.

Their inclusion on this list is largely due to that longevity as none of them were consistent productive superstars. Henrik and Daniel each had one 100 point season, but after that the production was not out of this world. The Canucks made that one fiery 2011 Stanley Cup Final, eventually losing to Boston in seven games to calamitous fallout.

Johnny Bucyk, John McKenzie, and Fred Stanfield; Boston Bruins, 67 goals

This is one of the most impressive entries on this list as the trio only played on the Boston Bruins together for five years, from 1967–71–the shortest by far on this list. What’s almost more impressive is that they played on the same team as Ken Hodge, Wayne Cashman, and Phil Esposito; so you can imagine how good those late 60’s, early 70’s Boston teams were.

Another interesting point is that Johnny Bucyk only had one 100-point season and John McKenzie, and Fred Stanfield were pretty nominal scorers. So they were combining for a huge percentage of the goals that each player scored. The three also won two Stanley Cups in their time together with the Bruins.

I know a lot of you will have been looking for Wayne Gretzky on the list. Gretzky, Kurri, and Coffey are actually third on the list, but I didn’t want to include defencemen. However, they are the only line in the top ten that contained a defenceman.

Best line in a single season

Now, because each of the lines above played for different amounts of time together, here is a list of the top ten (actually 11 as there is a tie for 10th) most goals scored by a line in a single season.

The same rules apply: power play goals count, but playoffs don’t, and there are no defencemen.