Which players have scored the most points in NHL postseason history?

We start with Mr. Hockey himself. Howe played a lot of his career at a time when the postseason was quite a bit shorter, so he didn’t play in as many games on a year-to-year basis. Of course, he also stuck around for a long time which helped him accrue 160 playoff points. However, there’s something his son Mark can say that even Gordie can’t. Mark had 92 career postseason points in the WHA, the most of any player in that league.

When you talk about Bossy as a player, you are required by law to mention that he could have had even better numbers. Due to injuries the Hall of Famer only played until he was 30 and retired after 10 seasons. The Islanders made the playoffs in all 10 of those seasons and won four Cups, giving Bossy the chance to rack up 160 points as well.

Smith is the only player on this list who is not either in the Hall of Fame or a lock to make it someday. He won the Calder as a rookie with the Minnesota North Stars and won a Cup with Montreal in 1986, but he was never a truly elite player. That being said, he had 160 playoff points to go with 1,036 regular-season points, so nobody can knock his career by any means.

Our first defenseman on this list is also the last of four players to finish their careers with 160 postseason points. MacInnis was famed for his huge slap shot, as he was one of the rare players who could get over 100 miles per hour on a slapper in the days of wooden sticks. Those big shots certainly helped him on the points front.

The last of the NHLers with 160 playoff points is Kucherov, but unlike these other guys, Kucherov is still active. Tampa Bay made it to three Stanley Cup finals in a row, winning two, which certainly helped the Russian. Twice Kucherov led the Lightning in postseason points, but never won the Conn Smythe.

Rangers fans are never happy to see Potvin’s name, but the Islanders legend is another member of that ‘80s squad that won four Cups in a row. When you are playing that deep into the playoffs, especially in the offense-happy 190s, you are going to rack up the points. Potvin had 164 of them in the postseason.

Forsberg’s career was shorter than you might have realized, and also hindered by injury and NHL lockouts. He played in 708 career regular-season games, but in that time won a Calder, an Art Ross, and a Hart in his Hall of Fame career. The Swede added 151 playoff games where he often dominated, tallying 171 points and winning two Cups.

It’s maybe a little surprising to see Lemieux this far down the list. Super Mario is an all-time legend of the game and won two Cups with the Penguins. Surely he would be in the top 10, right? Apparently not, as Lemieux had “only” 172 postseason points, which is “only” good for 18th.

Considering that the Blackhawks didn’t win a Stanley Cup from 1961 until well after Savard was retired, it’s a bit of a surprise that Savard managed to accumulate so many playoff points. The master of the “spin-o-rama” move, Savard played a long time, including a stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that was over a decade from existence when he started his career. Savard played in 16 postseasons and notched 175 points.

Fedorov began his career just as the Red Wings were becoming a juggernaut that would win three Cups with him. The Russian was a defensive stalwart, winning the Selke twice. Of course, he could also rack up points, and tallied 176 in the playoffs before retiring.

Beliveau also retired with 176 postseason points. He spent all 20 of his seasons with the Montreal Canadiens during a time when they were going from dynasty to dynasty. Beliveau played in 17 postseasons and won a whopping 10 Stanley Cups. Even in shorter postseasons that meant a lot of time to tally points.

Famously, Bourque left the Bruins after many years to join the Avalanche to try and win a Cup. Fortunately for him, it worked out. Not that the defenseman didn’t do his best to get the Bruins a Cup of their own. You don’t notch 180 playoff points in just one postseason.

Malkin is the first active player on this list, and one of only two total. Given that the Penguins are a perennial playoff team and Malkin likely has a few years left in him, he can probably climb further up the list, maybe even into the top 10. For now, Geno has 180 playoff points, though notably the Penguins missed out on the 2022-23 playoffs, so the window is closing.

Trottier is the top guy on this list from those Islanders dynasty teams. The secret, beyond his tremendous skill? He played 18 seasons and made the playoffs 17 times, which means he got a lot more bites at the apple than Bossy. Also, he joined the Penguins later in his career, winning two more Cups before retiring and helping himself reach 183 points.

Lidstrom is the best defenseman of his generation, and maybe the best defenseman ever, so it’s no surprise that he’s on this list. The Swede picked up a whopping seven Norris trophies in the regular season and added four Cups in the postseason. Oh, and 183 postseason points.

From one Red Wing to another. Lidstrom and Yzerman were the pillars of the Red Wings dynasty. In fact, when Steve Y retired, Lidstrom took over from “The Captain” as, well, the captain. Yzerman’s early years as a Wing did not yield many playoff appearances, but he still finished with 185 points in the playoffs.

We enter the top 10 with a player who was on the other side of the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry in the ‘90s. Sakic is Mr. Colorado in many ways. He played his entire career with the franchise – starting in Quebec – and then joined the front office to run the team. Sakic once had 34 points in a single postseason, and all in all he had 188 of them.

Gilmour doesn’t have the same reputation as Sakic. He never won a Conn Smythe or a Hart. What Gilmour does have, though, is 188 playoff points, the same as Sakic. Sure, it took him 182 games to do it over 17 seasons, but that’s still impressive. He also did it for six different franchises, as opposed to the one-team man Sakic.

Brett Hull and his big slap shot racked up a ton of goals in his career. In the regular season, he had 741 of them, the fourth most of all-time. Then, Hull added 103 more goals in the playoffs to go along with 87 assists, giving him 190 playoff points.

Coffey is the defenseman with the most points in postseason history. He played for a long time and had a knack for joining up with teams loaded with talent that made lengthy playoff runs. Or maybe they made those runs because Coffey was on the team? Either way, he had 196 playoff points.

Jagr is the first player on this list that has over 200 postseason points. He’s also the highest-ranked player on this list that wasn’t part of a specific dynasty. In a way, that’s another honor to throw on his name. Let’s not forget Jagr’s sojourn to the KHL for a few years as well. He could have had even more than 201 playoff points.

We get to our third, and final, active player on this list. In the battle between Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, you can definitely point to Crosby’s playoff success as a big factor in his favor. Crosby has hoisted multiple Cups and notched 201 postseason points, tying him with former Penguin Jagr. One more point, and "Sid the Kid" is in the top five instead of merely being tied for fifth.

Was Anderson a great player? Sure. He had 498 career goals and is in the Hall of Fame. However, he was definitely a product of the team he spent the bulk of his career on. The first decade of his time in the NHL was spent with the Edmonton Oilers. You know, the team that won four Cups in five seasons and added a fifth in 1990. Anderson had 214 playoff points, and that’s definitely impressive. We also just have to note the three players ahead of him were all his teammates for those ‘80s Oilers teams.

The Finnish superstar once had over 60 goals in three straight seasons. That would make you a legend now, but in the ‘80s that was a bit easier. He never led the NHL in goals, after all. Kurri then left the Oilers to join the Kings, along with a teammate you’ve heard of and added some more postseason points. In the end, Kurri retired with 601 regular-season goals and 233 playoff points.

There is a huge jump from Kurri to Messier. Moose had a whopping 295 playoff points. Of course, it wasn’t all about the Oilers. Famously, Messier moved from Edmonton to New York and led the Rangers to a Stanley Cup in 1994, ending a 54-year Cup drought. He had 30 points in those playoffs.

Well, we are talking about points and the NHL. Who else would be on top of this list but Gretzky? The Great One is a big reason why the top-four players are all Oilers. However, Gretzky’s numbers are truly insane. He retired with a staggering 382 playoff points. That’s almost 100 more than Messier! Gretzky had more playoff points than Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic combined. Truly, he was one of a kind.