Who is the greatest NHL goal-scorer of all time?

What a sad month for hockey icons. We lost one this week in Guy Lafleur, who passed away at 70 after a long battle with lung cancer. Days earlier, we lost Mike Bossy at 65. He also succumbed to lung cancer.

Just days after his passing, Bossy was in the news again – because the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin achieved his ninth 50-goal season, equaling Bossy and Wayne Gretzky for the most all-time.

That sparked a goal-scoring G.O.A.T. debate for this week’s Daily Faceoff Roundtable. Who is the greatest goal-scorer ever? Is it Bossy, Ovechkin, Gretzky or someone else?

SCOTT BURNSIDE: Uhm. One word Wayne Gretzky. Okay, that’s two. Try this: Wayne. All those other players are magnificent in their own ways, their stories worth telling and retelling for all time. But there is only one Gretzky, and while I agree that at some point Alex Ovechkin will catch ‘The Great One,’ right now the king of the mountain at 894 goals is Gretzky. Others like Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux suffered through injury and saw their careers cut short. What might have been for them is a valid question, but we are dealing with the reality of what was accomplished and Gretzky’s mastery of the game and especially of goal scoring is unrivalled. One interesting note for me is that Gretzky ranks 17^th all-time in power play goals scored with 204, 81 fewer than Ovechkin, although Gretzky does rank first in shorthanded goals all-time at 73. That merely reinforces Gretzky’s unparalleled dominance when it came to the most important facet of the game at the most difficult times in the game. Enough said.

MATT LARKIN: It’s Alex Ovechkin, whether he gets to 894 and beyond or not, despite the fact I’ll forever defend Gretzky as the most dominant team sport athlete in history. Judging a player’s output relative to his peers matters most, and no player has led his peers in goals more than Ovechkin. Between the 2004-05 lockout and shortened seasons in 2012-13, 2019-20 and 2020-21, I estimate roughly 150 games stolen from Ovechkin in his career, too, for non-health reasons. He also did his damage in much lower-scoring eras than the likes of Gretzky, Mike Bossy or Brett Hull. This season has the highest league scoring average of any in Ovechkin’s career at 6.26 goals per game. Gretzky played 16 seasons with a higher league average than that, and Bossy played all 10 of his with a higher average. Ovechkin was a more dominant sniper relative to era.

MIKE MCKENNA: I think it comes down to Bossy and Ovechkin. And I give the nod to Ovechkin. Bossy’s run of nine consecutive NHL seasons above 50 goals was incredible and sustained – he only trailed off to 38 in his last year before retiring from the NHL. I’ve always been fascinated with Bossy since I don’t remember watching him play, as I was four when his career came to an end. If he’d been able to stay healthy, much like Mario Lemieux, this conversation might be very different. While Ovechkin didn’t score 50 goals in nine consecutive seasons, his longevity is why I believe he’s the greatest. Ovechkin is 16 years into his NHL career, he’s 36 years old, and he continues to hover around the 50-goal mark every season. That’s absurd. Even a great like Brett Hull saw his scoring diminish over time. Not Ovechkin. And with the entire first power-play unit of the Washington Capitals under contract for the next three seasons, it’s only a matter of time before ‘Ovi’ breaks Gretzky’s all-time record for goals scored. He’s the G.O.A.T. – until Auston Matthews proves otherwise a decade from now.

CHRIS GEAR: With all due respect to the other players getting consideration here, it’s Mario Lemieux. While ‘Super Mario’ is only 11th on the all-time list with 690 goals, he accomplished that feat in just 915 games. That’s an unbelievable 0.75 goal per game rate, which far exceeds the 0.6 goals per game put up by the ‘Great One’ or the ‘Great 8.’  We may never again see a player that could dangle one defensemen with the other one literally climbing on his back. He had the size of a power forward but the smooth skating and silky mitts of a sniper. If injuries and a bout with cancer hadn’t derailed so many of his seasons, ultimately leading to a premature retirement, there’s no telling where Lemieux would have finished on the all-time list. I think he certainly had a chance to be on top of the list, so he’s on top of mine.

FRANK SERAVALLI: So many great answers to this question, which is why it’s one of hockey’s great all-time debates. Sorta surprised no one picked Bossy. My answer is Ovechkin. But I have a somewhat bold prediction: When it’s all said and done, Auston Matthews will be the NHL’s great goalscorer. Consider this: Matthews has 257 goals in 404 career games played. McKenna and Larkin picked Ovechkin, who needed 801 career games to get to 500 goals. If Matthews continues at the pace of these last two seasons, he will hit 500 goals in exactly 700 games, which is 101 fewer than Ovechkin needed. (To back up Scott’s pick: Gretzky hit 500 in a staggering 575 games.) It feels like so much of this will come down to health, but Matthews scores in such an effortless way, with such confidence, that the pace of these last two seasons seems entirely repeatable. He’s really just reaching his prime, too. I never thought we’d see 50-in-50 again – official or ‘unofficial’ – and I think Matthews has the ability to flip this debate on its head in relatively short order.