The stoppage of the 2019–20 NHL season could rob most of the league’s point leaders of hitting the century mark. Seven players were on pace to reach 100 points. Six more were scoring at a pace of just under 100 total points, needing a burst in their final dozen or so games. Use this guide to see how players were getting on before the stoppage as well as for a promotional offer.
Oilers Topping NHL Point Leaders
Prior to the NHL’s league-wide suspension on March 12 due to COVID-19, Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl was the only player currently over 100 points. The German forward is well over the mark too, posting 110 points made up from his 43 goals and 67 assists.
Draisaitl’s league-best 1.54 points per game is .03 higher than teammate Connor McDavid’s average, who is second in the NHL with 97 points in 64 games — 1.51 per game.
Behind the two Oilers are Boston’s David Pastrnak and New York’s Artemi Panarin with 95 points each; Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon with 93; and rounding out the top 10 are Boston’s Brad Marchand, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov, Chicago’s Patrick Kane, Toronto’s Auston Matthews, and Buffalo’s Jack Eichel, all having over 80 points.
13 NHL Scorers in Sight of 100 Points
Over half of the top 10 were on pace to crack 100 points. All were in reach of triple-digits.
If the NHL does play all 82 games, Draisaitl’s on pace for a league-leading 127 points. McDavid would finish second with 113, Pastrnak and Panarin tied for third with 111, MacKinnon in fifth with 109, Marchand at sixth with 101, and Kucherov in seventh with exactly 100.
There were a handful of players needing to go on a streak to hit 100, such as: Patrick Kane, on pace for 98 points; Auston Matthews, on pace for 93; Jack Eichel, on pace for 92; Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau, also on pace for 92, Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin, on pace for 91; and New York’s Mika Zibanejad, on pace for 90.
In this era, these are the 13 players surely to be on every fantasy hockey player’s radar.
High Number of NHL Point Leaders to Hit 100
Seven players were on pace to hit 100 points in 2019–20. If all seven did, this season would have the most triple-digits scorers compared to the past 10 full NHL seasons.
Over the past 10 full NHL seasons, a player reached 100 points 18 times. That’s 1.8 players per season, a much lower number than the seven on pace to do so this year.
Considering league-wide scoring is at its highest total since 2005–06, the numbers add up. By the way, 2005 had seven 100-point scorers too, and was the second-last NHL season where seven scorers hit that mark (2006–07 the other).
The 2019–20 NHL season was also on pace for something that hasn’t happened in the 21st century: four scorers hitting 110 or more points.
2005–06 had two scorers of over 120 points (Joe Thornton, 125 and Jaromir Jagr, 123), but 2019–20 was set to feature the best group of top point-scorers since 1995–96.
NHL Suspension Postponing History
1995–96 was a remarkable season; six players hit 110 points led by Pittsburgh’s otherworldly duo of Mario Lemieux (161) and Jagr (149).
2019–20 was projecting to compare to the 1995–96 season. Draisaitl and McDavid were supposed to be the first two teammates to finish one and two in scoring since Lemieux and Jagr did 24 seasons ago. While the two Oilers would still finish one and two if the season’s cancelled, their accomplishment will have an asterisk from the shortened year.
Draisaitl was supposed to join Jagr, Kucherov, Thornton, and Sidney Crosby as the only 120-point scorers this century. Draisaitl’s projected 127 points would sit second for the highest single-season point total this decade, Kucherov’s 128 last year at the top.
2019–20 NHL Season Left with Unknowns
Given Draisaitl’s ability to score in sprees, and players like Matthews and Zibanejad catching fire, who knows how high this year’s crop of elite talent could’ve taken their numbers.
Then there’s the potential goal-scoring history. Three players were projected to reach 50 goals in 2019–20: Alex Ovechkin, 57; Pastrnak, 56; and Matthews, 55. Draisaitl and Zibanejad were on pace for 49 each too.
Three players haven’t scored 50 goals in an NHL season since 2009-10. Crosby and Steven Stamkos led the NHL with 51 goals that season, and Ovechkin had exactly 50.
Five players hadn’t scored 50 goals in a season since 2005–06, one of the many feats that were possible in 2019-20, but now may never get to play its course.
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