By the end of the 2020-21 regular season, Leon Draisaitl had scored his 506th career point. Taking him above Marco Sturm and on to become Germany’s top scorer in the NHL. He also became the first German player to score over 500 points in the league and at only 25 years of age, will surely add more to his tally. Here are a few current National NHL scoring records that could be broken and who would become their leading scorer for each country.
National NHL Scoring Records That Could Be Broken
Patrick Kane, United States.
Patrick Kane is currently the leading scorer for an active United States player with 1088 points. The great Brett Hull holds the title at the moment with 1391. The Chicago Blackhawks right-winger will need another 303 points to jump from fifth place to first.
Kane is widely regarded as one of the greatest Americans to play the game. Having scored 206 points in his last 207 games since 2018-19, he is on track to break that record. Possibly in the next couple of seasons too. However, you would expect his scoring rate to drop slightly as he reaches his mid-30s.
He currently has two years left on his contract with the Hawks. Having won the Stanley twice in his time there, he may be tempted to test himself elsewhere. Many factors may influence whether or not he reaches Brett Hull’s scoring record. With the skill he has, he should surpass the record if he is still playing in the NHL.
Liam Kirk, United Kingdom
Liam Kirk is the first UK-born and trained hockey player to be drafted in the NHL. He went 198th overall in the 2018 draft being selected by the Arizona Coyotes. Although he hasn’t played a single minute of hockey in the league, he has spent the last couple of seasons with the Peterborough Petes. In that time, he racked up an impressive 97 points in 110 games.
The current point scorer for the United Kingdom is Ken Hodge. Hodge was born in the UK but grew up in Canada. He played between 1964 and 1978, winning 2 Stanley Cups and scoring 800 points in 880 games.
Liam has shown what he can do in the OHL with the Petes. In a few weeks will have the opportunity to represent the United Kingdom at the world championships. Although the UK isn’t projected to do all that well, the 21-year-old forward will still have the opportunity to show the world what he can do.
If Liam can break into that Arizona squad and get a run of games together, he could make an impact in the league and strive to break that record. Although, he has a long way to go to do so.
Alexandre Texier, France
Alexandre Texier is a 21 year old forward who was selected 45th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2017. He played a couple of games in the NHL during the 2018-19 season. During that time, he scored just one goal. After playing a few seasons for the Kalpa Kuopio and Cleveland Monsters, he has now featured for the Blue Jackets 87 times over two seasons. Moving his point total up to 29.
The Blue Jackets forward has played in four different leagues over his short career. Giving him a vast amount of experience at such a young age. He started playing professional hockey at the age of 17 in France’s top league. This could be a great advantage to him and his up-and-coming NHL career.
Current winger, Antoine Roussel is the player Texier will need to catch up with. He has managed to score 189 points in 554 games. If he manages to take his own tally up to 200 points in the next few years before retiring, this would be an achievable target for Alexandre over the next decade in what could be a promising NHL career.
The Coming Seasons
These three players are at very different stages of their careers. We have a world-renowned veteran who has won it all, a fairly new up-and-coming player who is dipping his toe in the league and a surprise OHL star hoping to break into the NHL and make an impact. All potentially chasing the same target in becoming their countries leading scorer in the National Hockey League over the coming seasons.
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