By Ross Kelly
The 2025-26 NHL season begins Oct. 7, and it will be the 109th season in National Hockey League history. That means there’s over a century of hockey stats, records, and milestones that have already occurred, and there are several more that could be achieved this season.
Last year was all about Alexander Ovechkin chasing and catching Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals mark, and while there’s nothing quite at that level this year, there are several potential accomplishments in play.
Here are the top records and milestones that could be achieved.
Alexander Ovechkin
The NHL’s all-time leading scorer will make history with every goal that he scores, but he’s just three away from reaching the 900-goal club. Ovie could very well reach that in the first week of play, while he needs 19 points to surpass Joe Sakic (1,641) and move into the top 10 in NHL history in that stat. Both of those seem to be givens, while another will take serious luck.
Ovechkin has 31 career power-play goals in the postseason, which ranks fifth all-time. If he can somehow get seven power play goals in this year’s playoffs, he’d tie Brett Hull (38) for the most in NHL history, and doing that would also have Ovechkin passing Gretzky, again, as The Great One is second, all-time, with 35 postseason power play goals.
Sidney Crosby
Sid the Kid ranks 10th all-time with 1,062 assists, meaning he’s 38 away from becoming the eighth member of the 1,100-assist club, and is 48 away from surpassing Joe Thornton for seventh place. Crosby notched 58 assists a year ago, while overtaking his mentor and former housemate, Mario Lemieux, on the points list is also very realistic. If Crosby can replicate the 91-point season he had in 2024-25, he would surpass Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, and Marcel Dionne to sit in sixth place in NHL history in points.
Chicago Blackhawks
Not every milestone is something to be proud of, as the Chicago Blackhawks may soon attest. The franchise already has the most losses in NHL history (2,951), and a 49-defeat year would make it the first to reach 3,000 losses. Chicago lost just 46 games a year ago but had at least 49 losses in each of the prior two years.
Brent Burns
The three-time All-Star is three games away from reaching 1,500 for his career, but a more meaningful milestone could occur at the end of the year. Burns has been an ironman for the last dozen years, not having missed a game since 2013. His 925 consecutive games played is the fourth-longest ironman streak in league history, and while he can’t top Phil Kessel’s record (1,064) this season, Burns can become the second player to reach 1,000 straight if he suits up for the first 75 games of the year.
Patrick Kane
The Buffalo-born Kane is on the brink of American hockey history. Kane has 1,343 career NHL points, which is the second-most by a U.S.-born player, trailing only Mike Modano (1,374). That puts Kane just 32 points away from outdoing Modano for the most by any (non-Canadian) American. Kane may no longer be the MVP he was in his Chicago days, but 32 points is nothing for him—he had 59 a year ago.
Connor McDavid
The five-time Ross Trophy winner for most points scored, McDavid became the fourth-fastest player to reach 1,000 career points last season. He enters 2025-26 with 1,082 points, and his scintillating pace now has him on track to become the third-fastest to reach not only 1,100 points but also 1,200 points. McDavid would need to rack up 118 points for the latter, which is a mark he’s reached in three of the last four years. Only Gretzky (fastest) and Lemieux (second-fastest) would have reached 1,200 quicker, if McDavid can get there this year.
Joel Quenneville
After a nearly four-year absence, Quenneville is back in charge, now with the Anaheim Ducks. If he can get Anaheim to 31 wins—it had 35 victories a year ago—then Quenneville will become the second coach to reach 1,000 career wins. Scotty Bowman had 1,244. A bigger task will be getting the Ducks back to the postseason for the first time since 2018. If the three-time Stanley Cup champion is able to pull that off—and win three games—then he’ll surpass Al Arbour (123 wins) for the second-most postseason wins by any NHL head coach, behind only Bowman’s 223.
Connor Hellebuyck
Last year saw Hellebuyck become the first goaltender in a decade to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP. He led the NHL in wins (47), shutouts (eight), and goals against average (2.00), but what Hellebuyck didn’t lead in is saves. He finished fourth, but if he can top the NHL in saves again, after doing so four straight years from 2019-22, then being a five-time leader in saves would make history. No goalie in NHL history has led the league in saves more than five times, with Tony Esposito being the only person who has done it five times.
