As of completion of the 2023–24 season – the 106th regular season of play of the National Hockey League (NHL) – 46 different ice hockey players have scored at least 500 regular season goals in their NHL career.

A 500-goal career was first achieved in the 44th year of the NHL (1957–58), when Maurice Richard scored his 500th goal in his 938th game.

The 2006–07 season saw the largest number of players (five) achieve their 500th goal (Teemu Selanne, Mike Modano, Mark Recchi, Mats Sundin and Peter Bondra). A total of four players scored their 500th goal in 1995–96 (Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Mark Messier and Dale Hawerchuk)

The longest stretch between 500 goal scorers was the eight seasons between Gordie Howe (second to achieve the mark), in 1961–62, and Bobby Hull, in 1969–70.

The 47 players to score 500 goals consist of 34 Canadians^{[note 1]}, five Americans (Brett Hull, Joe Mullen, Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk), three Slovaks (Stan Mikita, Peter Bondra and Marian Hossa)^{[note 2]}, two Finns (Jari Kurri and Teemu Selanne), one Czech (Jaromir Jagr), one Swede (Mats Sundin) and one Russian (Alexander Ovechkin). Stan Mikita was the first player not born in Canada to score 500 goals (he was born in the Slovak Republic, but represented Canada internationally); Jari Kurri was the first 500-goal scorer who never played for the Canadian national team.

The fewest NHL games required to reach the mark is 575, set by Wayne Gretzky. Second-quickest is Mario Lemieux, achieving the mark in his 605th game. With Mike Bossy (647) and Brett Hull (693) following, only these four players needed fewer than 800 games to score their first 500 goals.

Of the 47 players to score at least 500 goals in their career, 19 reached the mark in fewer than 1000 career games played.

Of those on the list, Lanny McDonald came closest to not achieving 500 goals; he reached the mark with only four games left in his final NHL season. Similarly, Joe Mullen scored his 500th goal with only ten games left in his final season. Glenn Anderson was the closest player to never reach the mark, retiring in 1996 with 498 career NHL goals.

Four players have scored their 500th goal on an empty net: Mike Bossy, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Keith Tkachuk.

Maurice Richard and Peter Bondra are the only players with over 500 goals but fewer than 1,000 points.

Patrick Roy is the only goaltender to concede more than one opponent's 500th career goal: Steve Yzerman in 1996, Joe Mullen in 1997 and Brendan Shanahan in 2002. A contributing factor for this statistical coincidence is Roy playing the second-most games ever by a goaltender, at 1,029.

In 2006, on Hockey Night in Canada, Mats Sundin scored his 500th goal short handed, in overtime, to finish off a hat trick and to win the game for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A total of 20 franchises have had a player score their 500th goal while playing for the franchise. Both the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks have had five players score their 500th goal while playing for the team.

To date, no team has had multiple players reaching 500 goals on the same team in the same season. The 2001–02 Detroit Red Wings were the first team to have three 500+ goal scorers on the roster (Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille), and would finish the season with four players in the club after Brendan Shanahan scored his 500th.

This list is current as of the 2023–24 season

Legend

Rank – Ranking on all-time goals list

Goals – Career regular season goals

GP – Career regular season games played

G/GP – Mean goals per game played, rounded to two decimal places

With team – Team for which the player scored their 500th goal

Game no. – Number of career regular season games played when 500th goal was scored

HHOF – Year of induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame or eligibility

  Active NHL player

  Active player outside of NHL

More information Rank, Player ...

Rank	Player		Goals[2]	GP[2]	G/GP	Date of 500th goal[2]	With team[2]	Game no.[2]	Opposing goaltender[2]	HHOF	Ref.
1		Wayne Gretzky	894	1,487	0.60	November 22, 1986	Edmonton Oilers	575	(empty Canucks net)	1999	[3]
2		Alexander Ovechkin	853	1,426	0.60	January 10, 2016	Washington Capitals	801	Andrew Hammond (Senators)	Active	[4]
3		Gordie Howe	801	1,767	0.45	March 14, 1962	Detroit Red Wings	1,045	Gump Worsley (Rangers)	1972	[5]
4		Jaromír Jágr	766	1,733	0.44	February 4, 2003	Washington Capitals	928	John Grahame (Lightning)	Active (ELH)	[6]
5		Brett Hull	741	1,269	0.58	December 22, 1996	St. Louis Blues	693	Stephane Fiset (Kings)	2009	[7]
6		Marcel Dionne	731	1,348	0.54	December 14, 1982	Los Angeles Kings	887	Al Jensen (Capitals)	1992	[8]
7		Phil Esposito	717	1,282	0.56	December 22, 1974	Boston Bruins	803	Jim Rutherford (Red Wings)	1984	[9]
8		Mike Gartner	708	1,432	0.49	October 14, 1991	New York Rangers	936	Mike Liut (Capitals)	2001	[10]
9		Mark Messier	694	1,756	0.40	November 6, 1995	New York Rangers	1,141	Rick Tabaracci (Flames)	2007	[11]
10		Steve Yzerman	692	1,514	0.46	January 17, 1996	Detroit Red Wings	906	Patrick Roy (Avalanche)	2009	[12]
11		Mario Lemieux	690	915	0.75	October 26, 1995	Pittsburgh Penguins	605	Tommy Soderstrom (Islanders)	1997	[13]
12		Teemu Selanne	684	1,451	0.47	November 22, 2006	Anaheim Ducks	982	Jose Theodore (Avalanche)	2017	[14]
13		Luc Robitaille	668	1,431	0.47	January 7, 1999	Los Angeles Kings	928	Dwayne Roloson (Sabres)	2009	[15]
14		Brendan Shanahan	656	1,524	0.43	March 23, 2002	Detroit Red Wings	1,100	Patrick Roy (Avalanche)	2013	[15]
15		Dave Andreychuk	640	1,639	0.39	March 15, 1997	New Jersey Devils	1,070	Bill Ranford (Capitals)	2017	[16]
16		Joe Sakic	625	1,378	0.45	December 11, 2002	Colorado Avalanche	1,044	Dan Cloutier (Canucks)	2012	[17]
		Jarome Iginla	625	1,554	0.40	January 7, 2012	Calgary Flames	1,149	Niklas Backstrom (Wild)	2020	[18]
18		Bobby Hull	610	1,063	0.57	February 21, 1970	Chicago Blackhawks	861	Eddie Giacomin (Rangers)	1983	[19]
19		Dino Ciccarelli	608	1,232	0.49	January 8, 1994	Detroit Red Wings	946	Kelly Hrudey (Kings)	2010	[20]
20		Jari Kurri	601	1,251	0.48	October 17, 1992	Los Angeles Kings	833	(empty Bruins net)	2001	[21]
21		Sidney Crosby	592	1,272	0.47	February 15, 2022	Pittsburgh Penguins	1,077	Carter Hart (Flyers)	Active	[22]
22		Mark Recchi	577	1,652	0.35	January 26, 2007	Pittsburgh Penguins	1,303	Marty Turco (Stars)	2017	[23]
23		Mike Bossy	573	752	0.76	January 2, 1986	New York Islanders	647	(empty Bruins net)	1991	[24]
24		Patrick Marleau	566	1,779	0.32	February 2, 2017	San Jose Sharks	1,463	Ryan Miller (Canucks)	Eligible 2024	[25]
25		Joe Nieuwendyk	564	1,257	0.45	January 17, 2003	New Jersey Devils	1,094	Kevin Weekes (Hurricanes)	2011	[26]
		Mats Sundin	564	1,346	0.42	October 14, 2006	Toronto Maple Leafs	1,162	Miikka Kiprusoff (Flames)	2012	[27]
27		Mike Modano	561	1,499	0.37	March 13, 2007	Dallas Stars	1,225	Antero Niittymaki (Flyers)	2014	[28]
28		Guy Lafleur	560	1,126	0.50	December 20, 1983	Montreal Canadiens	918	Glenn Resch (Devils)	1988	[29]
29		Johnny Bucyk	556	1,540	0.36	October 30, 1975	Boston Bruins	1,370	Yves Belanger (Blues)	1981	[30]
30		Steven Stamkos	555	1,082	0.51	January 18, 2023	Tampa Bay Lightning	965	Spencer Martin (Canucks)	Active	[31]
31		Ron Francis	549	1,731	0.32	January 2, 2002	Carolina Hurricanes	1,533	Byron Dafoe (Bruins)	2007	[32]
32		Michel Goulet	548	1,089	0.50	February 16, 1992	Chicago Blackhawks	951	Jeff Reese (Flames)	1998	[33]
33		Maurice Richard	544	978	0.56	October 19, 1957	Montreal Canadiens	863	Glenn Hall (Black Hawks)	1961	[34]
34		Stan Mikita	541	1,396	0.39	February 27, 1977	Chicago Blackhawks	1,221	Cesare Maniago (Canucks)	1983	[35]
35		Keith Tkachuk	538	1,201	0.45	April 6, 2008	St. Louis Blues	1,055	(empty Blue Jackets net)	—	[36]
36		Frank Mahovlich	533	1,181	0.45	March 21, 1973	Montreal Canadiens	1,105	Dunc Wilson (Canucks)	1981	[37]
37		Marian Hossa	525	1,309	0.40	October 18, 2016	Chicago Blackhawks	1,240	Michal Neuvirth (Flyers)	2020	[38]
38		Bryan Trottier	524	1,279	0.41	February 13, 1990	New York Islanders	1,104	Rick Wamsley (Flames)	1997	[39]
39		Pat Verbeek	522	1,424	0.37	March 22, 2000	Detroit Red Wings	1,285	Fred Brathwaite (Flames)	—	[40]
40		Dale Hawerchuk	518	1,188	0.44	January 31, 1996	St. Louis Blues	1,103	Felix Potvin (Maple Leafs)	2001	[41]
41		Pierre Turgeon	515	1,294	0.40	November 8, 2005	Colorado Avalanche	1,229	Vesa Toskala (Sharks)	2023	[42]
42		Jeremy Roenick	513	1,363	0.38	November 10, 2007	San Jose Sharks	1,267	Alex Auld (Coyotes)	—	[43]
43		Gilbert Perreault	512	1,191	0.43	March 9, 1986	Buffalo Sabres	1,159	Alain Chevrier (Devils)	1990	[44]
44		Jean Beliveau	507	1,125	0.45	February 11, 1971	Montreal Canadiens	1,101	Gilles Gilbert (North Stars)	1972	[45]
45		Peter Bondra	503	1,081	0.47	December 22, 2006	Chicago Blackhawks	1,050	Jean-Sebastien Aubin (Maple Leafs)	—	[46]
46		Joe Mullen	502	1,062	0.47	March 14, 1997	Pittsburgh Penguins	1,052	Patrick Roy (Avalanche)	2000	[47]
47		Lanny McDonald	500	1,111	0.45	March 21, 1989	Calgary Flames	1,107	Mark Fitzpatrick (Islanders)	1992	[38]

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