10 Active NHL Players With the Most Playoff Points

The success of an NHL career is based on numerous factors, none of which supersede a player’s ability to perform and produce in the playoffs. 

Of the five teams with the best NHL odds to win the 2022-23 Stanley Cup, only the Tampa Bay Lightning, as +900 third favorites, and the Florida Panthers, as +1000 fourth favorites, have players – Nikita Kucherov, Corey Perry and Joe Thornton – who are on the top 10 active playoff point-getters list. 

Only two players on the list, who go by the name of Joe, haven’t won the Stanley Cup.

Joe Pavelski and Thornton came close when they reached the Stanley Cup Final with the San Jose Sharks in 2015-16, ultimately falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. 

Pavelski, 38, plays for the Dallas Stars, who, according to NHL betting lines, are pegged at +4000 long shots to win it all in 2022-23. Thornton, the 43-year-old elder statesman, is still hanging on by a thread as a member of the Florida Panthers. 

However, as he decides whether to finally hang up the skates, his immediate future is unclear. A decision from him is expected imminently, though. 

Here are the 10 active players with the most playoff points.

10. Jonathan Toews – Chicago Blackhawks

Stanley Cups: 3
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 3
Career Playoff Stats: 45 goals, 74 assists, 119 points, 137 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 1 (Chicago)

Jonathan Toews is the primary reason the Chicago Blackhawks won the 2010 Stanley Cup, their first since 1961. The 34-year-old scored 29 points in 22 playoff games, securing his one and only Conn Smythe Trophy en route to victory. 

That drought-eviscerating Stanley Cup opened the floodgates for Chicago, as the Toews-led Blackhawks won Lord Stanley three times in six years. 

Toews, who has 119 points in 137 playoff games, is prolific in the postseason but offers immeasurably more than goals and assists. He was the team’s leader in every sense of the word and will forever be lionized in the Windy City for his unbelievable achievements. 

9. Corey Perry – Tampa Bay Lightning

Stanley Cups: 1
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 4
Career Playoff Stats: 51 goals, 68 assists, 119 points, 190 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 4 (Anaheim, Dallas, Montreal, Tampa Bay)

Corey Perry is the type of player everyone loves to play with but loathes playing against. While he only has one Stanley Cup, the 37-year-old is no stranger to participating in the big dance. After leaving Anaheim at the end of the 2018-19 season, Perry made it to the Stanley Cup Final in three consecutive seasons with three different teams. 

Unfortunately, his journey to the showcase event with Dallas in 2020, Montreal in 2021, and Tampa Bay in 2022 all ended in defeat. His solo Stanley Cup came with Anaheim in 2006-07, the team he plied his trade with for 14 seasons.  

8. Joe Pavelski – Dallas Stars

Stanley Cups: 0
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 2
Career Playoff Stats: 64 goals, 61 assists, 125 points, 168 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 2 (San Jose, Dallas)

For all of his clutch playoff performances, Joe Pavelski is yet to win a Stanley Cup. He played in San Jose from 2006 to 2019 and finally made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 when his Sharks were upended in six games by the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

His dream of finally hoisting Lord Stanley took him to Dallas, where, in his first season, he helped the Stars advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, the Stars succumbed to Tampa Bay in six games, prolonging Pavelski’s playoff heartbreak. 

7. Patrice Bergeron – Boston Bruins

Stanley Cups: 1
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 3
Career Playoff Stats: 49 goals, 78 assists, 127 points, 167 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 1 (Boston) 

Patrice Bergeron has devoted his entire career to the Boston Bruins. Entering his 18th year with the franchise, Bergeron is the quintessential embodiment of a franchise player. He continuously elevates his performance during the playoffs, augmenting his already legendary status. 

Bergeron scores at a .76 points-per-game rate in the playoffs, only slightly less than his .81 points-per-game mark in the regular season. Considering the immeasurably more challenging and competitive environment the playoffs are renowned for, it’s a staggering output. He won his only Stanley Cup when the Bruins beat the Canucks in 2010-11. 

6. Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks

Stanley Cups: 3
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 3
Career Playoff Stats: 52 goals, 80 assists, 132 points, 136 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 1 (Chicago)

Patrick Kane was Chicago’s main offensive weapon during their dynasty years, when the Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups, from 2010 to 2015, in six seasons. Kane is a prolific playoff scorer who won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2013. He has 132 points in 136 playoff games, the third-highest point-per-game ratio of all the players on this list. 

He has been to the Stanley Cup Final on three occasions and never lost, another stat showcasing his ability to excel in the most high-pressure scenarios. 

5. Joe Thornton – Florida Panthers

Stanley Cups: 0
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 1
Career Playoff Stats: 32 goals, 102 assists, 134 points, 187 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 4 (Boston, San Jose, Toronto, Florida)

Joe Thornton has the unwanted, unenviable record of playing the most playoff games, 187, on this list without winning a Stanley Cup. Everyone is waiting for the 43-year-old to announce his retirement from the game, but, for now anyway, he remains steadfast, unwilling to hang up the skates before giving it one last attempt to lift the Stanley Cup.

Unfortunately, time is running out for Big Joe and his Stanley Cup quest. Ending his career without hoisting the Holy Grail now appears inevitable. He made it to the final once, with San Jose in 2016, but was unable to make the most of that once-in-a-career opportunity. 

4. Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals

Stanley Cups: 1
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 1
Career Playoff Stats: 72 goals, 69 assists, 141 points, 147 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 1 (Washington)

The Great 8 would not be denied his Stanley Cup ring, which he obtained when the Washington Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18. Ovechkin is a dominant force in the postseason, scoring almost a point per game. 

Ovechkin has a postseason point-per-game rate of 0.96. So you can see why, in 2018, the Caps got over the hump and won their first Stanley Cup. 

3. Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning

Stanley Cups: 2
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 4
Career Playoff Stats: 52 goals, 102 assists, 154 points, 136 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 1 (Tampa Bay)

Kucherov, still only 29 years old, has appeared in the Stanley Cup Final in four of his eight NHL seasons. 

It’s a truly staggering return from the crafty right-winger, who has the best points-per-game average of the 10 most prolific active playoff skaters. Kucherov has 154 points in 136 games, a 1.13 points-per-game average. He, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are the only players on the list who tally more than a point per game at the most important time of the year. 

The only thing missing from his impressive resume is a Conn Smythe Trophy, which indicates how stacked Tampa Bay was and still is. Nevertheless, with another half-decade of elite hockey remaining in an already storied career, Kucherov will almost assuredly ascend to the top of this list. 

2. Evgeni Malkin – Pittsburgh Penguins (Soon to be another team)

Stanley Cups: 3
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 4
Career Playoff Stats: 67 goals, 113 assists, 180 points, 177 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 1 (Pittsburgh)

Malkin splashed onto the NHL scene in 2006-07. In 2007-08, he made it to his first Stanley Cup Final, where the Pittsburgh Penguins fell to the Detroit Red Wings in six games. In the subsequent campaign, just Malkin’s third in the league, he won his first Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy. 

The Russian superstar helped the Pens to another two titles, back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017. Malkin is testing the 2022 free-agent market, so keep an eye on the team whose Stanley Cup chances will instantaneously improve heading into the 2022-23 campaign. 

1. Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins 

Stanley Cups: 3
Stanley Cup Final Appearances: 4
Career Playoff Stats: 71 goals, 130 assists, 201 points, 180 games played
Teams Played For in Playoffs: 1 (Pittsburgh)

The name atop the list comes as no surprise. Sidney Crosby, one of the all-time greatest hockey players, stands above the rest in terms of his otherworldly playoff level. Like Malkin, he has three Stanley Cup rings. 

The Pens won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, thanks in large part to Crosby’s heroics. In addition, he won successive Conn Smythe trophies, notching 46 points in 48 games. 

He has 201 points in 180 playoff games, a 1.12 points-per-game return. 

The city of Pittsburgh struck gold when they selected Crosby as the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft. It’s not the only time the Pens hit the No. 1 draft-pick jackpot, with Mario Lemieux going first in 1984.