Most NHL Points in a Season: Gretzky’s 215-Point Record
Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL single-season record with 215 points. See the top five seasons, points-per-game comparison and team record.
Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL record for most points by a player in one regular season: 215 for the Edmonton Oilers in 1985–86. He recorded 52 goals and 163 assists in 80 games. The mark remains first in the NHL’s official single-season record table through the completed 2025–26 season.
Here, points means a player’s goals plus assists—not a team’s standings points. If you mean the team record, that belongs to the 2022–23 Boston Bruins, with 135 standings points.
Highest-scoring individual NHL seasons
Gretzky owns the four highest regular-season point totals. Mario Lemieux’s 199-point season is the highest by anyone other than Gretzky; no other player has reached 200.
| Rank | Player | Team | Season | Games played | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | 1985–86 | 80 | 52 | 163 | 215 |
| 2 | Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | 1981–82 | 80 | 92 | 120 | 212 |
| 3 | Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | 1984–85 | 80 | 73 | 135 | 208 |
| 4 | Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | 1983–84 | 74 | 87 | 118 | 205 |
| 5 | Mario Lemieux | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1988–89 | 76 | 85 | 114 | 199 |
Source: NHL Records, most points in a season. These totals exclude playoffs.
The record point season was not Gretzky’s record goal season. His 92-goal mark came in 1981–82, when he finished with 212 points. His 1985–86 total came with fewer goals but a record 163 assists, as documented by the Hockey Hall of Fame.
What counts as a player point?
The calculation is straightforward:
Player points = goals + assists
Under NHL Rule 78.2–78.3, each goal and each credited assist counts as one point in a player’s record. A goal can have up to two credited assists, but an individual player can receive only one point on that goal.
For Gretzky’s record season: 52 + 163 = 215. This is official scoring production, not an estimate of shot quality or a measurement of skating skill.
Most points is not the same as the highest scoring rate
Games played matter when comparing seasons. Using Gretzky’s official NHL statistics:
- 1985–86: 215 ÷ 80 = 2.69 points per game.
- 1983–84: 205 ÷ 74 = 2.77 points per game.
His 215-point season produced the larger total, but his 205-point season had the higher per-game rate. Points per game accounts for appearances; it does not adjust for ice time, power-play opportunities or the scoring environment.
For a recent benchmark, Connor McDavid recorded 153 points in 82 games in 2022–23, or 1.87 per game. That ranks 15th on the same all-time list. The raw numbers establish the record and the gap—not an era-adjusted ranking of player ability.
Team and playoff records are separate
Team standings points: Boston’s 2022–23 record was 65–12–5 in 82 games, yielding 135 points, according to NHL team records. That is 65 wins worth two points each, plus five overtime/shootout losses worth one each: (65 × 2) + 5 = 135. Our guide to OTL and standings points explains that calculation.
Player playoff points: Gretzky also holds the record for one postseason: 47 points—17 goals and 30 assists—in 18 games during the 1985 playoffs, listed under 1984–85 in NHL playoff records. Those points are not added to the 215-point regular-season record.