The Top 10 Individual Seasons in NHL History

Before reading this list, please note the criteria. I did not use two seasons from the same player, otherwise this list would have consisted of Gretzky and Lemieux only. That’s not an exaggeration.

When I made my selections, I took into account several attributes aside from the number of points scored. I considered the era, andhow much scoring there was in the league at the time. It was important to consider how the output of the player matched up with other high-point scorers from the same year.

Finally, I took into account the supporting cast of the stars who recorded these phenomenal scoring totals.

Honorable mentions:

1992-93 Pat LaFontaine - 53 goals, 95 assists for 148 points in 84 games

As is the case with all seven honorable mentions, this was a hard one to leave out. LaFontaine had a dynamite season, but scoring was up in 1992-93, and amazing as 148 points are, I don’t think season was good enough to crack the list. There were several players who scored 120+ points that year.

1992-93 Temmu Selanne - 76 goals, 56 assists 132 points in 84 games

See LaFontaine. 76 goals is a hell of a season. If you think that Selanne’s season is more impressive than that of LaFontaine, that only gets him to spot 11.

1992-93 Pierre Turgeon - 58 goals, 74 assists for 132 points in 83 games

See Selanne and LaFontaine.

1992-93 Adam Oates - 45 goals, 97 assists for 142 points in 84 games

See Selanne, LaFontaine and Turgeon.

1981-82 Mike Bossy - 64 goals, 83 assists for 147 points in 80 games

Certainly an impressive season. Bossy recorded 147 points, how could he not make this list, right? Wrong. Bossy’s 64 goals pale in comparison to Wayne Gretzky’s 92 that season. On the other hand, if Bossy had not enjoyed the benefit of playing with Brian Trottier and Clark Gillies, I probably would have put him on the list.

1988-89 Bernie Nicholls - 70 goals, 80 assists for 150 points in 79 games.

Nice season, but without Gretzky, this would never have happened. Just look at Nicholls’ career.

1995-96 Jaromir Jagr - 62 goals, 87 assists for 149 points in 82 games

Considering the level of scoring in 1995-96 compared to the eighties, Jagr’s season is very impressive. However, he did play on a line with Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis. I would never suggest Jagr was just a product of his linemates, but I still don’t think his season is good enough to make the list.

The List:

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?