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NHL scoring leaders 2026-27: the Art Ross and Rocket Richard races, updated daily

The NHL scoring leaders are the two races that run under every hockey season: the Art Ross for points and the Rocket Richard for goals. This page tracks both from the NHL’s official statistics, rebuilt every morning, with the assists leaders, the top-scoring defencemen, each Canadian team’s leading scorer and the goalie leaders alongside. Below the tables we explain why the points leader does not always win the Hart, which records are actually in reach, and how the race feeds the awards and props markets. 19+ (18+ in AB, MB and QC).

Last updated 23 September 2026, 6:30 AM ET. The tables show the final 2025-26 regular-season leaders. The 2026-27 regular season opens on 29 September, and this page switches to the live race the morning after the first games. Team codes are the NHL’s three-letter abbreviations.

What to watch (editor’s note, 22 Sep): The 2026-27 race opens on 29 September with the three men who finished top of last season’s table all healthy: Connor McDavid (138 points) chasing a fourth straight Art Ross, Nikita Kucherov (130, at a league-best 1.71 a game) and Nathan MacKinnon (127 and the Rocket Richard on 53 goals). Macklin Celebrini’s 115 points at 20 makes him the fourth name in every conversation, and the Hart board on our Hart Trophy page has McDavid, MacKinnon and Celebrini as the first three favourites. Two things to watch early: whether Cole Caufield can repeat a 51-goal season without the shooting percentage cooling, and whether Evan Bouchard, who led all defencemen with 95 points, converts that into the Norris nomination the voters denied him in June.

Art Ross race: NHL points leaders

#	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS	Pts/GP
1	Connor McDavid	EDM	C	82	48	90	138	1.68
2	Nikita Kucherov	TBL	RW	76	44	86	130	1.71
3	Nathan MacKinnon	COL	C	80	53	74	127	1.59
4	Macklin Celebrini	SJS	C	82	45	70	115	1.40
5	Mark Scheifele	WPG	C	82	36	67	103	1.26
6	Nick Suzuki	MTL	C	82	29	72	101	1.23
7	Martin Necas	COL	C	78	38	62	100	1.28
8	David Pastrnak	BOS	RW	77	29	71	100	1.30
9	Leon Draisaitl	EDM	C	65	35	62	97	1.49
10	Jason Robertson	DAL	LW	82	45	51	96	1.17
11	Evan Bouchard	EDM	D	82	21	74	95	1.16
12	Kyle Connor	WPG	LW	82	39	53	92	1.12
13	Jack Eichel	VGK	C	74	27	63	90	1.22
14	Kirill Kaprizov	MIN	LW	78	45	44	89	1.14
15	Cole Caufield	MTL	RW	81	51	37	88	1.09
16	Jake Guentzel	TBL	C	81	38	50	88	1.09
17	Clayton Keller	UTA	RW	82	26	62	88	1.07
18	Wyatt Johnston	DAL	C	82	45	41	86	1.05
19	Matt Boldy	MIN	LW	76	42	43	85	1.12
20	Alex DeBrincat	DET	RW	82	41	44	85	1.04
21	Artemi Panarin	LAK	LW	78	28	56	84	1.08
22	Tim Stützle	OTT	C	80	34	49	83	1.04
23	Tage Thompson	BUF	C	81	40	41	81	1.00
24	Zach Werenski	CBJ	D	75	22	59	81	1.08
25	Sebastian Aho	CAR	C	79	27	53	80	1.01

Rocket Richard race: NHL goal leaders

#	Player	Team	GP	G	PP G	Shots	S%
1	Nathan MacKinnon	COL	80	53	11	350	15.1
2	Cole Caufield	MTL	81	51	11	258	19.8
3	Connor McDavid	EDM	82	48	13	306	15.7
4	Macklin Celebrini	SJS	82	45	8	287	15.7
5	Jason Robertson	DAL	82	45	15	294	15.3
6	Kirill Kaprizov	MIN	78	45	19	269	16.7
7	Wyatt Johnston	DAL	82	45	27	206	21.8
8	Nikita Kucherov	TBL	76	44	8	231	19.0
9	Matt Boldy	MIN	76	42	11	254	16.5
10	Steven Stamkos	NSH	82	42	14	206	20.4
11	Alex DeBrincat	DET	82	41	15	287	14.3
12	Cutter Gauthier	ANA	76	41	11	285	14.4
13	Tage Thompson	BUF	81	40	6	272	14.7
14	Filip Forsberg	NSH	82	40	11	246	16.3
15	Dylan Guenther	UTA	79	40	9	242	16.5
16	Kyle Connor	WPG	82	39	5	274	14.2
17	Morgan Geekie	BOS	81	39	12	181	21.5
18	Martin Necas	COL	78	38	9	206	18.4
19	Jake Guentzel	TBL	81	38	8	220	17.3
20	Pavel Dorofeyev	VGK	82	37	20	230	16.1
21	Mark Scheifele	WPG	82	36	7	175	20.6
22	Brandon Hagel	TBL	71	36	5	214	16.8
23	Adrian Kempe	LAK	81	36	4	226	15.9
24	Leon Draisaitl	EDM	65	35	16	186	18.8
25	Tim Stützle	OTT	80	34	9	194	17.5

Assists leaders

#	Player	Team	GP	A	PTS
1	Connor McDavid	EDM	82	90	138
2	Nikita Kucherov	TBL	76	86	130
3	Nathan MacKinnon	COL	80	74	127
4	Evan Bouchard	EDM	82	74	95
5	Nick Suzuki	MTL	82	72	101
6	David Pastrnak	BOS	77	71	100
7	Macklin Celebrini	SJS	82	70	115
8	Quinn Hughes	MIN	74	69	76
9	Mark Scheifele	WPG	82	67	103
10	Lane Hutson	MTL	82	66	78

Top-scoring defencemen

#	Defenceman	Team	GP	G	A	PTS
1	Evan Bouchard	EDM	82	21	74	95
2	Zach Werenski	CBJ	75	22	59	81
3	Cale Makar	COL	75	20	59	79
4	Lane Hutson	MTL	82	12	66	78
5	Quinn Hughes	MIN	74	7	69	76
6	Rasmus Dahlin	BUF	77	19	55	74
7	Darren Raddysh	TBL	73	22	48	70
8	Erik Karlsson	PIT	75	15	51	66
9	Miro Heiskanen	DAL	77	9	54	63
10	Charlie McAvoy	BOS	69	11	50	61

Canadian teams: leading scorers

Team	Leading scorer	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS
Calgary Flames	Matt Coronato	RW	80	18	27	45
Edmonton Oilers	Connor McDavid	C	82	48	90	138
Montréal Canadiens	Nick Suzuki	C	82	29	72	101
Ottawa Senators	Tim Stützle	C	80	34	49	83
Toronto Maple Leafs	William Nylander	RW	65	30	49	79
Vancouver Canucks	Elias Pettersson	C	74	15	36	51
Winnipeg Jets	Mark Scheifele	C	82	36	67	103

Goalie leaders

Wins

#	Goalie	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	SV%	GAA	SO
1	Andrei Vasilevskiy	TBL	58	39	15	4	.912	2.31	2
2	Karel Vejmelka	UTA	64	38	20	3	.897	2.75	2
3	Jake Oettinger	DAL	54	35	12	6	.899	2.59	4
4	Brandon Bussi	CAR	39	31	6	2	.895	2.47	2
5	Scott Wedgewood	COL	45	31	6	6	.921	2.02	4
6	Jeremy Swayman	BOS	55	31	18	4	.908	2.71	2
7	Logan Thompson	WSH	58	31	21	6	.912	2.44	4
8	Lukas Dostal	ANA	56	30	20	4	.888	3.10	0
9	Jakub Dobes	MTL	43	29	10	4	.901	2.78	0
10	Dan Vladar	PHI	52	29	14	7	.906	2.42	0

Save percentage (minimum 25 games)

#	Goalie	Team	GP	SV%	GAA	SO
1	Scott Wedgewood	COL	45	.921	2.02	4
2	Jesper Wallstedt	MIN	35	.916	2.61	4
3	Andrei Vasilevskiy	TBL	58	.912	2.31	2
4	Logan Thompson	WSH	58	.912	2.44	4
5	Igor Shesterkin	NYR	51	.912	2.50	1
6	Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen	BUF	35	.910	2.52	1
7	Anton Forsberg	LAK	36	.910	2.57	3
8	Joel Hofer	STL	46	.910	2.61	6
9	Devin Cooley	CGY	31	.909	2.69	0
10	Philipp Grubauer	SEA	32	.909	2.65	0

Art Ross versus Hart: why the points leader does not always win MVP

The Art Ross Trophy has no voters. It goes to the points leader, with goals as the tiebreaker, and it has done so since Elmer Lach won the first one in 1947-48. The Hart Trophy is voted by the hockey writers, and the writers weigh team success heavily. That is why the two split in 2026: Connor McDavid won the Art Ross with 138 points on an Edmonton team that finished 14th overall and lost the Hart to Nikita Kucherov, whose 130 points came at 1.71 a game for a Tampa Bay side that finished fifth. The same player has taken both in 14 of the 26 seasons since 2000, but they have now split three years running.

For a bettor that matters in one direction. If you are on a player in the Hart market, the points table above is necessary but not sufficient: check where his team sits in our power rankings as well. If you are on the points race itself, through season-long points props or an Art Ross future where a book offers one, the table is the whole story. Our Hart Trophy odds page carries the current board and the ten-year history of favourites.

Rocket Richard: goals, not votes

The Maurice Richard Trophy has gone to the regular-season goals leader since 1998-99, when Teemu Selanne won the first with 47. Alex Ovechkin has won it nine times, more than anyone, and Nathan MacKinnon took the 2026 edition with 53 goals, three clear of Cole Caufield and five clear of McDavid. Auston Matthews’ 69 goals in 2023-24 remain the most in a season since Mario Lemieux’s 69 in 1995-96. Goal races are noisier than points races because shooting percentage swings, which is why the shots and shooting-percentage columns are in the table: a leader converting at 20 percent on modest volume is more likely to fade than one at 15 percent on 300 shots.

Records in reach

Record	Holder	Mark	Season
Most points in a season	Wayne Gretzky	215	1985-86
Most goals in a season	Wayne Gretzky	92	1981-82
Most assists in a season	Wayne Gretzky	163	1985-86
Most points since 2000	Connor McDavid	153	2022-23
Most goals since 2000	Auston Matthews	69	2023-24
Most points by a defenceman	Bobby Orr	139	1970-71
Most goals by a defenceman	Paul Coffey	48	1985-86
Most points by a rookie	Teemu Selanne	132	1992-93
Most Art Ross Trophies	Wayne Gretzky	10	1981-87, 1990-91, 1993-94
Most Rocket Richard Trophies	Alex Ovechkin	9	2008-2020

None of the single-season marks is realistic in the modern game, but the since-2000 lines are live targets for the top of the table, and the defenceman lines are the context for the Norris Trophy race: Evan Bouchard led all defencemen with 95 points last season and was still left off the Norris ballot’s final three. Defencemen who score are not automatically defencemen who win.

Using the scoring race for betting

Three markets hang off these tables. Season-long player props on points and goals, which most Ontario and Alberta books post before opening night and reprice through the year. Award futures, where the Hart board is the liquid one and the Art Ross and Rocket Richard boards are thinner. And nightly player props on shots, points and goals, where the leaders are priced for their reputation and the value tends to sit with the second-liner who has just moved up to a scorer’s wing. Our prop bets guide and futures guide cover the mechanics. Two cautions: early-season pace is noise until a player has 15 or 20 games, and every table here assumes health, so check the NHL injury report before you bet on a leader’s next game.

If a line here changes your view of a season-long market, these are the NHL sportsbooks we rate for Canadians, listed by province, with the full comparison on our NHL betting sites page:

Where the numbers come from and when they update

Every table is generated from the NHL’s official statistics feed, the same data behind NHL.com’s leaderboards, and covers regular-season games only. We rebuild the page each morning Eastern time, so the tables reflect the previous night’s games; the stamp at the top says exactly when. Ties in points are broken by goals, as the Art Ross itself does. The NHL awards odds hub covers every trophy these races feed, and the NHL betting hub has the markets and the rules.

NHL scoring leaders FAQ

Who leads the NHL in scoring right now?

The 2026-27 regular season has not started, so the tables show the final 2025-26 leaders: Connor McDavid led the league with 138 points and Nathan MacKinnon led with 53 goals. This page switches to the live race the morning after the first games.

Who won the Art Ross Trophy in 2026?

Connor McDavid, with 138 points (48 goals and 90 assists) in 82 games for Edmonton, ahead of Nikita Kucherov on 130 and Nathan MacKinnon on 127. Kucherov won the Hart Trophy the same season.

Who won the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2026?

Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado with 53 goals, ahead of Cole Caufield on 51 and Connor McDavid on 48. It was MacKinnon’s first goal-scoring title.

What is the most points scored in one NHL season?

Wayne Gretzky’s 215 points in 1985-86, when he also set the assists record with 163. The most in the salary-cap era is Connor McDavid’s 153 in 2022-23.

Who is the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer?

Alex Ovechkin, who passed Wayne Gretzky’s 894 career goals in April 2025 and is still adding to the record with Washington.

How often are these scoring leaders updated?

Every morning Eastern time during the regular season, reflecting the previous night’s games. The stamp at the top of the page shows the exact time of the last rebuild.

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