Which NHL players have scored the most career playoff goals?

Shanny played for the Devils when he was 19 and also when he was 40, and in between saw a ton of time on the NHL ice. Of course, his heyday, postseason-wise and otherwise, was with the Red Wings. In the pre-salary cap era, Shanahan won three Cups with the Red Wings’ superteams, and he played a key part in that. Thirty-three of the Hall of Famer’s 60 postseason goals came with Detroit.

Gilmour is getting a bit of a glow-up because he’s a great Immaculate Grid name, but he’s also a Hall of Famer with 450 goals and a Selke to his name. He just also played for seven different teams and was never a major star, so he kind of faded from the limelight. In Calgary he’s certainly remembered for scoring 11 goals when it won the Cup in 1989, which got him part of the way to 60.

Mullen is the last of three players to hit 60 on the dot. For a while, Mullen was notable for being the American with the most goals and points in NHL history, and even now, only a few guys have passed him. If you think Gilmour’s 11 goals in 1989 were good, Mullen led that Flames team, and the postseason in general, with 16 goals that year.

With all due respect to the first three guys on this list, Esposito scored goals at another level. He led the NHL in goals six seasons in a row and retired with 717 regular-season goals. However, Espo started his career in the Original Six era, so the playoffs did not last as long. He and the Bruins won a Cup while only playing 14 playoff games once. Thus, his 61 postseason goals came in 130 games.

Lemaire was a really good coach, even if he helped drain the joy out of the NHL with the neutral-zone trap, but he made the Hall of Fame as a player. While he’s not an all-time great on that front, he played his entire NHL career with the Canadiens during the heyday of that franchise. Well, one of its heydays. The team won eight, yes eight, Cups during his time with the team. Lemaire was never the best player on any of those squads, but he chipped in 61 postseason goals because, again, he was really good.

Recchi somewhat quietly scored 577 career goals, which will happen when you play 22 seasons in the NHL. Early in his career, playing alongside Mario Lemieux, he won a Cup with the Penguins. In the final year of his career, now in his forties, Recchi provided a veteran presence for the Bruins as they hoisted the Cup. Recchi wasn’t just along for the ride. The Hall of Famer scored five goals in that postseason, giving him 61 playoff goals in his career.

Hull is the all-time leader in playoff goals…for the WHA. This is only about the NHL, though. The famed father of a player much higher on this list, “The Golden Jet,” was no slouch in his NHL career, either. That includes racking up 62 playoff goals.

You don’t think of Forsberg as lighting the lamp with impunity, and that’s fair. When he won the Art Ross, and the Hart, he paced the league with 77 assists, but had 29 goals. In fact, the Swedish legend never had more than 30 goals in a season. He saw a lot of playoff time, though, appearing in the postseason in 13 years of his career. Again, he never had more than 10 goals in a single playoff run, but he got to 64 goals through quantity.

Here is our first non-Hall of Famer. While Propp’s career basically perfectly aligns with the heyday of NHL scoring – 1979-80 through 1993-94 – he notched 1,004 points in 1,016 career games, which is something most players of that era did not accomplish. Four times Propp tallied over 40 goals for the Flyers. Plus, there’s the 64 playoff goals. Once, in 1989, he had 14 goals in only 18 playoff games. Say, 1989 has come up a few times. That must have been a high-scoring postseason.

Another guy not in the Hall of Fame with 64 postseason goals? Indeed! Smith’s career was slightly better than Propp’s. He also had over 1,000 points, but he also won the Calder as a rookie and did hoist the Cup once. That was in 1986 with the Canadiens.

Speaking of the Canadiens, Cournoyer spent his entire career in bleu, blanc, et rouge, and so there were a lot of playoff games. Like Lemiere, Cournoyer won eight Cups in his career. “The Roadrunner” was a better player, though, and he has something his fellow Hab does not: A Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP. In 1973, Cournoyer led the NHL with 15 goals and 25 points, and he did that in only 17 games to take home that hardware.

The master of the “spin-o-rama,” Savard won the Cup in 1993 with, yes, Montreal. Although, a veteran at that time, all he chipped in was five assists in 14 games. The Hall of Famer’s greatest success came with Chicago, though he did not help it break a lengthy Cup drought. A whopping 61 of Savard’s 66 playoff goals came with the Blackhawks.

Nieuwendyk was such a good player we’ve learned to spell his last name by memory. While he hopped around a bit at the end of his Hall of Fame career, the bulk of his success came with Calgary and Dallas. Although, while he won a Cup with each of those teams, he also added a title with the Devils in 2003, chipping in three goals. When the Stars won the Cup in 1999, Nieuwendyk won the Conn Smythe, as a full six of his 11 goals were game-winners. After surprisingly potting six goals in nine games with the Maple Leafs in 2004, he got to 66 in his career.

Our first active player. The peak of the Penguins era is in the past, and they have failed to make the playoffs a couple of times in a row. Will Malkin get a chance to add to his postseason total of 67 goals? He doesn’t need to. Geno is a lock for the Hall and has three rings to go with one Conn Smythe trophy. Of course, Malkin would love the chance to make a run at 70 playoff goals…but the clock is ticking.

“Mr. Hockey” played forever, but he also played most of his career in the Original Six era and went over to the WHA for a few years. Howe finished sixth in career WHL playoff goals (his son Mark is second), but that time away from the NHL kept the legend’s totals from being higher. Howe led the league in playoff goals in three seasons. The six-time Hart winner retired with 68 NHL postseason goals. One of them with the Whalers!

Back-to-back Red Wings legends for you. Yzerman never left the Red Wings, and he helped end the franchise’s lengthy Cup drought that began during Hower’s era. Stevie Y began his NHL career as a scoring machine, but under Scotty Bowman became a defensive stalwart, even winning a Selke. Not that he ever stopped picking up points. Yzerman notched 70 postseason goals en route to winning three Stanley Cups and one Conn Smythe.

Malkin’s running mate is slightly higher on this list. While Malkin is great, Crosby became the heir apparent to Mario Lemieux. He’s the one who captained the Penguins to multiple titles, with plenty of points in the process. Crosby has gotten over the 70-goal mark; he’s at 71, but one does wonder if his window has closed.

Trottier played for the Islanders when they won four Cups in a row. He led the playoffs in scoring twice and goals once during that time. However, while that run makes up the bulk of Trottier’s postseason success, he added two more Cups as a veteran presence for the Penguins in 1991 and 1992. Across those two postseasons, he added seven goals, getting him to 71.

We were truly surprised to see Tikkanen, who is not in the Hall of Fame and was never really in consideration, this high on the list. He played for seven teams in his 14-year NHL career and retired with 244 goals and 630 points. Nobody should knock that, but it doesn’t scream “Has more playoff goals than Steve Yzerman.” So what gives? Well, eight of his playoff seasons came with the Oilers during their heyday, winning four Cups with the franchise. Surrounded by offensive talent, including the best passer in NHL history, Tikkanen tallied 51 of his 72 playoff goals.

Marleau is not in the Hall of Fame yet, but we bet he will be. He’s the best player in San Jose Sharks history and retired with 566 goals and 631 assists. Marleau also has the record for the most regular season games played in NHL history, which is remarkable. He added another 195 playoff games, scoring 72 goals across those contests.

Ovechkin is chasing the record for most regular-season goals. He’s already in second. The playoff goal mark is out of reach, though. Washington is not a formidable team at the moment as it partially rebuilds while partially existing to serve Ovechkin’s chase to break the goal record. Ovi is at 72 playoff goals, and we wouldn’t be surprised if that is where things end.

Our last active player is kind of a remarkable one. Sure, Crosby, Ovechkin, and Pavelski are all close to one another, but the fact Pavelski has those guys beat is not something we expected. It’s not like he’s been coasting thanks to team success, as he doesn’t even have a Cup! Pavelski will probably miss out on the Hall of Fame, and fairly so, but he had 14 playoff goals one year with the Sharks and 13 one year with the Stars. He’s had a great career, and being in the top 15 in postseason goals is his biggest accomplishment.

As a rookie, Ciccarelli scored 14 playoff goals for the Minnesota North Stars. He never produced at quite that level again, but it was auspicious for a guy who would retire with over 600 goals. Ciccarelli did catch a bit of a tough break, as his four-season run with the Red Wings ended with the 1995-96 season. The Wings would win back-to-back Cups in the next two seasons, while Ciccarelli retired without a ring.

Lemieux is only 12th in playoff goals, which seems surprising. He won three Harts and six Art Ross trophies. The dude once scored 69 goals in only 70 games. Also, Lemieux won the Conn Smythe both of the times he won a Cup with the Penguins. Oddly, for such a great player, Lemieux only appeared in the playoffs eight times in his career. His 76 playoff goals came in 107 games. Okay, now that makes more sense.

Unlike his former teammate Lemieux, whose career was hindered by injury and illness, Jagr will play hockey until the Earth is subsumed by the Sun. He played 24 seasons in the NHL even though he dipped out to spend a few years in the KHL before returning. Thus, he made 18 playoff appearances, more than double Lemieux’s total, and three times with the Penguins he had double-digit goals in a playoff run. That helped him get to 78 postseason goals.

Beliveau played 20 years with the Canadiens. He won 10 Cups. While he’s in the Hall of Fame, and a legend in Montreal, arguably Beliveau is overlooked these days, as he is not remembered among the icons of the old-school NHL. Even in his late thirties, Beliveau was helping to lead the Canadiens to Cups. In fact, the last two times he played in the postseason he led Montreal in assists. We’re talking goals, though, and he had 79 of those.

Mario is not the Lemieux with the most playoff goals? It’s true! Claude is the last player on this list not in the Hall, and with 379 goals and 407 assists, he doesn’t belong there. However, Lemieux was known for two things: Questionable penalties and picking his game up in the playoffs. He scored 13 playoff goals in two different postseasons, leading the league both times. When the chips were down, Lemieux would deliver, be it goals or dirty hits.

Well, in a list teeming with Canadiens icons, only one guy was suitable to top the list. Richard was the first NHL player to score 50 goals in a season, and he did it at a time when the NHL season was only 50 games. In a similar vein, he played his entire career before NHL expansion. “Rocket” Richard won eight Cups and only appeared in 132 playoff games. He led the league in postseason goals five times and notched 82 of those goals in general.

Forsberg wasn’t the goal scorer for the Avalanche during their glory days. That was Sakic’s role. He’s the one with two 50-goal seasons to his name. When the Avalanche won the Cup in 1996, Sakic paved the way. He won the Conn Smythe in part by scoring a whopping 18 goals. When Colorado won it all again in 2001, Sakic was the top scorer in the playoffs again, this time with 13 goals. Sakic paced the Avalanche during his time there and tallied 84 playoff goals.

Bossy’s remarkable goal-scoring in the regular season is well-documented at this point. He played nine full NHL seasons and scored over 50 goals in each of those seasons. However, it’s not like Bossy turned into a pumpkin when the playoffs began. When the Islanders won four Cups in a row, three times Bossy scored 17 goals to lead the league. He had 85 goals in 129 playoff games.

Spoiler: Four of the top five guys on this list played for the Oilers in the 1980s. They all helped one another (and Esa Tikkanen) light the lamp with gusto. Anderson made it into the Hall of Fame, though he’s the one of these four who feels like he was the most bolstered by his teammates. The other three we think would have been Hall of Famers in any scenario. Anderson? That’s a question, but it is one nobody can answer. What we do know is that he had 93 playoff goals, and he was part of six title-winning teams.

Hull is the non-Oiler on this list, and if we had asked you to guess a name, you likely would have landed on him. He’s one of the best goal-scorers in NHL history. Hull scored over 70 goals three seasons in a row, including 86 goals once. This is about the playoffs, of course. Hull kicks off the players in the Century Club. He had two double-digit goal campaigns with the Blues, one with the Stars, and one with the Red Wings. In total, he got to 103 postseason goals.

Kurri was too good to be considered a byproduct of his talented teammates. He had seven seasons in a row with at least 43 goals, including leading the NHL with 68 goals once. The Finnish superstar had 601 goals in the regular season, but added several more in the playoffs. It was Kurri who led the NHL in playoff goals during the four Cups the Oilers won in the 1980s. That’s the mark of a true Hall of Famer. Kurri notched 106 postseason goals.

You knew who the last two names on this list would be, and you also knew who would be second. Let’s focus on a couple of campaigns for Messier. In 1990, when the guy atop this list was in Hollywood, Messier led the Oilers to another Cup, this time as the centerpiece, tallying nine goals and 22 assists. Then, in 1994, Messier famously led the Rangers to a title that ended a 54-year drought. Truly, Messier led the way for that team. He had 12 goals, four of them game-winners, to go with 18 assists. When all was said and done, he tallied 109 playoff goals.

There’s nobody else it could be. Someday, Ovechkin may pass Gretzky’s 892 regular-season goals, but “The Great One” has a playoff goal record that is untouchable. This is a list of the players with at least 60 playoff goals, right? And only 35 players are on said list? Gretzky retired with 122 playoff goals. He doubled up Phil Esposito. Nobody is within ten goals of him. It’s still possible to be floored by just how good Gretzky was. Oh, and he added 260 playoff assists for good measure.