Which Active Players Will Reach 500 Goals?

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BobCole

Registered User
May 21, 2014
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There are 4 active 500+ goal scorers today:
OV
Crosby
Stamkos
Malkin

I project 6 likely shoo-in candidates to reach 500:
Kane (17 away)
Tavares (22 away)
Matthews
Draisaitl
McDavid
MacKinnon

The latter four are 110-140 goals away, but I can't see them failing to get there.

From there, it gets trickier.

These 4 may get there:
Kopitar (68 away)
Pastrnak (124 away)
Kucherov (155 away)
Rantanen (28 years old and 212 goals away)

After that group, I see long shots or very very long shots, including:
Aho (27 years old and 226 away)
Connor (28 years old and 227 away)
M Tkachuk (27 years old and 260 away)
Eichel (28 years old and 270 away)
Laine (26 years old and 283 away)
Kaprizov (27 years old and 317 away)
Robertson (25 years old and 347 away)
J Hughes (23 years old and 360 away)
 
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Basically you need to score an average of 33 goals a year for 15 years to hit the milestone. Not a lot of players will be that consistently good for that long.

With that said, I think there is a clear missed name in William Nylander. Has another 7.5 years at least of play and is at 250. I think there is a very good chance he plays until around 40. Lots of room to get there and only recently has he become such a good goal scorer (40 goals last two years, on pace for ~50 this year)
 
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Basically you need to score an average of 33 goals a year for 15 years to hit the milestone. Not a lot of players will be that consistently good for that long.

With that said, I think there is a clear missed name in William Nylander. Has another 7.5 years at least of play and is at 250. I think there is a very good chance he plays until around 40. Lots of room to get there and only recently has he become such a good goal scorer (40 goals last two years, on pace for ~50 this year)
Yeah I should have had him on the latter list for sure. Oversight on my part.
 
Both Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor are on pace to reach 500. Scheifele has 6 more years left on his contract after this season and only needs roughly 120 goals to get there. And Kyle Connor already has 8 seasons at 30 + goals (every season he has played except for Covid year where he had 26 in 56 games).
 
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Basically you need to score an average of 33 goals a year for 15 years to hit the milestone. Not a lot of players will be that consistently good for that long.

With that said, I think there is a clear missed name in William Nylander. Has another 7.5 years at least of play and is at 250. I think there is a very good chance he plays until around 40. Lots of room to get there and only recently has he become such a good goal scorer (40 goals last two years, on pace for ~50 this year)
1740345489684.png
 
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Pastrnak should easily get there (shoe-in)

I see Kopitar, but no Marchand. Both I guess won't make it, but have a decent chance, if they play long enough (4 more years)
Kyle Connor is more likely than not
Jack Hughes is still very young and has imo a very good chance. He will get there
Missing Nylander and Point as likely candidates
 
Well, you could simply go by this to get a rough idea who could reach it. I think starting from Patrik Kane (#24) upwards (because he is near 500 and close-ish to retirement), they all have a chance if there's no drastic drop in production. Some of them probably won't reach 500 due to inconsistency, like Laine, Forsberg and Panarin (just a guess).


This list is by goals per game average

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Sadly I don't think he does

He's falling off fast, age 37, and 20 goals is 50-50 this year

But he'll be agonizingly close, just doesn't strike me as the type to play just to chase a milestone

Damn, didn’t realize how much he had dried up recently after a strong start. Only 3 goals and 9 points in his last 22 games.
 
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The screen cap of the table above shows both the number of games needed still, and the total number of games - at the current avg pace. Since this assumes a steady scoring rate, it's best to avoid drawing deep conclusions as who's to make it til 500. Obviously ignore the negative entries, or players already at 500+. Or you can use that to compare with how many games they actually needed for 500.
 
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View attachment 981884
The screen cap of the table above shows both the number of games needed still, and the total number of games - at the current avg pace. Since this assumes a steady scoring rate, it's best to avoid drawing deep conclusions as who's to make it til 500. Obviously ignore the negative entries, or players already at 500+. Or you can use that to compare with how many games they actually needed for 500.
Wow, that's some serious spreadsheeting. I did something similar but less involved. I actually threw it by the wayside once I determined that the biggest X factor was drop in production over time. Obviously some guys on this list - like McDrai - are safe bets to get there. But a lot of guys within striking distance (~150-200 goals) are in their late-20s/early-30s, and it's highly unlikely that those guys continue scoring at .40+ GPG. I think many of us have been lulled into thinking otherwise thanks go OV's unprecedented longevity. But the fact remains that most guys' goal scoring rate drops off precipitously after 30, so even being "only" 150 goals away at age ~30 leaves a steep hill to climb. Curious which players you think will get there!
 

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