Which Active Players Will Reach 500 Goals?

[Dust]

Did you read my second sentence?

I completely missed it, whoops.

 

[BadBruins]

Marchand is on pace for 28 goals this season, if he keeps that pace he'll need 71 after this season.

That's not impossible, really depends upon how long he wants to/can keep playing. If he keeps playing till he's 45 like Chara did he's prolly a lock. If he retires at 40 he'd need 17 goals/season over the next four, which is very doable. If he maintains the 28-30 goals/season average he's been doing the past 6 years or so he can do it in a little over three.

But it's also very conceivable he falls short, so wouldn't be surprised either way. But if he next contract is 3 years he's prolly got a decent shot at least.

Marchand is going to get damn close IMO. Surprised he's not mentioned more. He's going to flirt with 30 goals again.... at age 36.

For him it will come down to how long he wants to drag out the last part of his career. Does he want to go out like Chara or Bergeron? Both paths are admirable.

 

[T REX]

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).

Active NHL Players - Goals per Game Leaders

Active NHL players who hold the all-time record for the most goals per game in NHL. All-time goals per game leaders for active NHL players.

www.quanthockey.com

This list is by goals per game average

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Crazy to see Kuch that high as mainly a pass first player. Impressive. Along with a lot of those numbers.

 

[wetcoast]

Bedard, Celebrini, Fantilli? Nobody has anything to say about guys who still have 20 more years in the league to get there?

Michkov? Guenther? Raymond? Any takers?

First guy I thought of was Bedard, those extra goals so young really help plus he has Richard type of goal finishes very possible in his peak years.

 

[Video Nasty]

Focusing on someone not in OP’s list, I really like Point’s chances.

Could be sitting at 310 by season’s end and having just turned 29. If he is, it means he’s scored 45+ goals three seasons in a row, hit 40+ for the fourth time, has five 30+ goal seasons, and has a career average of 38 goals/82 games.

He could score 27 goals per season from here on out, retire at 35, and still notch 500.

 

[HockeyVirus]

The fact that 99% of the NHL doesn’t age like Marleau suggests Nylander’s game should? Gotcha.

And what about Nylanders game makes you think it will age poorly? He's literally built exactly like Marleau and plays the game almost the same.

Patrick Marleau didn't exactly age well either. 31 points after his 40th birthday.

His last few seasons were rough.

Willy doesn't need to play into his 40's. Late 30's would be enough. He should easily be a 20 goal scorer on the PP alone at that age.