The 11 Active NHL Players Who’ve Racked Up The Most Points In The Playoffs

NHL players have a tendency to take their game to the next level when the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around. You’re just asking for fans to turn on you if you disappear when they get underway, but that’s not the case with the active players who’ve recorded the most points in the postseason.

These are the active NHL players with the most postseason points heading into the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs

You will not be surprised to learn Wayne Gretzky holds the record for the most points an NHL player has scored in the playoffs over the course of their career. The Great One had 122 goals and 260 assists (also the top in both of those categories) for 382 points while winning the Stanley Cup four times.

There aren’t any active players who come close to sniffing that total, which is one of many records Gretzky set that will likely never be broken. However, there are plenty of guys who’ve put up some numbers that are certainly nothing to scoff at.

Some of these totals will rise over the course of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026, but here’s how things stand among current skaters heading into them.

11. Mikko Rantanen: 123

Mikko Rantanen made his debut with the Avalanche when the team was in the midst of a pretty brutal stretch that saw them miss the playoffs five out of six seasons between 2011 and 2017. However, he took advantage of the ongoing postseason streak that kicked off in 2018 while notching 34 goals and 67 assists during a seven-year run that included a Stanley Cup victory in 2022.

He picked up where he left off with the Stars last season by adding a career-high nine goals in the postseason along with 13 assists before they lost to the Oilers in the conference final to bring his total points up to 123. He will also have the chance to improve on that number when Dallas kicks off its quest for a Cup against the Wild.

10. Nathan MacKinnon: 125

The Avalanche can credit a few players for sparking their aforementioned turnaround, but there may not be any who played a bigger role than Nathan MacKinnon.

The center has more than lived up to the hype that surrounded him when Colorado scooped him up with the top overall pick in 2013 before making his NHL debut the same year. The man who is known for being a hockey machine has 55 goals and 70 assists heading into the playoffs in 2026, and there’s almost zero doubt those numbers will grow after the Avs usher in the postseason against the Kings.

9. Patrick Kane: 138

The Blackhawks were an absolute force to be reckoned with after snapping a five-year playoff drought in 2009, and Patrick Kane was an instrumental figure in the dynasty that won the Stanley Cup three times between 2010 and 2015.

Kane had 100 points (39 goals and 67 assists) in the 100 games that were played during that span, and he finished his time in Chicago with a grand total of 132. He added six more with the Rangers in 2023 but has been deprived of the opportunity to climb up the rankings three years in a row.

T-7. Corey Perry: 141

There isn’t a single player on this list who has appeared in more playoff games than Corey Perry, who sits third on the all-time list with 237 contests under his belt.

The veteran has competed in the postseason with five different teams, and his run with the Lightning in 2026 will mark the 18th time he’s gotten a taste of the playoffs. He will be hoping to both break the curse he’s been dealing with since 2020 and add to the 64 goals and 77 assists that earn him the eighth spot on this list.

T-7. Leon Draisaitl: 141

Leon Draisaitl has only needed 96 games to accrue the same number of points Perry has compiled, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest he will take sole possession of seventh place (or even leapfrog into sixth) by the time his playoff run with the Oilers comes to an end in 2026.

How far he rises will be contingent on how far Edmonton goes, but he had 31 points and 33 points during back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Final and has scored 52 goals while dishing out 89 assists in the seven postseason campaigns he’s had with the franchise since 2017.

As a result, he is firmly poised to pass a hockey legend in the form of…

6. Alexander Ovechkin: 146

Alexander Ovechkin has asserted he plans to return for his 22nd season with the Capitals after missing the playoffs for just the fifth time during his time in Washington.

He’s been a major reason they’ve made it to the postseason as often as they have since he joined the team in 2006, and the NHL’s all-time goal scorer (who won a Stanley Cup in 2018) sits just outside of the Top 10 on that front in the playoffs with the 77 he’s netted to go along with 70 assists.

5. Connor McDavid: 150

As was the case with Draisaitl, McDavid has also only appeared in 96 playoff games, and their appearance here highlights why they’re viewed as the most formidable duo in the NHL.

The man known as “McJesus” has 44 goals and 106 assists in those contests, although he’s still in search of the Stanley Cup he’s come painfully close to winning two years in a row.

4. Brad Marchand: 158

Brad Marchand is the last player on this list who will not have the opportunity to improve on his playoff totals this season, as the Panthers failed to make the playoffs in the wake of their back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.

The vast majority of Marchand’s postseason points came during his time with the Bruins, as he had 56 goals and 82 assists in the dozen runs he had in Boston (with the one in 2011 ending with a Stanley Cup victory). However, he emerged as a very valuable asset for Florida in 2024 by contributing 10 goals and the same number of helpers to get his second title.

3. Nikita Kucherov: 171

The Lightning have not missed the playoffs since Nikita Kucherov made his NHL debut in 2013, and 2026 marks the 12th time he’ll be competing for a Stanley Cup.

He won two of them in back-to-back seasons starting in 2021 and notched 53 goals and 118 assists in the postseason during his time in Tampa Bay. There’s a chance he could climb up a spot if the Bolts make a deep run, but that would also be contingent on the performance of the team that boasts the top two players on this list.

2. Evgeni Malkin: 180

The Penguins were down bad toward the start of the millennium, but that changed when they acquired a couple of players who created a one-two punch responsible for righting the ship in Pittsburgh.

One of them was Evgeni Malkin, who made his NHL debut in 2006 to kick off a career that began with the Penguins making the playoffs 16 years in a row. He did miss the 2011 postseason campaign with an injury, but he had 67 goals and 113 assists during that stretch while winning three Stanley Cups in the process.

Pittsburgh was able to snap its three-year playoff drought in 2026, which means the man who’s currently tied with Ray Bourque for the 15th-most playoff points will have the chance to improve on his numbers alongside…

1. Sidney Crosby: 201

Sidney Crosby was unable to lead the Penguins to the playoffs in 2006 during his rookie year, but he injected new life into a franchise that subsequently embarked on the aforementioned 16-year streak (he was also sidelined with an injury during the playoffs that ended with Pittsburgh’s first-round exit in 2011).

The 71 goals and 130 assists he’s accumulated put him in a tie for fifth on the all-time list with Jaromir Jagr, so there’s a very good chance he’ll take sole possession of that spot in 2026 when you consider Crosby has never been blanked on the points front in the playoffs.