As the NHL gets set to kick off its 2025-26 regular season, certain individual stars are on the precipice of getting to one particular milestone – namely, the 1,000-point plateau. Three, star players are just about there – and in three of four examples, reaching 1,000 points is a signpost for icons on their way to a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The veteran closest to the 1,000-point mark is Tampa Bay Lightning star right winger Nikita Kucherov, who needs only six points to get there. For Kucherov, that could mean he gets to the 1,000-point level in the first few games of the season.

There’s no question Kucherov is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He’s got two Stanley Cups, three Art Ross Trophies as the league’s top point-producer, one Hart Trophy as the regular season’s MVP, and four first-team all-star recognitions. Kucherov has done it all, and induction into the HHOF is but a formality for him. 

Fourteen points behind Kucherov in the race to 1,000 points – 20 points away from the century mark – is Florida Panthers left winger Brad Marchand. Marchand quietened every critic who argued he doesn’t deserve entry into the HHOF by winning his second-career Cup last season, this time as a valued member of the Panthers. 

However, Marchand’s playoff experience is particularly impressive, as he’s played in 180 playoff games – the same total as Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. That puts them tied for 40th on the all-time list of players with the most career playoff games. Marchand also has 66 goals, 92 assists and 158 points in the playoffs. He’s clearly a lock for the HHOF. 

Next-closest to 1,000 points are two players who each sit 44 points away from 1,000 points: Dallas Stars captain and left winger Jamie Benn and Edmonton Oilers superstar center Leon Draisaitl. But while Draisaitl is a surefire HHOFer, we’re not nearly so sure about Benn.

Draisaitl is already the best talent to ever come out of Germany and has won numerous individual honors, including the Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy in 2019-20. Not to mention, he's coming off a 52-goal season that won him his first Rocket Richard Trophy. There’s no denying Draisaitl his due.

Benn, on the other hand, isn’t a lock for the HHOF. Although he does have an Art Ross Trophy to his credit, Benn doesn’t have enough individual awards, nor does he have enough team awards to be a sure thing for the HHOF.

That could change if the Stars win a Cup or two in the next couple of years. In fact, sportsbook BetMGM has Dallas as the fifth-best favorite to win the Stanley Cup at 11.00 odds (+1000).

But as it stands, Benn has been an above-average NHLer who hasn’t done quite enough to merit induction into the HHOF.

Indeed, with news that Benn has suffered a collapsed lung, there's another obstacle in his way of reaching the 1,000-point mark this season. But, everyone else we’ve mentioned in this column are locks to get to 1,000 points this season, as long as they stay healthy.

Whenever Draisaitl, Marchand and Kucherov decide to hang up their skates, they’ll be honored with induction into the HHOF in short order.

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