Major NHL Career Milestones That Could Be Reached In The 2026-27 Season

Each new season brings new achievements, records, and milestones as NHL players continue to add to their careers.

Throughout the 2025-26 season, we saw players like Macklin Celebrini, Matthew Schaefer, Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews break records or reach new milestones. 

Here’s what’s on the radar for the 2026-27 season.

A year of new milestones in multiple categories could be on the horizon for David Pastrnak. Entering the upcoming season with 933 career points, he sits just 67 points away from reaching 1,000. Having recorded 100-plus-point seasons in each of the last four seasons suggests that reaching the milestone could be well within his reach.

Pastrnak also needs just 67 more games played to reach the 900-game mark and 30 goals to cross 450 career goals. He has fallen below 30 goals only once in the last five seasons, finishing with 29 last year. He is also approaching the 550-assist mark, needing just 37 more assists to reach it.

If Pastrnak can remain healthy after previously dealing with tendinitis issues and a resurfacing groin tear during the 2025-26 playoffs, he could be in a position to reach several of these milestones. He has fully recovered over the off-season and is healthy heading into the 2026–27 campaign.

The Winnipeg Jets center is approaching the 1,000-game mark, sitting just 39 games away. He is also within reach of 400 career goals, needing just 28 more.

Scheifele even has the opportunity to reach 1,000 career points, sitting 93 points away. He recorded a 103-point season last year, the first 100-point campaign of his career.

It is also possible for the veteran to reach 600 career assists. Currently sitting at 535, Scheifele would need 65 assists to reach the mark. If he produces at a similar level to last season, he could accomplish that milestone as well.

Veteran Patrick Kane ended his last campaign with 1,400 total points and currently sits at 892 career assists, just eight away from 900. Reaching that mark would make him the 22nd player in NHL history to do so. However, he is just two assists away from passing Phil Housley for 21st place on the all-time list.

With 1,369 regular-season games played entering the season, Kane can also reach the 1,400-game mark. Returning to the team that originally drafted him after signing a two-year contract, he is projected to break both assist milestones within his first 10 to 15 games.

The youngest name on this list, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, needs just six appearances to reach 800 games played. Sitting at 1,220 career points, another triple-digit season, which is a normal range for McDavid, would push him past 1,300 career points in the upcoming season.

With 811 career assists, the prolific playmaker has recorded 100 assists in a single season in the past. Needing 89 more to reach 900, he has shown that he is more than capable of reaching the mark based on his previous numbers.

Another 100-point season would also mark his 10th such season, placing him alongside Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux on the list of players to accomplish the feat.

Sidney Crosby is chasing several spots on the all-time lists. He currently has 1,761 points through 1,420 regular-season games played. Already holding numerous franchise records in Pittsburgh, Crosby ranks seventh in NHL history in scoring and is looking to move into sixth. He is just 10 points behind Marcel Dionne and 11 points away from passing him.

Crosby is also in a position to move into fifth place and reach 1,800 career points. He needs 38 points to pass Ron Francis and 39 points to reach the 1,800-point mark.

With the league expanding to an 84-game schedule, Crosby could also play his 1,500th NHL game. He is currently just 80 games away from reaching that milestone.

Sitting at 489 career regular-season appearances, Darcy Kuemper is closing in on the 500-game mark and needs just 11 more games to reach it.

With 228 career wins, it is also very possible for the goaltender to reach the 250-win mark. His closest milestone, however, is just one shutout away, as he currently has 39 career shutouts.

Among active NHL goaltenders, Kuemper currently sits just outside the top 10 in both games played and wins. With a strong campaign for the Los Angeles Kings, he could climb several spots higher on both active leaderboards.

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