Wayne Gretzky, upon his retirement in 1999, held or co-held an astounding 61 NHL records, including the record for the most goals scored in a career. Known as `The Great One,` Gretzky concluded his remarkable 20-year NHL journey with an unprecedented 894 goals across 1,487 games. This record has remained unchallenged since his departure from the sport. Currently, Alex Ovechkin is actively pursuing to surpass this legendary milestone.
Here is the list of NHL players who have scored the most career goals:
* Players currently active in the NHL are marked with an asterisk
- Wayne Gretzky: 894
- *Alex Ovechkin: 892
- Gordie Howe: 801
- Jaromir Jagr: 766
- Brett Hull: 741
- Marcel Dionne: 731
- Phil Esposito: 717
- Mike Gartner: 708
- Mark Messier: 694
- Steve Yzerman: 692
- Mario Lemieux: 690
- Teemu Selanne: 684
- Luc Robitaille: 668
- Brendan Shanahan: 656
- Dave Andreychuk: 640
- Joe Sakic: 625
- Jarome Iginla: 625
- *Sidney Crosby: 619
- Bobby Hull: 610
- Dino Ciccarelli: 608
- Jari Kurri: 601
