With one month left in the 2010s, take a look at the NHL’s top 10 leaders over the past 10 years in goals, points, wins and more.
Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.|Getty Images
There’s still time. The 2010s aren’t over yet, there’s a month left in the second decade of the 21st century. But we’re close enough to take a peek at the NHL’s top 10 leaders in goals, points, defenseman points, goalie wins and team wins over the past 10 years.
NHL POINT LEADERS OF THE ALMOST-DECADE (Jan. 1, 2010, to Nov. 30, 2019)
1. Sidney Crosby 788
2. Patrick Kane 783
3. Alex Ovechkin 768
4. Claude Giroux 727
5. Steven Stamkos 703
6. John Tavares 699
7. Phil Kessel 689
8. Nicklas Backstrom 688
9. Evgeni Malkin 681
10. Anze Kopitar 672
Down the stretch they come: It’s Crosby by a handful of points over Kane, but the Pittsburgh superstar is likely sidelined until the calendar flips to 2020 while the Chicago superstar is riding a 14-game point streak. So Kane could very well be crowned the scoring king of the decade by the time New Year’s Day rolls around. However, it should be pointed out that Crosby clocks in at 630 games during the 2010s, significantly less than Kane (726 games), Ovechkin (755 games), Giroux (763 games) and, well, everybody else in the top 10 except for Pens teammate Malkin (591 games).
NHL GOAL LEADERS OF THE ALMOST-DECADE (Jan. 1, 2010, to Nov. 30, 2019)
1. Alex Ovechkin 430
2. Steven Stamkos 356
3. John Tavares 312
4. Patrick Kane 306
5. Sidney Crosby 296
6. Joe Pavelski 293
7. Phil Kessel 281
8. Brad Marchand 280
9. Jamie Benn 278
10. Evgeni Malkin 269
Ovechkin, obviously: No big surprise here. Ovechkin, who has led the league in goals eight times and is creeping up on 700 for his career, has scored 430 times and counting since Jan. 1, 2010. In the past 10 years, Ovechkin has also led the NHL in goals per game (0.57), even-strength goals (260), power-play goals (170), game-winning goals (70), overtime goals (16), first goals (71) and empty-net goals (23). Then again, he’s tied for last with zero shorthanded goals.
NHL DEFENSEMAN POINT LEADERS OF THE ALMOST-DECADE (Jan. 1, 2010, to Nov. 30, 2019)
1. Erik Karlsson 577
2. Brent Burns 543
3. Keith Yandle 485
4. Kris Letang 444
5. John Carlson 439
6. Dustin Byfuglien 433
7. Drew Doughty 430
8. Victor Hedman 427
9. Duncan Keith 426
10. Ryan Suter 420
Shark warning: San Jose’s Karlsson and Burns rank 1-2 in defenseman scoring this decade, although Karlsson racked up most of his total when he was in Ottawa. Karlsson is also the points-per-game leader (0.85), ahead of Burns and Letang (tied at 0.75). It’s a surprise to see Yandle as the third-most productive blueliner of the 2010s, which he achieved by scoring more power-play points (222) than any other D-man. Burns is the leading goal-scorer (166) in the past 10 years, ahead of Shea Weber (157).
NHL GOALIE WIN LEADERS OF THE ALMOST-DECADE (Jan. 1, 2010, to Nov. 30, 2019)
1. Marc-Andre Fleury 317
2. Pekka Rinne 305
3. Henrik Lundqvist 297
4. Carey Price 274
5. Jonathan Quick 273
6. Braden Holtby 270
t-7. Sergei Bobrovsky 264
t-7. Tuukka Rask 264
9. Corey Crawford 248
t-10. Devan Dubnyk 239
t-10. Roberto Luongo 239
Flower power: It’s impressive to see Fleury leading the way, and even more so when you consider his .648 points percentage (317-160-52) trails only Holtby (.689, 270-110-44) and Frederik Andersen (.674, 196-84-41) among the top 30 goalies with the most wins from 2010 through 2019. And there’s lots of other goalie love to go around, too. Rinne has the most shutouts this decade (49), two ahead of Quick (47); Rask has the best goals-against average (2.28) among goalies who have played at least 100 games in the past 10 years; Ben Bishop, Antti Raanta and Rask are tied for the SP lead among active goalies (.921). And then there’s Lundqvist. The Rangers netminder suffered more regulation losses than any other goalie in the past decade (206), but that’s a risk you run when you’ve played the most games (572) and faced the most shots (16,980). Rinne is the runner-up on both counts, with 556 games and 15,737 shots against since Jan. 1, 2010.
NHL TEAM WIN LEADERS OF THE ALMOST-DECADE (Jan. 1, 2010, to Nov. 30, 2019)
1. Washington 456
2. Pittsburgh 454
3. St. Louis 442
4. Boston 440
5. Tampa Bay 433
6. San Jose 429
7. Anaheim 421
8. Chicago 420
t-9. Nashville 410
t-9. NY Rangers 410
Sid vs. Ovi: We were promised Crosby-Ovechkin drama when they arrived in the NHL, and they’ve delivered it on every conceivable front. Over the past 10 years, the 2004 No. 1 overall draft pick’s team has earned two more regular-season wins than the 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick’s team. Five of the teams in the top 10 have won the Stanley Cup in the past decade – the top four clubs on the list plus Chicago – while Anaheim is the only team in the top 10 that hasn’t made it to the Cup final since 2010.
