McDavid at 800 games: only Gretzky and Lemieux had more points

“I got a lot, a lot of runway left, a lot of games left, a lot of good times ahead,” Connor McDavid told Sportsnet after his 800th NHL game.

He reached that milestone with a goal and three assists in Edmonton’s 4–1 win over Los Angeles on Tuesday, October 13. McDavid contributed to every Oilers goal at Crypto.com Arena, finishing the night with 413 goals, 824 assists and 1,237 points in his regular-season career.

Only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux had more points through their first 800 NHL games. Gretzky had 1,892, Lemieux had 1,580, and McDavid stands 129 points ahead of the next player who reached the milestone, Peter Stastny. The gap separates McDavid from a group that includes Guy Lafleur, Steve Yzerman and Marcel Dionne, whose 800-game totals were within six points of Stastny’s.

The 800-game scoring leaders

The comparison fixes the number of regular-season appearances rather than a player’s age or number of seasons. Every player in the rankings below played at least 800 NHL games, and each total stops at game No. 800. Playoff production is separate, as are games in other leagues. A point is a goal or an assist, so the points list measures both scoring and creating goals.

McDavid’s 1,237 points work out to 1.55 per game. Gretzky averaged 2.37 and Lemieux 1.98 across the same number of appearances. Those two remain well ahead, with Gretzky 655 points clear of McDavid and Lemieux 343 ahead. Below McDavid, Stastny’s 1,108 leads a closely packed group of four players between 1,102 and 1,108.

Different ways to reach the same milestone

McDavid’s playmaking provides most of his total. His 824 assists account for about two-thirds of his points and rank third through 800 games, again behind Gretzky and Lemieux. Gretzky had 1,243 assists at that stage, while Lemieux had 931. McDavid’s next closest pursuer in that comparison is Paul Coffey, with 730.

Coffey is a useful reminder that a scoring list includes different positions and roles. The defenseman had 304 goals and 1,034 points through 800 appearances. Adam Oates, another leading playmaker, had 718 assists and 254 goals for 972 points. Their assist totals place them fourth and fifth, respectively, even though neither appears in the top 10 for points.

The goal leaders offer a different view. Gretzky and Lemieux each scored 649 in their first 800 NHL games. Brett Hull followed with 553, ahead of Alex Ovechkin’s 499 and Jari Kurri’s 493. McDavid’s 413 goals put him outside that top 10, while his combination of goals and assists places him third overall.

Stastny’s 398 goals and 710 assists gave him a larger points total than several players who scored more goals. Lafleur and Yzerman each had 464 goals, but their respective assist totals of 642 and 639 left them just behind him. Dionne followed with 459 goals and 643 assists. The separate lists show why a goals ranking and a points ranking produce different orders.

Crosby’s comparison and Bossy’s shorter career

Sidney Crosby finished his first 800 games with 1,040 points, made up of 387 goals and 653 assists. McDavid’s total is 197 higher, with a 26-goal difference and a 171-assist difference. That provides a comparison with another prominent player whose NHL career began in the 2000s, while preserving the same appearance count.

Mike Bossy needs a separate explanation. He recorded 573 goals, 553 assists and 1,126 points in 752 regular-season games, the full length of his NHL career. That is why he can appear in lists covering production within a player’s first 800 games. He never reached game No. 800 and is excluded from these exact-800 rankings. His actual total belongs beside the comparison with its 752-game denominator intact.

Equal game counts do not make the playing conditions identical. Gretzky reached 800 in December 1989, Lemieux in January 2002 and McDavid in October 2026. These are raw scoring totals, without an adjustment for the scoring environment in each era, teammates or the time needed to accumulate those appearances. They establish McDavid’s place on this milestone list without deciding every comparison between the players.

Four points on the milestone night

McDavid earned his first assist on Leon Draisaitl’s opening goal at 7:16 of the first period and his second on Vasily Podkolzin’s power-play goal one minute later. He scored at 15:48 after taking down Ty Emberson’s long pass and beating Darcy Kuemper on a backhand. Edmonton led 3–0 before the first intermission.

His third assist came on Podkolzin’s empty-net goal at 17:42 of the third period. Podkolzin finished with two goals, Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and Devon Levi made 39 saves. The victory completed Edmonton’s three-game road sweep and extended its winning streak to five games.

McDavid ended the night with 17 points through six games this season, including four goals and 13 assists. Those four points against the Kings completed his 800-game total and moved him from 1,233 to 1,237.