8 players in NHL history have 70+goals in a season, only 3 players have 100 assists
stargill70
160 assists
weschester
100 assists because it relies on your teammates being able to score goals. 70 goals is tough as well but at least you have slightly more control over it.
TJTrapJesus
70 goals has been done by 8 players 14 total times. Gretzky (4), Brett Hull (3) and Lemieux (2) all multiple times. Last accomplished in 1992/93 (Selanne and Mogilny). Others to do it are Esposito, Kurri, Nicholls.
100 assists has been done by 3 players 13 total times. Gretzky only one to do it multiple times (11), with Lemieux and Orr as the others. Last accomplished in 1990/91, by Gretzky.
Goals are always more prestigious, but no matter which way you look at it, getting to 100 assists is more rare, and I would say therefor harder
-SCYAN1DE-
I would assume assists because you are adding a second and third action to the process (pass and then the receiving player shoots and scores) to get the point.
BluejayExternal7842
In theory, 70 goals is harder to do. But I think 100 assists makes a better player.
Garage-Dizzy
If 100 assists are hard to get then 70 goals, why is it that people feel Mathews should be a lock for the Hart if he reaches 70 goals, and Not McDavid if he hits 100 assists?
bobbilly49
Both. They don’t have 70 goals or 100 assists yet.
AnySail
100 assists is largely out of the players control. Gotta hope you have quality teammates who can finish their chances.
70 goals is something a player has much more control over. Playmaking teammates helps for sure, but the puck is on your stick at the end of the day.
Hard to really compare them as if they are apples to apples. That being said, every goal does have the opportunity for two assists. Statistically it is much harder to get a goal.
BluejayExternal7842
There’s a reason the all time assist record is nearly double the all time goal record. There’s a reason why nearly every player in the league will finish this season with more assists than goals. There’s a reason why the top scoring player in the league this year will CERTAINLY have more assists than goals. There’s a reason why there will be more assists than goals in every single box score for every single game you watch tonight.
The reason is: unassisted goals rarely happen and they give out two assists for every goal. There are simply more assists given out.
So in theory it’s always easier to get an elite number of assists instead of an elite number of goals because it’s easier to get assists. The OP didn’t ask which was more likely, he asked which was harder. It’s harder to score than to get assists.
Reallyme77
Splitting hairs. Both are pretty incredible achievements.
-Zoomville-
OP is triggered that Mathews is getting more attention for their season than McDavid.
Both are crazy feats.
Ocksu2
100 assists. The only thing that gives me pause at all is that there are often 2 people getting assists on a goal.
Tintinnabulator
Harder to do from the player’s perspective? Probably scoring 70+ goals. In general, getting a goal is harder than getting an assist due to the fact you can only have one goal but up to 2 assists. So from a numbers perspective you would favour goals. There is some luck to it as you can get bounces and deflections that can benefit you.
Hitting 100+ assists might be harder as an overall accomplishment since there is a heavier reliance on your linemates to finish the passes you give them. Like McDavid could put the puck on Hyman/Drai/RNH stick with a wide open shooting lane, but if they don’t finish it doesn’t mean anything. A bit more luck goes into that than the 70+ goals. Which in and of itself makes it a bit harder to do, intrinsically.
Honestly it’s pretty close since they both so rarely achieved.
spaceporter
Right now Matthews is on pace for 74 goals and McDavid for 107 assists. 74 would be 8th all time, whereas 107 would be 12th. It’ll be very interesting to see exactly what numbers they hit as it could matter on which is more impressive.
Beneficial_Put8276
We need to scrap secondary assists. MacKinnon has 30, Kuch and McDavid almost have 30 secondary assists. That wildly inflates stats for the third-last person to touch the puck. Goals will always be more valuable
catgotcha
The insane thing is that Gretzky and Lemieux have done both in the same season. Gretzky did it four times… in four consecutive seasons.
AccidentUnhappy419
As a guy with an absolute muffin of a shot, I’d say 70 goals
coreyv87
74 goals (pace) is harder than 104 assists (pace).
Only 7 single seasons show goal totals above 74. Only 11 single seasons show assist totals above 104.
Both are incredible achievements, but since you asked, 74 is the statistical winner.
M3gatonMike
70 goals, hands down. Secondary assists you can pick up just by dumping a puck up the boards to the right guy. Goals you have to actually score yourself.
OneNineSevenNine
I’m not sure.
Because I know why McDavid has 100 assists. He reoriented his game to go for a cup. He literally changed the way he played to make his team better. That’s the whole gambit over in Edmonton. They want a cup so their guys reoriented their hockey to reflect that.
…and that phenomenal. McDavid could easily score those goals. He had 64 before on top of like almost 90 assists or something? (It was a 150 point season)
So he’s capable but he wants to win. Matthews is not doing that. He’s scoring goals and he’s doing that really well.
But I cannot understate how impressed I am with McDavid’s pivot. It’s, quite frankly, amazing how selfless he is.
I would say, in greater context… 100 Assists. But barely. Because Matthews has won entire games for us.
That my take. That reason is precisely why I’ve always considered McDavid a better player than Matthews. He just has that “extra”. If Matthews has that extra, he’s either not showing it or something because I don’t see it.
Edit: I’ll add a spicy edit here.
Matthews’ achievement will do well for him. McDavid’s will do well for his team.
gldmj5
Goals.
I get the feeling everybody realizes how dominating McDavid is, but at the same time are taking for granted how Matthews is also consistently playing at a level that most Hall of Famers never reach in a single season.
InternationalBrick76
Goals. Not even close. On every “goal event” there’s opportunity for two assists but only a single goal. The odds of being one of the players out of 5 to get an assist are much greater than the odds of being the guy scoring the goal.
Bright_Beat_5981
I love how all the expectations and hype became true with these two.
The best goalscorer in 30 years and the best playmaker in 30 years. Born the same year, in their absolute prime.
LabApprehensive5666
Mcdavid is obviously the best “all around player” in the league I’m not a leafs fan homer and I’ve been a leafs fan for 33 years anybody who says otherwise are just trolling
dylanisbored
70 goals
35RoliSmith41
70 goals because there’s 2 assists for every goal and only 1 goal for every goal.
You can get assists from the bench sometimes but no one has ever gotten a goal from the bench.
Gaping_llama
70 goals. There’s better arguments, but a goalie could technically get 100 assists. There’s no way a goalie could get 70 goals.
McJoe77
Both are incredible achievements, but there are 2 assists on every goal so statistically it’s more likely to get 100 assists.
At the same time, I think both have happened 13 times ever? I may have counted one of those wrong. They’re both amazing.
Gwtrailrunner19
I’m an Oilers fan and I think 70 goals is a bit more impressive. With how good the NHL goalies are now and the existence of second assists. On the status of who is the better player: sorry Leafs fans, it’s not even close. Matthews is a great player, don’t get me wrong but there’s no debate.
DanielTigerr
3 players have had 100 assists in a season. Orr once, Lemieux once and Gretzky 11 times.
8 players have had 70 goal seasons
There is the answer.
DelicatetrouserSnake
Not so hard . .
– Wayne
UnflushableNug
Preface: McDavid is the better player and 31 out of 31 GMs would pick him over Matthews on their teams.
But scoring goals is harder. Just look at the stats leaders for assists and goals.
McDavid is 6 assists ahead of #2 and Matthews is 12 goals ahead of #2
And you have two opportunities for an assist on every goal scored.
33 Comments
8 players in NHL history have 70+goals in a season, only 3 players have 100 assists
160 assists
100 assists because it relies on your teammates being able to score goals. 70 goals is tough as well but at least you have slightly more control over it.
70 goals has been done by 8 players 14 total times. Gretzky (4), Brett Hull (3) and Lemieux (2) all multiple times. Last accomplished in 1992/93 (Selanne and Mogilny). Others to do it are Esposito, Kurri, Nicholls.
100 assists has been done by 3 players 13 total times. Gretzky only one to do it multiple times (11), with Lemieux and Orr as the others. Last accomplished in 1990/91, by Gretzky.
Goals are always more prestigious, but no matter which way you look at it, getting to 100 assists is more rare, and I would say therefor harder
I would assume assists because you are adding a second and third action to the process (pass and then the receiving player shoots and scores) to get the point.
In theory, 70 goals is harder to do. But I think 100 assists makes a better player.
If 100 assists are hard to get then 70 goals, why is it that people feel Mathews should be a lock for the Hart if he reaches 70 goals, and Not McDavid if he hits 100 assists?
Both. They don’t have 70 goals or 100 assists yet.
100 assists is largely out of the players control. Gotta hope you have quality teammates who can finish their chances.
70 goals is something a player has much more control over. Playmaking teammates helps for sure, but the puck is on your stick at the end of the day.
Hard to really compare them as if they are apples to apples. That being said, every goal does have the opportunity for two assists. Statistically it is much harder to get a goal.
There’s a reason the all time assist record is nearly double the all time goal record. There’s a reason why nearly every player in the league will finish this season with more assists than goals. There’s a reason why the top scoring player in the league this year will CERTAINLY have more assists than goals. There’s a reason why there will be more assists than goals in every single box score for every single game you watch tonight.
The reason is: unassisted goals rarely happen and they give out two assists for every goal. There are simply more assists given out.
So in theory it’s always easier to get an elite number of assists instead of an elite number of goals because it’s easier to get assists. The OP didn’t ask which was more likely, he asked which was harder. It’s harder to score than to get assists.
Splitting hairs. Both are pretty incredible achievements.
OP is triggered that Mathews is getting more attention for their season than McDavid.
Both are crazy feats.
100 assists. The only thing that gives me pause at all is that there are often 2 people getting assists on a goal.
Harder to do from the player’s perspective? Probably scoring 70+ goals. In general, getting a goal is harder than getting an assist due to the fact you can only have one goal but up to 2 assists. So from a numbers perspective you would favour goals. There is some luck to it as you can get bounces and deflections that can benefit you.
Hitting 100+ assists might be harder as an overall accomplishment since there is a heavier reliance on your linemates to finish the passes you give them. Like McDavid could put the puck on Hyman/Drai/RNH stick with a wide open shooting lane, but if they don’t finish it doesn’t mean anything. A bit more luck goes into that than the 70+ goals. Which in and of itself makes it a bit harder to do, intrinsically.
Honestly it’s pretty close since they both so rarely achieved.
Right now Matthews is on pace for 74 goals and McDavid for 107 assists. 74 would be 8th all time, whereas 107 would be 12th.
It’ll be very interesting to see exactly what numbers they hit as it could matter on which is more impressive.
We need to scrap secondary assists. MacKinnon has 30, Kuch and McDavid almost have 30 secondary assists. That wildly inflates stats for the third-last person to touch the puck. Goals will always be more valuable
The insane thing is that Gretzky and Lemieux have done both in the same season. Gretzky did it four times… in four consecutive seasons.
As a guy with an absolute muffin of a shot, I’d say 70 goals
74 goals (pace) is harder than 104 assists (pace).
Only 7 single seasons show goal totals above 74. Only 11 single seasons show assist totals above 104.
Both are incredible achievements, but since you asked, 74 is the statistical winner.
70 goals, hands down. Secondary assists you can pick up just by dumping a puck up the boards to the right guy. Goals you have to actually score yourself.
I’m not sure.
Because I know why McDavid has 100 assists. He reoriented his game to go for a cup. He literally changed the way he played to make his team better. That’s the whole gambit over in Edmonton. They want a cup so their guys reoriented their hockey to reflect that.
…and that phenomenal. McDavid could easily score those goals. He had 64 before on top of like almost 90 assists or something? (It was a 150 point season)
So he’s capable but he wants to win. Matthews is not doing that. He’s scoring goals and he’s doing that really well.
But I cannot understate how impressed I am with McDavid’s pivot. It’s, quite frankly, amazing how selfless he is.
I would say, in greater context… 100 Assists. But barely. Because Matthews has won entire games for us.
That my take. That reason is precisely why I’ve always considered McDavid a better player than Matthews. He just has that “extra”. If Matthews has that extra, he’s either not showing it or something because I don’t see it.
Edit: I’ll add a spicy edit here.
Matthews’ achievement will do well for him. McDavid’s will do well for his team.
Goals.
I get the feeling everybody realizes how dominating McDavid is, but at the same time are taking for granted how Matthews is also consistently playing at a level that most Hall of Famers never reach in a single season.
Goals. Not even close. On every “goal event” there’s opportunity for two assists but only a single goal. The odds of being one of the players out of 5 to get an assist are much greater than the odds of being the guy scoring the goal.
I love how all the expectations and hype became true with these two.
The best goalscorer in 30 years and the best playmaker in 30 years. Born the same year, in their absolute prime.
Mcdavid is obviously the best “all around player” in the league I’m not a leafs fan homer and I’ve been a leafs fan for 33 years anybody who says otherwise are just trolling
70 goals
70 goals because there’s 2 assists for every goal and only 1 goal for every goal.
You can get assists from the bench sometimes but no one has ever gotten a goal from the bench.
70 goals. There’s better arguments, but a goalie could technically get 100 assists. There’s no way a goalie could get 70 goals.
Both are incredible achievements, but there are 2 assists on every goal so statistically it’s more likely to get 100 assists.
At the same time, I think both have happened 13 times ever? I may have counted one of those wrong. They’re both amazing.
I’m an Oilers fan and I think 70 goals is a bit more impressive. With how good the NHL goalies are now and the existence of second assists. On the status of who is the better player: sorry Leafs fans, it’s not even close. Matthews is a great player, don’t get me wrong but there’s no debate.
3 players have had 100 assists in a season. Orr once, Lemieux once and Gretzky 11 times.
8 players have had 70 goal seasons
There is the answer.
Not so hard . .
– Wayne
Preface: McDavid is the better player and 31 out of 31 GMs would pick him over Matthews on their teams.
But scoring goals is harder. Just look at the stats leaders for assists and goals.
McDavid is 6 assists ahead of #2 and Matthews is 12 goals ahead of #2
And you have two opportunities for an assist on every goal scored.
Goal>Primary Assist>Secondary Assist