Oilers' Leon Draisaitl in all-time great company with another 50-goal, 100-point season

We have celebrated 50 goals and 100 points for years in the NHL. Any player who reached either milestone is in good company, but Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl joined a particularly exclusive club Sunday night.

Before we get to Draisaitl’s accomplishment, let’s take a quick look at the 50-goal club and the 100-point club.

50-Goal Club

Maurice "Rocket" Richard was the first NHL player to score 50. He got 50 goals in 50 games in 1944-45. The NHL only played 50 games that season, and Richard’s brilliance created the new standard for goal scorers. Many years later, scoring 50 goals is still a major achievement.

It took 16 seasons before someone else joined Richard in the elusive 50-goal club. Bernie Geoffrion scored 50 in 1960-61, and then Bobby Hull scored 50 in 1961-62, 54 in 1965-66, 52 in 1966-67 and 58 in 1968-69. During the 1970s, the league exploded with 50-goal scorers.

The 1970s saw 18 new players, and Hull, score 50 goals, and the 50-goal club grew significantly during the 1980s and 1990s as well. Phil Esposito scored 76 goals in 1970-71, while Brett Hull (86) and Mario Lemieux (85) topped 80 goals, but only Wayne Gretzky has scored more. He buried 92 goals in 1981-82. I don’t see anyone breaking that record.

The '70s, ’80s and ’90s produced many 50-goal scorers, but since the turn of the century, hitting that number has become much more difficult.

On March 29, Toronto’s Auston Matthews became the 16^th player to score 50 goals in a season since 2000. Chris Kreider has a realistic chance to make it 17, while Kyle Connor, Connor McDavid and Kirill Kaprizov have outside chances to do it. Even if all four do it (which is unlikely), that would still only be 20 players in 22 years. Alex Ovechkin needs eight goals to reach 50 for a record-tying ninth time in his career.

Scoring 50 goals in a season will always be celebrated and appreciated. Last week, Matthews became the 93^rd player in NHL history to do it.

50-GOAL SCORERS, ALL-TIME

100-Point Club

While Richard set the 50-goal standard in 1945, the NHL had to wait 25 more years before someone scored 100 points. Phil Esposito was the first 100-point man in NHL history, and he finished the 1968-69 season with a whopping 126. The previous high was 97 points by Bobby Hull (1965-66) and Stan Makita (1966-67). Hull (107 points) and Gordie Howe (103) also scored 100 points in the 1968-69 season, and that spurred a new standard of point production in the NHL.

In 1970-71 Esposito amassed an incredible 152 points, while his Boston Bruins teammate, Bobby Orr, set the NHL record for points by a defenseman with 139. Orr’s record still stands today. Paul Coffey tallied 138 in 1985-86, and Orr and Coffey each have five of the top 10 single-season point totals for blueliners.

Nashville Predators D-man Roman Josi needs 19 points in his final 14 games to become the sixth at his position to score 100 points in a season. That seems far-fetched, but he scored 26 points in his previous 14 games, so he might do it. If he reaches 90 points he’d join Orr, Coffey, Al MacInnis (103), Brian Leetch (102), Denis Potvin (101), Phil Housley (97), Ray Bourque (96) and Gary Suter (91) as the only D-men to score 90 points in one campaign.

Esposito’s 76 goals and 152 points remained the NHL high until Gretzky shattered them with 92 goals and 212 points in 1981-82. Gretzky scored 215 points four years later to set another record that won’t be broken.

The 100-point club has a few more members than the 50-goal club. Currently, 111 players have hit the century mark in a season. Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau (97) and Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau (92) should join the club this season. Matthews (88) and Kaprizov (85) could also reach 100.

Fifty-three years after Esposito broke the 100-point barrier, offensive stars have been trying to match it (see table here).