Edmonton Oilers’ forward Leon Draisaitl achieved an incredible feat recently. On Tuesday, Dec. 16, against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Draisaitl notched an assist on a Zach Hyman power-play goal at 11:38 in the first period. As a result, Draisaitl reached his 1,000th career point.
Draisaitl became the 103rd player to score 1,000 points in his career. He also became the first German-born player and fifth-fastest European NHL skater to achieve that feat, with his 824 games just behind Peter Statsny (682 games), Jari Kurri (716 games), Jaromir Jagr (763 games), and Nikita Kucherov (809 games). Draisaitl tallied 416 goals and 584 assists to reach 1,000, and he just turned 30 less than two months ago, so there’s no telling how many more points he can get before his career is over.
Related: 7 Cool Things About Leon Draisaitl
Draisaitl became the fourth skater to achieve that feat in the year 2025. With the 2025 year ending in a few days, here are the other three to reach that mark:
Nathan MacKinnon
Nathan MacKinnon looked like he could reach 1,000 points ever since he came into the league. Drafted first overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013 NHL Draft, MacKinnon always flashed his elite speed, size, and handles, but his stats didn’t reflect that. In his first four seasons in the league, he notched 206 points in 300 games.
However, from the 2017-18 season onward, he discovered a different form. He racked up 848 points in 604 games, so he was in a good position to break the 1K mark in 2025.
On March 10, 2025, against the Chicago Blackhawks, MacKinnon finally achieved it. He had an assist on an Artturi Lehkonen goal to reach point No. 1,000. To make the moment more special, he became the 100th NHL skater to achieve that mark. He had 362 goals and 638 assists on the road to 1K.
Nikita Kucherov
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov also reached the 1,000 career point mark this season, and he did it 15 games faster than Draisaitl. Against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 25, 2025, Kucherov notched an assist to reach 1,000 points.
Unlike Draisaitl, who was drafted with the third overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Kucherov was selected in the second round of the 2011 NHL Draft. Draisaitl reached 1,000 points in a quicker time frame than Kucherov, since Kucherov started his career in 2013 while Draisaitl started it in 2014. However, Kucherov missed the entire 2020-21 season due to hip surgery and missed 32 games the next season due to a groin injury.
Kucherov became the sixth player born in Russia to achieve that tally. He is the second Tampa Bay skater to reach 1,000, the other being Steven Stamkos. He had 359 goals and 641 assists during his chase for 1,000. However, he isn’t the only skater from a Florida team to reach 1,000 career points this year.
Brad Marchand
That’s right. Winger Brad Marchand of the Florida Panthers tallied 1,000 points this year, so both Florida teams have been able to celebrate this accomplishment.
Marchand did it in his 1,116th game on Nov. 13 against the Washington Capitals. He had an assist on an empty-net goal by Eetu Luostarinen to guide the Panthers to a 6-3 win.
Boston Bruins fans were hoping that Marchand would reach that mark in a Bruins sweater, but Marchand wasn’t always a goal-scorer. He was selected in the third round of the 2006 NHL Draft as more of a grinder type, never registering over a point per game in a season until his seventh in the league (2016-17). He made up for lost time, though, getting 730 points since the beginning of the 2016-17 season. He finished his Bruins career with 976, 24 away from the landmark.
Marchand had 435 goals and 565 assists by the time he reached 1,000 points. He is currently the leading scorer for a Panthers team without Alexander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.
Skaters Who Can Reach 1,000 in 2026
There are a few skaters who fell just short of reaching 1,000 career points in 2025. However, there are a few who are within 100. Most of them can reach that total in 2026, and one of them can even achieve it in the 2025-26 NHL season.
Dallas Stars winger Jamie Benn has 967 points in his career. The 17-year veteran was a superstar winger, despite being a fifth-round selection from the 2007 NHL Draft. However, while he’s still scoring at a good rate, he’s far from the near point-per-game rate he achieved in 2022-23.
He has 11 points in 17 games this season. He needs 44 points in this season to reach 1K, so if he keeps up this pace without suffering a major injury, he will get it by the 68th game of the season, the Stars’ game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Los Angeles Kings winger Corey Perry has 950 career points so far. The 21-year NHL veteran has traveled a lot since his prime with the Anaheim Ducks. He’s had stops with Dallas, the Montreal Canadiens, the Lightning, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Edmonton Oilers. Time will tell if the Kings reach the Stanley Cup Final like a lot of Perry’s past teams.
However, Perry is far from the scorer he once was. He has just 174 points through 432 games since he left Anaheim. He has 15 points through 28 games this season with the Kings, so it’s doubtful he’ll reach 1,000 this season, but if an NHL team signs him, he has an easy path to 1,000 points in his 22nd season.
It’s the same with Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns. He has 929 points in his 22-year career and 21 points in 34 games this season. If he achieved 1,000 career points, he’d be the first defenseman since Nicklas Lidstrom did it on Oct. 15, 2009. However, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to eclipse the 1K mark this season, so he’d have to play a 23rd NHL season to reach that mark, at least.
New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin is at 906 career points. The 34-year-old is still a point-per-game winger, so he could reach it at some point in 2026. The biggest question is whether he’ll do it in a Rangers uniform or not. Panarin’s contract expires in 2026, so the Rangers will have to re-sign him to ensure he scores his 1,000th career point in New York.
Free agent winger Phil Kessel also still has a shot at 1,000. He has 992 career points in his career, but he hasn’t played in the NHL since his stint with the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2022-23 NHL season. Still, he hasn’t announced his retirement, and if any team gave him a chance, he just needs eight points, and he can retire with 1,000 in his career.
Regardless, 1,000 points in an NHL career is a rare accomplishment. It’s saved for the best NHL skaters, and even getting near that tally should be an achievement on its own.
