NHL: 30 most prolific scorers of all-time: No. 20 Mike Gartner
Mike Gartner is someone who seems to be forgotten in NHL lore, but he is one of the better scorers this sport has ever seen. He’s never had the Mogilny 76-goal season, but he did score between 40 and 50 goals in nine of his 19 NHL seasons. He missed the 30-goal plateau twice. Both seasons it was due to injuries limiting his games. Gartner was one of the most consistent goal scorers in NHL history.
His consistency is untouchable. His 17 seasons with 30+ goals is an NHL record. There are few things in life that are guaranteed. There are U.S. taxes, death, and Gartner hitting 30 goals in a full season. He was even able to provide important star power to franchises that needed it like the Minnesota North Stars and Phoenix Coyotes. Being able to light the lamp for five different franchises made him a fan favorite across his career.
His iconic mustache made its mark with the Washington Capitals. He scored 397 goals in 758 games, which was the team record at the time. It wouldn’t last as Peter Bondra would eventually break it. That record has since been broken by another name on this list.
Gartner has some detractors when looking at his numbers. They will claim he was only able to put up the seventh-most goals in NHL history because of the era he played in. It’s true that the 80s were run and gun, but his speed and puck handling stood out among everyone. He would absolutely be a star today as he can just rocket past defensemen without losing the puck.