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NHL: 30 most prolific scorers of all-time

By Nick Villano

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - JANUARY 18: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates his empty net goal against the New York Islanders which tied him with Steve Yzerman on the NHL all time goal scoring list at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on January 18, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. The Capitals defeated the Islanders 6-4. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - JANUARY 18: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates his empty net goal against the New York Islanders which tied him with Steve Yzerman on the NHL all time goal scoring list at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on January 18, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. The Capitals defeated the Islanders 6-4. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Alexander Mogilny
Alexander Mogilny (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

NHL: 30 most prolific scorers of all-time: No. 28 Alexander Mogilny

The story of Alexander Mogilny’s journey to the NHL is insane. He started his career in the Soviet Union, which wasn’t too keen on players leaving to play in the NHL. During the 1989 World Junior Championships, Mogilny stayed in Stockholm, Sweden, giving the Buffalo Sabres a chance to save him from going back to what’s now known as Russia.

Once Mogilny came to the U.S., it did not take him long to become one of the best pure goal scorers in hockey. In his sophomore season, he broke the 30-goal plateau at 21-years-old. Two years later, he led the entire league with 76 goals. Only three players in the history of the league have scored more in one season.

The real issue with Mogilny was consistency. He had that aforementioned 76-goal season, a 55-goal season, a 43-goal season, then a lot of decent campaigns around that. He was absolutely dominant three times. Like, best in the world at scoring goals at a time where Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were in the league, sort of dominant. There was nobody outscoring him in 1992-93. However, he only had five other 30-goal seasons. He had eight seasons where he failed to hit 30 goals altogether.

Mogilny was and still is one of the most underrated players in the history of the league. That year with 76 goals? He got zero Hart Trophy votes. Despite his amazing seasons, he’s still falling short of the Hall of Fame.

This is a Stanley Cup Champion that made back-to-back Final appearances in 1999 and 2000. He scored 16 points in the 2000-01 playoffs. He had eight playoff goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs surprise run in the 2002 playoffs. Mogilny deserves a lot more credit. His peak was amazing, and he deserves recognition for how good he was in this league.

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