Assignment 3 - NHL Top Scorers Analysis

Why This Matters

Every season, NHL fans want to know who the best scorers are. This page looks at the top 20 point producers from the 2024-2025 season. By examining goals, assists, and other statistics, we can see what makes some players more valuable than others.

What we're looking at: Which players scored the most points? Do some excel at goals while others create assists? How do the top teams perform?

Top 20 Point Leaders

This table shows the 20 leading scorers in the 2024-2025 NHL regular season. The columns show basic stats: how many games they played, goals scored, assists made, and total points.

Figure 1: 2024-2025 NHL Top 20 Scorers

Rank	Player Name	Team	Position	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Shots
1	Connor McDavid	Edmonton Oilers	C	76	32	63	95	+8	285
2	Auston Matthews	Toronto Maple Leafs	C	69	41	51	92	+12	304
3	Artemi Panarin	New York Rangers	LW	73	29	60	89	+15	267
4	David Pastrnak	Boston Bruins	RW	68	47	40	87	+18	298
5	Nathan MacKinnon	Colorado Avalanche	C	74	28	58	86	+16	279
6	Alex Ovechkin	Washington Capitals	LW	70	43	42	85	+6	316
7	Leon Draisaitl	Edmonton Oilers	LW	75	36	48	84	+10	288
8	Tage Thompson	Buffalo Sabres	RW	72	35	48	83	-5	276
9	Jack Eichel	Vegas Golden Knights	C	71	31	51	82	+14	282
10	Nikita Kucherov	Tampa Bay Lightning	RW	69	27	54	81	+11	251
11	Connor Bedard	Chicago Blackhawks	C	63	24	33	57	-18	198
12	Mark Scheifele	Winnipeg Jets	C	74	29	51	80	+22	268
13	Brent Burns	Vegas Golden Knights	D	76	12	67	79	+19	294
14	Mitch Marner	Toronto Maple Leafs	RW	71	22	56	78	+13	224
15	Jason Spezza	Toronto Maple Leafs	C	68	16	38	54	+8	143
16	Jason Robertson	Dallas Stars	LW	75	28	50	78	+17	287
17	Steven Stamkos	Nashville Predators	RW	73	32	44	76	+9	269
18	Jonathan Marchessault	Vegas Golden Knights	LW	70	30	45	75	+16	258
19	Aleksander Barkov	Florida Panthers	C	62	23	50	73	+14	241
20	Cale Makar	Colorado Avalanche	D	71	17	56	73	+20	256

Source: NHL.com Statistics

What the Data Shows

Different Ways to Score

Looking at the table, you can see that players score in different ways. Some focus on actually putting the puck in the net (goals), while others are better at setting up their teammates (assists).

For example, David Pastrnak scored 47 goals, which is the most on the list. He takes a lot of shots (298) and converts them into goals. Meanwhile, Connor McDavid has 63 assists, meaning he helps his teammates score a lot. He still has 95 total points because goals and assists count equally.

Games Played Matters

Some players have played fewer games than others because of injuries. Auston Matthews only played 69 games but has 92 points. That's 1.33 points per game. Meanwhile, Connor McDavid played 76 games with 95 points, which is 1.25 points per game. So Matthews was actually more efficient even though he has fewer total points.

Comparing Goals vs Assists

Figure 2: Top 5 Players - Goals vs Assists

Player	Total Points	Games	Points Per Game
Connor McDavid	95	76	1.25
Auston Matthews	92	69	1.33
Artemi Panarin	89	73	1.22
David Pastrnak	87	68	1.28
Nathan MacKinnon	86	74	1.16

You can see that the top players balance goals and assists differently. Pastrnak is a goal scorer (47 G, 40 A), while McDavid and Panarin are more playmakers (60+ assists). Both styles work to get to the top of the scoring list.

Team Depth

Some teams have multiple players in the top 20:

Edmonton Oilers: McDavid (#1), Draisaitl (#7)
Toronto Maple Leafs: Matthews (#2), Marner (#14), Spezza (#15)
Vegas Golden Knights: Eichel (#9), Burns (#13), Marchessault (#18)
Colorado Avalanche: MacKinnon (#5), Makar (#20)

Teams with multiple top scorers are usually stronger because they have scoring depth. When one player is injured, another can step up.

What These Statistics Mean

Here are the key terms used in hockey statistics:

Goals (G): When a player shoots the puck into the opponent's net, it counts as one goal. Each goal gives the player 1 point.
Assists (A): An assist is given to a player who passes the puck to a teammate right before they score a goal. Up to two players can get an assist per goal. Each assist is worth 1 point, the same as a goal.
Points (P): Points are calculated by adding up goals and assists. This is the main way to rank scorers. A player with 30 goals and 40 assists has 70 points total.
Games Played (GP): How many games a player has participated in during the season. The NHL regular season is 82 games. Some players might have played fewer games if they were injured.
Plus/Minus (+/-): A measure of whether the team is winning or losing when that player is on the ice. The player gets "+1" when their team scores a goal while they're playing, and "-1" when the other team scores. This shows if a player's team does well overall.
Shots on Goal (SOG): The number of times a player shoots the puck at the opponent's goalie. This shows how active a player is in trying to score. Better scorers usually take 3-4 shots per game.
Position: The player's role on the team. C = Center (plays in the middle), LW = Left Wing (plays on the left), RW = Right Wing (plays on the right), D = Defenseman (plays defense). Most of the top scorers are forwards (C, LW, RW).

Where the Data Comes From

All the statistics on this page come from official NHL sources. If you want to learn more about any player or look up current stats, here are some good websites:

Websites to Check Out

NHL.com Statistics - The official NHL website. You can find any player's stats here.
ESPN NHL Statistics - ESPN's database of hockey stats. You can compare players here.
Hockey-Reference.com - Good for looking at a player's career over many years.

How to Use These Sites

On NHL.com, go to the Stats section and pick the 2024-2025 season. You can then sort the list by Points to see the top scorers, or sort by Goals to see the goal leaders.

ESPN's site lets you pick two players and compare them side-by-side. This is useful if you want to see how similar players stack up against each other.