Top 20 Defensemen with the Most Goals in NHL History

Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and Al MacInnis Are the Top Three Defensemen with the Most Goals in NHL History

Just the other day, we looked at skaters with the most recorded shots on goal in NHL history and were surprised to find defenseman Ray Bourque at the top of the list.

Which then begged the question, which defensemen have scored the most goals all time?

Ray Bourque, again, tops this list. He is the only defenseman with 400 goals.

Another defenseman, Al MacInnis, was third all-time in shots on goal. He’s third here, too, in goals by a defenseman.

In between is Paul Coffey. Coffey finished just shy of 400 and scored goals for eight of his nine teams.

Of the skaters below, only Denis Potvin (New York Islanders) and Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) scored all of their goals for a single team.

What today’s list shows most of all, though, is the changing nature of the defenseman’s role over time. Though the NHL has been around since 1917-18, all but two skaters below played exclusively from the 1970′s-on.

In the very early days, the defenseman stuck to defense alone.

Thanks to hockey-reference.com‘s play index where I searched for every defenseman with at least 100 goals.

Photos: boston.com / thehockeyjunkies.blogspot.com / icehockey.wikia.com