A Look Back: Scoring leaders, by year, among forwards and defensemen

[Crease]

I'll be doing this by era. I've listed -- for each season -- the Rangers leading scorer for forwards and defensemen.

Next to their names are their ages during that season, the factor by which they outscored the second-best forward or defenseman on their team (RelTeam), and the factor by which they finished behind the first-best league-wide forward or defenseman (RelLeague) (1+ indicates they led the entire league). Excluded are Howe, Orr, Gretzky and Lemieux.

You can't really draw any conclusions simply by looking at the numbers. But it's interesting to see who's names came up over the years, and some numbers do stand out and make for good starting points in research. I'll add my notes later.

Pre-War Years

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1927 | Bill Cook | 30 | 1.32 | 1.03
1928 | Frank Boucher | 26 | 1.25 | 0.68
1929 | Frank Boucher | 27 | 1.13 | 0.81
1930 | Frank Boucher | 28 | 1.05 | 0.85
1931 | Bill Cook | 34 | 1.08 | 0.82
1932 | Bill Cook | 35 | 1.26 | 0.91
1933 | Bill Cook | 36 | 1.35 | 1.14
1934 | Frank Boucher | 32 | 1.13 | 0.85
1935 | Frank Boucher | 33 | 1.25 | 0.79
1936 | Cecil Dillon | 27 | 1.1 | 0.71
1937 | Cecil Dillon | 28 | 1.11 | 0.67
1938 | Cecil Dillon | 29 | 1.05 | 0.75
1939 | Clint Smith | 25 | 1.11 | 0.87
1940 | Bryan Hextall | 26 | 1.03 | 0.75
1941 | Lynn Patrick/Bryan Hextall | 28/27 | 1 | 0.71

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1927 | Clarence Abel | 26 | 1.5 | 0.6
1928 | Ching Johnson | 29 | 2.29 | 0.94
1929 | Leo Bourgeault | 26 | 1.25 | 0.26
1930 | Leo Bourgeault | 27 | 2.17 | 0.33
1931 | Joe Jerwa | 24 | 1.36 | 0.35
1932 | Ching Johnson | 33 | 1.3 | 0.52
1933 | Ching Johnson | 34 | 1.42 | 0.4
1934 | Earl Seibert | 22 | 2.88 | 0.7
1935 | Earl Seibert | 23 | 1.79 | 0.76
1936 | Ott Heller | 25 | 1.63 | 0.36
1937 | Ott Heller | 26 | 1.13 | 0.59
1938 | Babe Pratt | 22 | 1.19 | 0.45
1939 | Ott Heller | 28 | 1.1 | 0.85
1940 | Ott Heller | 29 | 1.12 | 0.68
1941 | Babe Pratt | 25 | 1.11 | 0.77

Click to read more...

 

[Crease]

War Years

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1942 | Bryan Hextall | 28 | 1.04 | 1.04
1943 | Lynn Patrick | 30 | 1.03 | 0.84
1944 | Bryan Hextall | 30 | 1.35 | 0.66
1945 | Ab DeMarco | 28 | 1.29 | 0.68

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1942 | Babe Pratt | 26 | 1.65 | 0.74
1943 | Ott Heller | 32 | 1.2 | 0.41
1944 | Ott Heller | 33 | 2.19 | 0.61
1945 | Ott Heller | 34 | 1.36 | 0.46

 

[Crease]

Original Six Years

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1946 | Ab DeMarco | 29 | 1.27 | 0.77
1947 | Tony Leswick | 23 | 1.03 | 0.57
1948 | Buddy O'Connor | 31 | 1.28 | 0.98
1949 | Buddy O'Connor | 32 | 1.13 | 0.51
1950 | Tony Leswick/Edgar Laprade | 26/30 | 1 | 0.56
1951 | Reg Sinclair/Don Raleigh | 25/24 | 1 | 0.59
1952 | Don Raleigh | 25 | 1.42 | 0.88
1953 | Wally Hergesheimer | 26 | 1.09 | 0.83
1954 | Paul Ronty | 25 | 1.02 | 0.69
1955 | Danny Lewicki | 23 | 1.33 | 0.71
1956 | Andy Bathgate | 23 | 1.29 | 0.75
1957 | Andy Bathgate | 24 | 1.75 | 0.91
1958 | Andy Bathgate | 25 | 1.39 | 0.93
1959 | Andy Bathgate | 26 | 1.4 | 0.92
1960 | Andy Bathgate | 27 | 1.12 | 0.91
1961 | Andy Bathgate | 28 | 1.43 | 0.81
1962 | Andy Bathgate | 29 | 1.4 | 1
1963 | Andy Bathgate | 30 | 1.35 | 1.07
1964 | Phil Goyette | 30 | 1.02 | 0.73
1965 | Rod Gilbert | 23 | 1.33 | 0.7
1966 | Bob Nevin | 27 | 1.48 | 0.64
1967 | Phil Goyette | 33 | 1.33 | 0.63

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1946 | Neil Colville | 31 | 1.13 | 0.36
1947 | Neil Colville | 32 | 1.43 | 0.8
1948 | Frank Eddolls | 26 | 1.19 | 0.66
1949 | Allan Stanley | 22 | 1.11 | 0.42
1950 | Pat Egan | 31 | 1.6 | 0.4
1951 | Allan Stanley | 24 | 1.4 | 0.39
1952 | Hy Buller | 25 | 1.84 | 0.74
1953 | Hy Buller | 26 | 1.32 | 0.54
1954 | Hy Buller | 27 | 1.06 | 0.35
1955 | Harry Howell | 22 | 1.07 | 0.33
1956 | Bill Gadsby | 28 | 2.83 | 1.02
1957 | Bill Gadsby | 29 | 2.73 | 0.82
1958 | Bill Gadsby | 30 | 3.83 | 1.12
1959 | Bill Gadsby | 31 | 3.64 | 1.31
1960 | Bill Gadsby | 32 | 2.38 | 0.69
1961 | Bill Gadsby | 33 | 2.06 | 0.5
1962 | Doug Harvey | 37 | 1.2 | 0.61
1963 | Doug Harvey | 38 | 1.56 | 0.65
1964 | Harry Howell | 31 | 1.24 | 0.68
1965 | Rod Seiling | 20 | 1.18 | 0.44
1966 | Harry Howell | 33 | 1.43 | 0.92
1967 | Harry Howell | 34 | 2.67 | 0.77

 

[Crease]

Expansion Years

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1968 | Jean Ratelle | 27 | 1.01 | 0.9
1969 | Jean Ratelle | 28 | 1.01 | 0.62
1970 | Walt Tkaczuk | 22 | 1.04 | 0.78
1971 | Walt Tkaczuk | 23 | 1.04 | 0.49
1972 | Jean Ratelle | 31 | 1.03 | 0.82
1973 | Jean Ratelle | 32 | 1.12 | 0.72
1974 | Rod Gilbert | 32 | 1.1 | 0.53
1975 | Rod Gilbert | 33 | 1.07 | 0.76
1976 | Rod Gilbert | 34 | 1.04 | 0.69
1977 | Phil Esposito | 34 | 1.07 | 0.59
1978 | Phil Esposito | 35 | 1.11 | 0.61
1979 | Anders Hedberg/Phil Esposito | 27/36 | 1 | 0.58
1980 | Phil Esposito | 37 | 1.07 | 0.57
1981 | Anders Hedberg | 29 | 1.03 | 0.52
1982 | Mike Rogers | 27 | 1.36 | 0.7
1983 | Mike Rogers | 28 | 1.01 | 0.61
1984 | Mark Pavelich | 25 | 1.01 | 0.68
1985 | Mike Rogers | 30 | 1.07 | 0.47

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1968 | Jim Neilson | 27 | 1.21 | 0.74
1969 | Jim Neilson | 28 | 1.69 | 0.79
1970 | Brad Park | 21 | 1.03 | 0.89
1971 | Brad Park | 22 | 1.36 | 0.7
1972 | Brad Park | 23 | 1.78 | 1.28
1973 | Brad Park | 24 | 1.26 | 0.98
1974 | Brad Park | 25 | 2.73* | 1.39
1975 | Brad Park | 26 | 1.27 | 0.75
1976 | Carol Vadnais | 30 | 1.85 | 0.58
1977 | Carol Vadnais | 31 | 1.02 | 0.56
1978 | Ron Greschner | 23 | 1.57 | 0.77
1979 | Mike McEwen | 22 | 1.09 | 0.57
1980 | Barry Beck | 22 | 1.02 | 0.81
1981 | Ron Greschner | 26 | 1.45 | 0.82
1982 | Reijo Ruotsalainen | 21 | 1.14 | 0.63
1983 | Reijo Ruotsalainen | 22 | 1.38 | 0.72
1984 | Reijo Ruotsalainen | 23 | 1.05 | 0.47
1985 | Reijo Ruotsalainen | 24 | 1.62* | 0.6

* Led the entire team -- including forwards -- in scoring

 

[Crease]

Modern Years

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1986 | Mike Ridley | 22 | 1.2 | 0.5
1987 | Walt Poddubny | 26 | 1.18 | 0.81
1988 | Walt Poddubny | 27 | 1.13 | 0.67
1989 | Tomas Sandstrom | 24 | 1.38 | 0.57
1990 | John Ogrodnick | 30 | 1.09 | 0.57
1991 | Bernie Nicholls | 29 | 1.06 | 0.56
1992 | Mark Messier | 31 | 1.32 | 0.87
1993 | Mark Messier | 32 | 1.2 | 0.61
1994 | Mark Messier | 33 | 1.06 | 0.7
1995 | Mark Messier | 34 | 1.71 | 0.76
1996 | Mark Messier | 35 | 1.21 | 0.66
1997 | Wayne Gretzky | 36 | 1.15 | 0.8
1998 | Wayne Gretzky | 37 | 1.45 | 0.88
1999 | Wayne Gretzky | 38 | 1.13 | 0.49
2000 | Petr Nedved | 28 | 1.06 | 0.71
2001 | Petr Nedved | 29 | 1.05 | 0.64
2002 | Eric Lindros | 28 | 1.16 | 0.76
2003 | Petr Nedved | 31 | 1.09 | 0.55
2004 | Bobby Holik | 33 | 1.3 | 0.6

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
1986 | Reijo Ruotsalainen | 25 | 1.23 | 0.43
1987 | James Patrick | 23 | 1.36 | 0.58
1988 | James Patrick | 24 | 1.88 | 0.68
1989 | Brian Leetch | 20 | 1.51 | 0.63
1990 | James Patrick | 26 | 1.02 | 0.55
1991 | Brian Leetch | 22 | 1.49* | 0.85
1992 | Brian Leetch | 23 | 1.44 | 1.19
1993 | Brian Leetch | 24 | 1.16 | 0.37
1994 | Sergei Zubov | 23 | 1.13* | 0.98
1995 | Brian Leetch | 26 | 1.14 | 0.71
1996 | Brian Leetch | 27 | 2.3 | 1.04
1997 | Brian Leetch | 28 | 2.05 | 1.15
1998 | Brian Leetch | 29 | 2.5 | 0.85
1999 | Brian Leetch | 30 | 1.62 | 0.89
2000 | Mathieu Schneider | 30 | 1.15 | 0.41
2001 | Brian Leetch | 32 | 3.04* | 1.11
2002 | Brian Leetch | 33 | 1.96 | 0.93
2003 | Tom Poti | 25 | 1.6 | 0.71
2004 | Brian Leetch | 35 | 1.5 | 0.88

* Led the entire team -- including forwards -- in scoring

 

[Crease]

Salary Cap Years

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
2006 | Jaromir Jagr | 33 | 1.56 | 0.98
2007 | Jaromir Jagr | 34 | 1.16 | 0.8
2008 | Jaromir Jagr | 35 | 1.01 | 0.63
2009 | Nikolai Zherdev/Scott Gomez | 24/29 | 1 | 0.51
2010 | Marian Gaborik | 27 | 1.48 | 0.77
2011 | Brandon Dubinsky | 24 | 1.13 | 0.52
2012 | Marian Gaborik | 29 | 1.15 | 0.7
2013 | Derek Stepan | 22 | 1.05 | 0.73

Year | Player | Age | RelTeam | RelLeag
2006 | Michal Rozsival | 27 | 1.2 | 0.38
2007 | Michal Rozsival | 28 | 1.54 | 0.58
2008 | Michal Rozsival | 29 | 1.36 | 0.54
2009 | Michal Rozsival | 30 | 1.15 | 0.41
2010 | Michael Del Zotto | 19 | 1.37 | 0.49
2011 | Dan Girardi | 26 | 1.07 | 0.46
2012 | Michael Del Zotto | 21 | 1.28 | 0.53
2013 | Michael Del Zotto | 22 | 1.11 | 0.55

 

[SupersonicMonkey*]

Ott Heller is such an underrated player in Rangers history.

I would argue he is in the discussion for 2nd 'best' defenseman in Rangers history.

2x Stanley Cup champion (33 & 40)
Captain
Hall of Fame
NHL career Ranger (15 years)

 

[Fataldogg]

Rozsival lead the defense men in points on this team for four years, and got nothing but grief. Found his place on a Stanley Cup contending team, has a solid role on that team, but wasn't good enough for New York...

Del Zotto lead the defense men in points on this team three out of four years, got nothing but criticism.

Gaborik lead the team in points two out of four years, with two top-10 goal appearances. Fans were thrilled to be rid of him, and thought Nash was the superior player. Although, this will be Nash's second season in a row he doesn't lead the team in points.

Jagr lead the team in points for three consecutive years, got this team back in the playoffs, carried the load and made the Rangers relevant again, and was criticized for holding the team back from high draft picks (much like Lundqvist is today). Fans booed him in his first return to the Garden, even though he wanted to re-sign there (but Sather decided to delegate those funds to Redden/Naslund).

Interesting to see how every leading point producer is always under appreciated by fans.

Great list though. Was definitely interesting to look at.

 

[mike14]

Completely OT but it always throws me when the 'war years' get referred to as '42-45. I know that's when the US decided to get involved, but everywhere else you go the years for WW2 are '39-45.

Fataldogg, I disagree that Roszival got nothing but grief, I think most fans appreciated him, they just didn't believe his defensive play was worth $5m a year and that a lot of his points were from being part of a JJ lead PP (nothing wrong with that).

Ditto MDZ, it's great that he lead D-men in pts but his defense wasn't up to scratch.

Anyone who thought Nash would lead the team in pts has obviously never watched him play. Goals yes, but not points.

 

[Machinehead]

A little scary that Leetch managed over a 3 as a defenseman in 2002.

 

[Crease]

Completely OT but it always throws me when the 'war years' get referred to as '42-45. I know that's when the US decided to get involved, but everywhere else you go the years for WW2 are '39-45.

Not completely off-topic. I use '42-'45 because in those years (only), the NHL was noticeably impacted by the presence of the war. "War Years" is meant to earmark the stretch of seasons in which the league saw significant talent leave for service.

 

[SupersonicMonkey*]

Not completely off-topic. I use '42-'45 because in those years (only), the NHL was noticeably impacted by the presence of the war. "War Years" is meant to earmark the stretch of seasons in which the league saw significant talent leave for service.

Including one of our own greats, Lynn Patrick. I'm sure there were others but he is the one i can name off the top of my head.

I know a lot of the Amerks served, and it effected them.

 

[Crease]

A little scary that Leetch managed over a 3 as a defenseman in 2002.

2001. And yeah, he was the team that year.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

2001. And yeah, he was the team that year.

Him and Fleury until rehab. That team had the #1 PP and #1 offense for a while and then the wheels fell off. Horrible horrible defense though. I mean horrible. That team also had a knack for teasing us. Going down 5-1 and scoring 3 goals in the 3rd period. Padded the stats with a bunch of meaningless goals. What a frustrating team. The first year I was watching so I remember that team better than any other pre-lockout team. I still love them though, they were my first team. They were really really bad. They had some fun moments though.

 

[Crease]

Him and Fleury until rehab. That team had the #1 PP and #1 offense for a while and then the wheels fell off. Horrible horrible defense though. I mean horrible. That team also had a knack for teasing us. Going down 5-1 and scoring 3 goals in the 3rd period. Padded the stats with a bunch of useless goals. What a frustrating team. The first year I was watching so I remember that team better than any other pre-lockout team. I still love them though, they were my first team. They were really really bad. They had some fun moments though.

That 2001 season was funny. The Fleury-Lindros-York line came out flying out like a bat out of hell. By December, there was serious talk about a Rangers/Islanders conference final. Both teams just sank like rocks. Injuries piled up. I remember limping home with Guy Hebert. Rough year to be a Rangers fan.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

That 2001 season was funny. The Fleury-Lindros-York line came out flying out like a bat out of hell. By December, there was serious talk about a Rangers/Islanders conference final. Both teams just sank like rocks. Injuries piled up. I remember limping home with Guy Hebert. Rough year to be a Rangers fan.

Are you sure about the Islanders? I believe they were the worst team in the league that year.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Oh, that was the 01-02 season. Lindros wasn't there in 01.

 

[Crease]

Oh, that was the 01-02 season. Lindros wasn't there in 01.

There you go. My memory sometimes blends bits and pieces of seasons together.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Which makes me wonder if Fleury didn't go into rehab in 02 or if he came back from rehab in 02. But yeah the FLY line was 02. That team was very good to start the year. Were like 7 games over .500 at one point early in the season. For comparison sake that team was better than this one early.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Which makes me wonder if Fleury didn't go into rehab in 02 or if he came back from rehab in 02. But yeah the FLY line was 02. That team was very good to start the year. Were like 7 games over .500 at one point early in the season. For comparison sake that team was better than this one early.

IIRC, there was a point early on in that season (around 30 games in) where the Rangers were 1st in the league.

Granted, I'm pretty sure they had played 4 or 5 more games than any other team to that point...

 

[SnowblindNYR]

IIRC, there was a point early on in that season (around 30 games in) where the Rangers were 1st in the league.

Granted, I'm pretty sure they had played 4 or 5 more games than any other team to that point...

That team had so many hole though. No D, no depth, no goalie. I still thought they'd make the playoffs.

 

[mike14]

Yeah, my memory of the 01-02 was that the Rangers came out pretty strong and a match up against the Isles in late Oct/early Nov was 1st v 2nd in the conference. I was at basic training during that time and it was really annoying having to follow results via the occasional newspaper.

The FLY line was playing well and Richter was in good in form prior to the Olympics and despite a terrible January we were looking ok going into the Olympic break with Lindros, Fleury, York, Leetch and Richter named to play.

After the US/Canada gold medal game which saw Marty square off against Richter in goal we faced the Devs first game back in goalie re-match. The Devs destroyed us and the wheels fell off big time. Fleury went off the rails, York got traded for Poti, Richter was starting to break down and we traded a fair bit for a one legged Bure.

About the only bright spot to come out of that season was the play of Blackburn.

Jeez those pre lockout teams make me depressed...

 

[bernmeister]

...

Ott Heller is such an underrated player in Rangers history.

Concur

I would argue he is in the discussion for 2nd 'best' defenseman in Rangers history.

Sorry, but IMO Leetch-Park have monopoly on top pair.

Surely is in our all time 6 D though?

Ching Johnson, Howell, and .....

 

[bernmeister]

...

{thread title: }
A Look Back: Scoring leaders, by year, among forwards and defensemen

Just a quick thank you and kudos to Crease, who comes up with all this cool stuff all the time.

We are lucky to have you in our group.

You da stat man, man....

 

[stan the caddy]

Rozsival lead the defense men in points on this team for four years, and got nothing but grief. Found his place on a Stanley Cup contending team, has a solid role on that team, but wasn't good enough for New York...

Del Zotto lead the defense men in points on this team three out of four years, got nothing but criticism.

Gaborik lead the team in points two out of four years, with two top-10 goal appearances. Fans were thrilled to be rid of him, and thought Nash was the superior player. Although, this will be Nash's second season in a row he doesn't lead the team in points.

Jagr lead the team in points for three consecutive years, got this team back in the playoffs, carried the load and made the Rangers relevant again, and was criticized for holding the team back from high draft picks (much like Lundqvist is today). Fans booed him in his first return to the Garden, even though he wanted to re-sign there (but Sather decided to delegate those funds to Redden/Naslund).

Interesting to see how every leading point producer is always under appreciated by fans.

Great list though. Was definitely interesting to look at.

Roszival was good in the beginning but towards the end he had lost all confidence. At the end he was fumbling the puck on the pp and afraid to shoot.

Did Jagr really want to re-sign? I remember him criticizing the front office for bringing in two centers that he didn't want to play with resulting in him on a line with Dubi. I thought he was just fed up with the Rangers after the playoff loss to the Pens and that's why he left the NHL.