Modern-Day (80 Game) Great Players Who Surprisingly Didn't Score 50 Goals in a Season

[The Red Line]

Playmakers make plays.

 

[authentic]

You ain't lying. Literally read the name and said, "holy **** I forgot about that guy."

He has a good case for most underrated player of all time. Heck, no one even rates him anymore.

 

[Regal]

Lindros likely has multiple 50-goal seasons if not for having a head full of jelly.

Yup. Paced for over 50 every year his first 5 years in the league.

 

[Anisimovs AK]

Lindros would also be dope in todays NHL too. The league as it is now wouldnt give him a headshot a game. Most players nowadays probably wouldnt even try to hit him

 

[chaosrevolver]

It’s always surprising to be reminded that Forsberg topped out at 30.

Yeah I certainly am not surprised he didnt hit 50 but that is lower than expected even with the injuries

 

[tony d]

Lindros would have been an all time great had it not been for injuries. Injuries prevented him from doing a lot which included scoring 50 goals in a year.

 

[cliffclaven]

Patrick Kane (46)

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

To be fair, Lindros was on a pretty comfortable 50 goal pace in several of his early on seasons. I know “you can’t say you did it until you do it”, but I think it’s safe to say he easily had the ability.

Datsyuk, Forsberg, and Francis were all players with heavy playmaking emphasis opposed to finishers. Not really surprised at them at all.
A player I’m much more surprised for not coming closer is Hossa. Dude played on several great teams and was a great player, but his high was “only” 45

 

[sr edler]

It’s always surprising to be reminded that Forsberg topped out at 30.

0.35 goals per game in the regular season. 0.42 goals per game in the playoffs, where it's harder to score. Forsberg obviously didn't focus on scoring goals in the regular season, but on driving the play and being a playmaker. Had he focused on goal scoring in the regular season he probably could have hit 40 with relative ease. Probably not 50 though.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

I'll throw out Semin's name here. He played on a team that put a lot of emphasis on offense and had an incredible shot, but peaked at 40 goals I believe.

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

Lindros was a unique and dominant physical player but his peak was just a lot shorter than most others. If you watched him play you’d understand why the raw numbers don’t really do him justice.

I was never a fan of Lindros. I guess it’s just because he was always the enemy. In hindsight, I wish he was able to stick around longer.

 

[Paper]

In a similar vein there's Lanny McDonald who played for some very good team, scored over 1000 points and had a career high 66 goals in a season. Lanny McDonald, surprisingly, never broke 100 points.

His highest scoring year was 66-32-98.

Stamkos is his modern-day equivalent. Stamkos too has yet to score 100 points, despite having a 60+ goal season.

 

[DFC]

In a similar vein there's Lanny McDonald who played for some very good team, scored over 1000 points and had a career high 66 goals in a season. Lanny McDonald, surprisingly, never broke 100 points.

His highest scoring year was 66-32-98.

Stamkos is his modern-day equivalent. Stamkos too has yet to score 100 points, despite having a 60+ goal season.

Craziest fact in the thread. Always assumed Lanny had multiple 100 point seasons.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Sundin (47)

I am a bit surprised he didn’t hit it especially in quebec and was surprised he only had one 100 point season ever and none with Toronto

 

[Beukeboom]

Lindros and Fedorov are comparable to me. Both had dominant peaks, but spent most of their careers being a shell of the players we remember them as. I had pretty much the same experience with Lindros as you. I was pretty young, but I clearly remember the hype, and people literally calling him "the next Gretzky." Maybe because Gretz was still around, we didn't realize just how rare that caliber of player is.

It seems, in hindsight, like there was a brief period (I think when Mario was out with cancer?) where Lindros probably was the best player in the league. And that LOD line, as a unit, was the most feared thing in hockey. So yeah, I was genuinely surprised to see he topped out at 47.

94-95 was probably the season you could argue Lindros was the best. He was still 21-22 at the time. His problem (before the main injuries came) was that he could not stay healthy. He topped out at something like 60-75 games every year even before the concussions. It took him around 60 games to reach 40 goals so I'm sure he would have had a few 50 seasons if not for that fact.

 

[MattMartin]

Tavares
Marner
Matthews
Nylander
Kadri

 

[3074326]

Playmakers make plays.

Yeah but how many were secondary assists?!?

 

[Tofveve]

Craziest fact in the thread. Always assumed Lanny had multiple 100 point seasons.

Too, it was crazy he had a 66 goal season in Calgary when back when he was in Toronto he was a line-mate of Sittler who was considered the more prolific scorer.

 

[Tofveve]

Lindros would have been an all time great had it not been for injuries. Injuries prevented him from doing a lot which included scoring 50 goals in a year.

I actually thought he was a first ballot HOF inductee. Glad I looked it up, because it was actually the 6th time his name was on the ballot when he got in finally.

 

[95Tal]

Pat Verbeek scored 522 goals but topped out at 46. Never made it to 100 points, either. I remember him as a badger-like Brad Marchand-type guy. 2905 PIMs though, wow.

 

[Hynh]

Any Swede not named Hakan Loob

 

[chaosrevolver]

I too was surprised by Naslund as someone else mentioned. Some others:

- Daniel Alfredsson (only once hit 90 points too)
- Mike Modano (Only hit 50 goals once...never even topped 40 again)
- Marty St Louis (43)
- Dave Andreychuk (Despite 640 goals the longevity king only hit 50 goals once over his career)

 

[Tofveve]

I too was surprised by Naslund as someone else mentioned. Some others:

- Daniel Alfredsson (only once hit 90 points too)
- Mike Modano (Only hit 50 goals once...never even topped 40 again)
- Marty St Louis (43)
- Dave Andreychuk (Despite 640 goals the longevity king only hit 50 goals once over his career)

I feel there should be a unlikely players that scored 50. Gary Leeman is maybe the most glaring example that comes to mind.

But in keeping with the Modano 50, Jeremy Roenick scored 50+ twice and isn't in the HHOF. I think Modano was the more dynamic, smooth and fast player, but JR really did have a remarkable career.

 

[cliffclaven]

0.35 goals per game in the regular season. 0.42 goals per game in the playoffs, where it's harder to score. Forsberg obviously didn't focus on scoring goals in the regular season, but on driving the play and being a playmaker. Had he focused on goal scoring in the regular season he probably could have hit 40 with relative ease. Probably not 50 though.

Lol, if he wouldn’t have spent half his career acting like he played soccer in la liga, he probably would’ve scored more. His nickname of “floppa” suited him well.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

He has a good case for most underrated player of all time. Heck, no one even rates him anymore.

Always loved Ziggy, definitely forgotten about and underrated.

Luc Robitaille is the only other somewhat recent guy I can think of. Just never considered elite, no Brett Hull-like memorable moments.. but just shy of 1400 points with numerous 60 goal, 100 point seasons.