NHL 2025-26 Season Trends: Record Offense, Most Overtimes Ever, Historic Attendance & Epic Comebacks
If it felt like the 2025-26 NHL season was historic on many levels, that's because it was historic on many levels. We recap some key numbers that truly made last season memorable.
The 2025-26 NHL season will go down as one of the most memorable in league history. When a sport can break several records in one season, it will be talked about for years to come.
There was also a lot of oddities and trends that stood out. For example, it took 98 points in the East just to make the playoffs. Only the top-three teams in the Central Division exceeded 98 points.
Take the Washington Capitals for example. They got to 95 points in the East and were still three points away from the playoffs. They would have been the fourth best team in the West by points. They also had a +19 goal differential.
Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings each had fewer points and a negative goal differential. But because there were in the far more inferior Western Conference, that was good enough for the playoffs.
As we reflect back on the 2025-26 NHL season, there were a number of stats that jumped out. Today, we are going to look back at four key stats that helped define the season that was. We’ll also share some other fun and noteworthy tidbits that came out.
What Made 2025-26 Historic
The NHL released their regular-season recap just before the start of the playoffs. Right away, you will notice that three generations of players had record performances.
Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin continued to do their thing. Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon continue to be two of the best players in the world. And yet, it was Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer that said don’t forget about us.
But it was more than Celebrini and Schaefer who made their debuts with style. A total of 23 teenagers made their debuts in 2025-26, the most in seven years. This included six 18-year old’s making their debuts. Those being Schaefer, Michael Misa, Ben Kindel, Braeden Cootes, Brady Martin and Anton Frondell.
Celebrini became the sixth teenager in NHL history to record 100 points or more in a season. He factored in on 46% of the San Jose Sharks’ goals. That was second only to McDavid’s 49% of Edmonton Oilers’ goals.
Schaefer recorded the most points by an 18-year old defenseman, tied the record for most goals by a rookie defenseman and became the first defenseman in over 90 years to lead all NHL rookies in goals.
McDavid, MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov became the third trio in history to lead the scoring race as the top-three in any order in multiple seasons. Before one of them took the scoring lead for good, the last player this season to lead the Art Ross race was Celebrini back in November.
Considering eight players reached 100 points and another five players reached 90 points this season, it makes you wonder if scoring is up in the NHL. Not only is it up, it’s up at a historic clip.
Record Offense
Teams combined for 6.3 goals per game in 2025-26. That’s the second-highest rate over the past 31 seasons. When considering all factors, this should not come as a surprise.
From 1996-2018, the league hit an average of six goals per game between two teams just once. One reason for that is a steady decline in save percentage.
