John Tavares becomes fourth player in NHL history to score 500 points with two teams

John Tavares scored twice during the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, giving him 500 total points as a Maple Leaf and making him the fourth player in NHL history to reach the number with two different NHL teams.

Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Ron Francis were the first three to accomplish the feat. Gretzky recorded 1,669 points with the Edmonton Oilers and 918 points with the Los Angeles Kings; Messier had 1,034 with the Oilers and 691 with the New York Rangers, while Francis had 1,175 with the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes and 613 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Tavares, 35, now has three goals and four assists for seven points in six games with the Maple Leafs this season. Since joining the team ahead of the 2018-19 season, Tavares has recorded 225 goals and 275 assists for 500 points in 521 regular-season games.

Through the first nine seasons of his career, Tavares played for the New York Islanders, the franchise that took him No. 1 overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. During his time with the club, he scored 272 goals and recorded 349 assists for 621 points in 669 regular-season games.

Now in his 17th season, Tavares has 497 goals and 624 assists for 1,121 points in 1,190 career regular-season games. In 75 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, he’s scored 28 goals and recorded 25 assists for 53 points.

His best offensive season came in 2018-19, his first year with the Maple Leafs. In 82 games, Tavares scored 47 goals and 41 assists for 88 points. He’s reached the 80-point mark five times in his career: twice with the Maple Leafs, three times with the Islanders.

Tavares is a two-time Hart Trophy-finalist, both with the Islanders in 2012-13 and 2014-15. He is a six-time All-Star, and at one point was selected to five straight between 2015 and 2019.