These global superstars have produced all-time elite scoring seasons in 2022-23

Credit: Leon Draisaitl ( © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

Despite its shocking misadventures in failing to stage a best-on-best international event in nine years, the NHL has become an increasingly international league.

When Bobby Orr debuted in 1966, only four NHL players were born outside of Canada. Yes, four. When Wayne Gretzky launched onto the scene in 1979, that figure grew beyond 100 as Americans continued to weave into hockey’s fabric. Still, a remarkable 84 percent of NHL talent was Canadian. It would take the fall of the Iron Curtain and Gretzky’s landmark trade to California to meaningfully move the needle of globalization.

Fast forward to the present day, and you’ll find a much more diverse NHL by birthplace. Canadians are 42 percent of the league, Europeans represent 30 percent, and Americans comprise the remaining 28 percent.

Today, we’re capping the series by celebrating the 2022-23 feats of four of the game’s biggest stars: Leon Draisaitl, Jack Hughes, David Pastrnak, and Mikko Rantanen. In a not-too-distant past, it’s conceivable that none of these sharpshooters would have found their way to the world’s biggest stage. Our mission is to place their seasons among the best ever achieved in history by those with a common passport. So, pack your bags, and we’ll meet in Germany.

Leon Draisaitl

Connor McDavid rightfully occupies a lot of our attention. Like Evgeni Malkin before him, playing in the shadow of the sport’s best player can stifle the number of eyeballs on recurring all-world performances. So, it’s long overdue to give Draisaitl his own tribute.

There’s no point comparing Leon among Germans. His lethal passing and sniping stretch his status far beyond his country’s borders for excellence. How about an entire continent? Let’s dive into the top single-season point totals by any European, adjusted for era.

Wunderbar. Translation: Marvelous.

The Oilers’ sensation now occupies three of the top seven most productive seasons by a European ever. Given Draisaitl’s two previous entries on the list rely on extrapolation from COVID-shortened campaigns, 2022-23 has a legitimate case as his best year.

Pre-Draisaitl, there was another famous European in Edmonton you might recall. Yet, even Jari Kurri peaked at 108 adjusted points. Of the Sedins, Henrik’s best was 119, and Daniel’s 113.

Peter Forsberg? 118.
Sergei Fedorov? 109.
Stan Mikita? 106.
Peter Stastny? 102.

None of these Hall of Famers can match any of Draisaitl’s best three seasons.

He’s proven both consistent and durable too, with his last four finishes in the scoring race as follows: 4th, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 2nd.

Nine years into his career, there is a legitimate path for Draisaitl to end up among hockey’s 20 all-time greatest forwards by the time he’s done. He continues to be that outstanding.

Jack Hughes

Professional sports are famously hard on their youngest and highest potential stars. Jack Hughes is no stranger to such criticism. It’s easy to forget or simply to revise history, but the “B” word was creeping into the 19-year-old Hughes’ sphere just two years ago. Bust.

Too small. Too weak. Too rushed. Too unprotected on a floundering Devils team.

ID check? He’s still 21 years old. To demonstrate the height of Hughes’ performance, let’s add context. Below is the leaderboard of every American in history in their age-21 season or younger.

Fire. Translation: Awesome.

That’s right. Adjusted for era, no American his age has ever banked points at Hughes’ level, despite missing four games to injury. Not LaFontaine. Not Modano. Not Roenick. Not Kane. Not Matthews. Not anyone. Brett Hull didn’t even play a full NHL season until he was 23.

Let’s chart his year-by-year adjusted point pace against one of the greatest Americans of them all, Patrick Kane. The two are often compared, their paths as ultra-skilled, undersized forwards terrorizing USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program both having led to No. 1 draft pick status.

Despite the false start as an 18-year-old, Hughes’ trajectory has rocketed faster than Lou Lamoriello forcing a new acquisition to shave their sideburns. He’s left Kane in the dust, too. While he didn’t debut anywhere near Kane’s polish level, he swiftly breezed past his production at age 20, maintaining his edge in his age-21 season.

Only four Florida-born players have hit 100 career points, and only 15 have played a single NHL game. Just four seasons in, the Orlando-born Hughes is already third in history in points among Floridians. Ahead of him? 29-year-old Shayne Gostibehere, and his older brother, Quinn. The Brothers Hughes are not only thriving as young stars in the league, but breaking ground every shift.

David Pastrnak

Czechia may not be the same international hockey threat as when Dominik Hasek, Jaromir Jagr and friends stunned the world in Nagano. But if best-on-best play can return, the team will be constructed around Pastrnak.

Due to his finest seasons being abbreviated by pandemic or injury, the Bruins’ triggerman hasn’t compiled the gaudy in-season totals befitting of his place in the league. Until this year. As the offensive leader of a record-breaking Boston squad, Pasta has emerged as one of the faces of hockey.

Time for us to check (Czech?) the country’s top adjusted goal scoring seasons.

Skvělý. Translation: Awesome.

Pastrnak trails only one man from his homeland: Jagr, the living legend. Among Czechs 30 and under – those born in the Czech Republic and not the former Czechoslavakia – Pastrnak has the top five goal-scoring seasons on record. He is on his own planet of dominance among Czechs active today.

[Gets handed a note ]…

It seems the 51-year old Jagr is still playing in the top division in Kladno right now!

When we circle into the rich history of the Boston Bruins, we find Pastrnak has made noise there as well. Since 1930, the only Bruin to have a better adjusted goal scoring season than Pastrnak’s 2022-23 — or his 2019-20 Rocket-winning year — is Phil Esposito, at one time the NHL’s single-season record holder.

Mikko Rantanen

After Rantanen’s Colorado Avalanche waltzed to the Stanley Cup in June, the sequel has had script problems from Day One. Captain and heartbeat Gabriel Landeskog has yet to suit up for a game. Franchise pillars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar missed extended stretches. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper and sparkplug Nazem Kadri left in free agency.

It’s the 26-year-old Finn that’s been tasked with keeping the train on the tracks in Denver. So, how good has Rantanen’s season been among Suomi talent?

Uskomaton. Translation: Incredible.

Finnish hockey has a proud, scrappy history that has produced four medals in five best-on-best Olympics. In the 47 years of Finns in the NHL, Rantanen’s 2022-23 goal scoring has only been topped by national icons Selanne and Kurri.

With the PHWA finalizing their award ballots this week, Rantanen warrants some love. While down-ballot Hart Trophy votes are reasonably assured, it’s the year-end all-star selections that could bear fruit for the right winger. A second-team choice in 2020-21, Rantanen’s main competition comes from Pastrnak, Nikita Kucherov, and Mitch Marner.

Pastrnak’s 60-goal bonanza on the best team in the league should assure the top spot, but Rantanen has legitimate hopes for second-team. While he won’t catch Kucherov in points, scoring 24 more goals and snagging 13 more primary points leave Rantanen with stronger credentials.

Closing Thoughts

While no one will confuse hockey’s worldwide weight with that of soccer any time soon, its global footprint continues to expand. Four decades ago, whether due to political barriers, scouting biases, geographic exposure, or absence of pioneering forefathers, each of the players highlighted today had no viable path to the fame and fortune of the NHL.

The ongoing influx of talent from Europe and far-reaching corners of the United States has brought a dynamic array of skills and styles to North American hockey. The impact of these players continues to raise the ceiling of what’s possible on the ice.

We’re all fortunate they’ve arrived and are here to stay.

Catch up on the series — 2022-23’s Greatest Performances:

Paul Pidutti is the creator of the Adjusted Hockey project, which brings context to hockey statistics. His Hockey Hall of Fame methodology, the Pidutti Point Share (PPS) system, is the first comprehensive measure of HHOF worthiness. You can find his work on Twitter (@AdjustedHockey) and adjustedhockey.com.

Player nationality data from Quanthockey.com; Primary point data from Naturalstattrick.com; Adjusted Pace stats from Adjusted Hockey; all other data from Hockey Reference