Each season tends to bring warranted discussions about the possibility of records being broken. Of course, the story of last year was Alex Ovechkin approaching Wayne Gretzky in the all-time goal-scoring race after surpassing the great Gordie Howe and his 801 career goals. Currently sitting at 824 goals, hockey fans anticipate Ovechkin accomplishing this feat within the next few seasons. But let's take a different approach to breaking records and look into the all-time points list, specifically by brothers/families who have played in the NHL. But first, let's acknowledge the Hanson Brothers for holding a special place in hockey brothers' history.
Now let's take a look at the current all-time leaders but brothers in NHL history:
The Sutters (Brent, Brian, Ron, Duane, Rich, Brandon, Darryl, Brett) - 3235 points
The Hulls (Brett, Bobby & Dennis) - 3215 points
The Stastnys (Peter, Paul, Anton, Marion, Yan) - 3007 points
Wayne & Brent Gretzky (2861 points)
The Howes (Gordie, Mark, Marty & Vic) - 2630 points
As of the 2023 season, 31 sets of brothers have made an appearance in the NHL. But let's clear the air right away. Players surpassing one or both of 1000 games played or 1000 career points is rare. The few that have managed both are likely in the Hall of Fame -- Many of which accompany the list above. There have only been 382 players to reach the 1000-game plateau, with Ryan O-Reilly the next to complete the task this season. Only 97 players have reached the 1000-point plateau, with John Tavares likely the next player to accomplish this prestigious accomplishment.
So why not hypothesize with a more modern approach? Currently sitting atop the NHL points leader sits the 2019 1st overall pick Jack Hughes with 20 points in 10 games. Leading all defenceman in points scored is Jack's [older] brother Quinn, the 7th selection in the 2018 draft. Leading all rookie defenceman, you ask? Look no further than the youngest of the Hughes brothers, the 2021 4th overall pick, Luke Hughes. Currently, on November 4th, 2023, the Hughes brothers have amassed 493 points combined. Is there a possibility that the
To break the point totals down, let's take a deeper dive into the numbers:
Quinn Hughes
30 goals, 227 assists = 257 points in 293 career games
0.88 points-per-game
Jack Hughes
92 goals, 135 assists = 227 points in 254 career games
0.89 points-per-game
Luke Hughes
2 goals, 7 assists = 9 points in 12 games
0.75 points-per-game
*Note that both Quinn and Luke played five or fewer games in their first stint with their respective clubs and are not included into the calculations.
*The 2019-2020 NHL season was cut down to 56 games because of COVID. The games played percentage in that season has been included with their 82-game season averages.
Assuming all three brothers play until their age-35 season and using their average games played per year, let's take a look at where the Hughes brothers may finish on the all-time leaders list in family scoring:
Quinn Hughes
76 games played per season x 11 years until age-35 season = 836 more games
293 games played plus 836 expected games played = 1129 career games played
1129 games x 0.88 points-per-game = 994 career points
Jack Hughes
68 games played per season x 13 years until age-35 season = 884 more games
254 games played plus 884 expected games played = 1138 career games played
1138 games x 0.89 points-per-game = 1013 career points
Luke Hughes
~ 80 games per season x 15 years until age-35 season = 1200 career games played
12 games played plus 1200 expected games played = 1212 career games played
1212 games x 0.75 points-per-game = 909 career points
Using these numbers, and assuming the brothers stay healthy, they will accumulate approximately 2916 total points -- Good enough for 4th all-time, a respectable feat. Again, these calculations are strictly based on their averages early in their careers and with the assumption they all play into their age-35 season.
The Sutter's (Brent, Brian, Ron, Duane, Rich, Brandon, Darryl, Brett) - 3235 points
The Hull's (Brett, Bobby & Dennis) - 3215 points
The Stastny's (Peter, Paul, Anton, Marion, Yan) - 3007 points
The Hughes' (Quinn, Jack & Luke) - 2916 points
Wayne & Brent Gretzky (2861 points)
The Howe's (Gordie, Mark, Marty & Vic) - 2630 points
Honourable Mentions
Maurice "The Rocket" & Henri Richard (2331 points)
Henrik & Daniel Sedin (2111 points)
Eric, Jordan & Marc Staal (1941 points)