Top 10 NHL players with the most hat tricks in a season ft. Wayne Gretzky

By Ryan Gagne

Modified Feb 16, 2024 21:21 GMT

The NHL record for most hat tricks in a single season is 10, held by Wayne Gretzky. Recently, Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews collected his fifth hat trick of the 2023-24 season and is only five away from the record, with 30 games left to play.

Considering Matthews is on pace to become the first skater in over 30 games to net 70 goals, there's a good chance that he joins the list of the following players with the most hat tricks in a single season.

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Top 10 NHL players with the most hat tricks in a season

#10. Joe Malone - 7 (1917-18)

During the first NHL season in 1917-18, Hall of Famer Joe Malone led the league in goals with 44 in just 20 games. He set a record with seven hat tricks in one season, including three five-goal games and two four-goal games, finishing the campaign with at least one goal in 17 games.

#9. Cy Denneny - 7 (1917-18)

Cy Denneny finished second in scoring behind Malone during that inaugural season in 1917-18. Although he didn't light the lamp at the rate of his counterpart, he finished the year with seven hat tricks, which included one four-goal game and at least one goal in 18 contests.

#8. Phil Esposito - 7 (1970-71)

Phil Esposito is one of the game's greatest goal-scorers, becoming the first skater to surpass 70 goals, tying the NHL record for most hat tricks in a season when he collected seven in 1970-71.

Despite not scoring more than three in any game, he scored one goal in 50 of the 78 games that year to finish the campaign with an NHL record 126 points. The five-time Art Ross winner became the first player outside the Original Six era to record seven hat tricks in a single season.

#7. Rick Martin - 7 (1975-76)

Rick Martin is a one-time 50-goal scorer, reaching 52 in 1973-74. However, during the 1975-76 campaign, when he netted 49, he tied an NHL record with seven hat tricks, including one four-goal game. Surprisingly, Martin reached his goal total by scoring in just 33 of the 80 games he played that season.

#6. Alexander Mogilny - 7 (1992-93)

Alexander Mogilny was 23 years old when he netted 76 goals during the 1992-93 season, setting the record for most goals by a Russian-born player in a single campaign. He collected seven hat tricks during that historic run while scoring four goals in two contests.

Overall, Mogilney lit the lamp in 43 of 77 games and finished with 127 points, the most of his 16-year career. Although not in the Hall of Fame, he's one of the most talked about skaters yet to earn enshrinement.

#5. Brett Hull - 8 (1991-92)

Brett Hull is the son of legendary sniper Bobby Hull and is one of only three players to score 80 goals in a single season. One season after scoring a career-high 86 goals, he came within two hat tricks of tying the NHL record.

During his third consecutive season with at least 70 goals, he netted eight hat tricks in 1991-92 with a lamplighter in 48 games. Eventually, Hull would become a two-time Stanley Cup champion, a member of the 700-goal club, and join his dad in the Hall of Fame.

#4. Mike Bossy - 9 (1980-81)

Mike Bossy was among the most feared goal-scorers ever, scoring 573 goals in just 752 games. He played 10 years in the NHL, and only in his final campaign did he fail to net at least 50 goals.

During his legendary career, which included four Stanley Cup championships, he set the NHL record (later broken) for most hat tricks in a single season, with nine in 1980-81. Despite being a single goal shy of his career high, he had three four-goal games and registered a lamplighter in 40 contests.

#3. Mario Lemieux - 9 (1988-89)

In 1988-89, Mario Lemieux became just the second person in NHL history to score over 80 goals in a season, finishing the year with 85 and simultaneously tallying nine hat tricks. Despite a remarkable season with 114 assists, he came just one point shy of 200 points, ending the year with 199 in just 76 games.

Considered one of the best skaters ever to play the game, he collected a five-goal game, plus a four-goal game during that historic season, with a goal in 49 games. Overall, he had a point in all but 10 games that season, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to the playoffs for only the second time in his career.

#2. Wayne Gretzky - 10 (1981-82)

Naturally, the owner of over 60 NHL records at his retirement in 1999, Gretzky tops the list for most hat tricks in a single season, reaching double digits (10) in 1981-82 and duplicating the feat again in 1983-84.

During the year in which he would become the only player to surpass 90 goals in a season, finishing the year with 92, he tallied 10 hat tricks, including one five-goal game and three four-goal games. Surprisingly, "The Great One" only had a lamplighter in 55 games, equalizing 1.67 goals-a-game.

#1. Wayne Gretzky - 10 (1983-84)

After setting the NHL record with 92 goals in 1981-82, Gretzky followed up that spectacular season with 71 goals in 1982-83 before erupting for 87 goals in 1983-84, tying his record with 10 hat tricks that season.

That year, Gretzky had four four-goal games and collected at least one goal in 49 games, lowering his goals-per-game average to just 1.17. When he retired, he finished his legendary career with 894 goals, owning the NHL record with 50 career hat tricks.