List of NHL career assists leaders

The following is a list of ice hockey players who have recorded 1,000 assists in the National Hockey League, as of the completion of the 2016–17 NHL season. All of the players listed below are honoured in the Hockey Hall of Fame, except Joe Thornton, who is active with the San Jose Sharks, and Jaromir Jagr, who is still active with the Florida Panthers. Jagr is also the only non-Canadian player with 1000 career assists.

Wayne Gretzky

Ray Bourque

Steve Yzerman

Player	Team (at time of 1,000th assist)	GP	G	A	Pts
Wayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	1487	894	1963	2857
Ron Francis	Pittsburgh Penguins	1731	549	1249	1798
Mark Messier	Edmonton Oilers	1756	694	1193	1887
Ray Bourque	Boston Bruins	1612	410	1169	1579
Jaromir Jagr	Florida Panthers	1711	765	1149	1914
Paul Coffey	Detroit Red Wings	1409	396	1135	1531
Adam Oates	Washington Capitals	1337	341	1079	1420
Steve Yzerman	Detroit Red Wings	1514	692	1063	1755
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	1767	801	1049	1850
Marcel Dionne	Los Angeles Kings	1348	731	1040	1771
Mario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	915	690	1033	1723
Joe Sakic	Colorado Avalanche	1378	625	1016	1641
Joe Thornton	San Jose Sharks	1446	384	1007	1391

Retired players within 100 assists

These are players who are now retired that came within 100 assists of reaching 1,000 for their career. They are listed with the NHL team for which they played the most games.

Player	Team	Final season	GP	G	A	Pts
Doug Gilmour	Toronto Maple Leafs	2002–03	1474	450	964	1414
Mark Recchi	Philadelphia Flyers	2010–11	1652	577	956	1533
Al MacInnis	Calgary Flames	2003–04	1416	340	934	1274
Larry Murphy	Washington Capitals	2000–01	1615	287	929	1216
Stan Mikita	Chicago Black Hawks	1979–80	1394	541	926	1467
Bryan Trottier	New York Islanders	1993–94	1279	524	901	1425