Slow Death of the 60-Point NHLer

Below there are 2 interactive charts, plotting the number of players to reach the 60-point plateau since 2006 (excluding the lockout year). The second chart shows the number of defensemen reached the 40-points during the same range.

The charts reveal an interesting trend; that 60-point scorers are trending downward (almost 50% down from 2006), but 40-point defensemen trend is fairly steady.

When you also compare the league average for goals per game (chart #3), it explains the early spike in 60-point scorers, but doesn't really help explain the steady decline afterwards.

This may say a lot about the evolution of the game and deployment of forwards and defensemen, including the increased engagement of defensemen in driving offence.

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NHL.com

hockey-reference.com