NHL Single-Season Points Record Progression

Year	Player	P	Stood for
1985-1986	Wayne Gretzky	215	still standing
1981-1982	Wayne Gretzky	212	4 years
1980-1981	Wayne Gretzky	164	1 year
1970-1971	Phil Esposito	152	10 years
1968-1969	Phil Esposito	126	2 years
1965-1966	Bobby Hull	97	3 years
1958-1959	Dickie Moore	96	7 years
1952-1953	Gordie Howe	95	6 years
1950-1951	Gordie Howe	86	2 years
1943-1944	Herb Cain	82	7 years
1929-1930	Cooney Weiland	73	14 years
1927-1928	Howie Morenz	51	2 years
1919-1920	Joe Malone	49	8 years
1917-1918	Joe Malone	48	2 years

The earliest marks here are records only in the sense that nobody had done better yet. Season length, schedule and the rules themselves have all changed, so a figure from the 1870s is not comparable with a modern one and is not offered as though it were.