The Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, also known as the Rocket Richard Trophy, is awarded annually to the leading goal scorer in the National Hockey League (NHL), for goals scored during the regular season and excluding the playoffs. It was donated to the NHL by the Montreal Canadiens in and is named in honour of legendary Montreal Canadiens right winger Maurice "Rocket" Richard. First won by Teemu Selanne, it is currently held by Nathan MacKinnon, who scored 53 goals during the 2025–26 NHL season.

History

The Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy was donated by the Montreal Canadiens to the NHL in 1999, and was first awarded at the end of the . It is one of the newest of the NHL's trophies and is named in honour of the legendary right winger Maurice "Rocket" Richard, who spent his eighteen-season career with the Canadiens. He led the NHL in goal scoring five times and was the first NHL player to reach the 500-goal milestone. In , Richard became the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season, doing so in just 50 games, the latter feat achieved by only four other players since then. However, Richard never finished higher than second in points, his closest miss coming in , when he finished one point behind teammate Bernie Geoffrion.

The winner of the Art Ross Trophy, given to the NHL's leading points scorer, often also wins the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. In contrast, only Auston Matthews, Alexander Ovechkin, Corey Perry, and Connor McDavid have won both the Richard and the Hart trophies in the same season; Ovechkin has accomplished this three times, in , , and . Eleven players won the Hart in the same season in which they led the league in goals before the Richard Trophy was first awarded. McDavid and Ovechkin are the only two player to have won the Hart, Rocket Richard, Art Ross and Ted Lindsay trophy in the same season. Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin are the only players to have won both the Rocket Richard and the Stanley Cup in the same season since the trophy was incepted, having done so in the and seasons, respectively.

Unlike the Art Ross Trophy, there are no tiebreakers for the Richard Trophy. As a result, it is possible for several players to share the award, such as when the season featured a three-way tie between 41-goal scorers Jarome Iginla, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Rick Nash. The second time there was a tie for this award was in the season, when both Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos scored 51 goals each to win this award. In the shortened season, there was a tie between Ovechkin and David Pastrnak, though Ovechkin played in two fewer games than Pastrnak. Rick Nash is the youngest player to have won the trophy, being 19 years old upon receipt.

Auston Matthews (third Richard Trophy in ) and Alexander Ovechkin (ninth Richard Trophy in ) are the only players to have won the trophy at least three times. Only four other players (Pavel Bure, Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, and Steven Stamkos, with two trophies each) have won it more than once.

Winners

Key (#) Wins including leading goal scorers prior to the trophy's formal introduction

SeasonWinnerTeamGoalsGamesWin # * Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 47 75 1 (3) * Florida Panthers 58 74 1 (2) * Florida Panthers 59 82 2 (3) * Calgary Flames 52 82 1 Colorado Avalanche 50 82 1 Columbus Blue Jackets 41 80 1 ~ Atlanta Thrashers 41 81 1 * Calgary Flames 41 81 2 Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout San Jose Sharks 56 82 1 Tampa Bay Lightning 52 82 1 ^ Washington Capitals 65 82 1 ^ Washington Capitals 56 79 2 ^ Pittsburgh Penguins 51 81 1 ^ Tampa Bay Lightning 51 82 1 ^ Anaheim Ducks 50 82 1 ^ Tampa Bay Lightning 60 82 2 ^ Washington Capitals 32 48 3 ^ Washington Capitals 51 78 4 ^ Washington Capitals 53 81 5 ^ Washington Capitals 50 79 6 ^ Pittsburgh Penguins 44 75 2 ^ Washington Capitals 49 82 7 ^ Washington Capitals 51 81 8 ^ Washington Capitals 48 68 9 ^ Boston Bruins 48 70 1 ^ Toronto Maple Leafs 41 52 1 ^ Toronto Maple Leafs 60 73 2 ^ Edmonton Oilers 64 82 1 ^ Toronto Maple Leafs 69 81 3 ^ Edmonton Oilers 52 71 1^Colorado Avalanche53801

See also List of past NHL scoring leaders List of NHL goal scoring leaders by season

References

Sources

External links Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy info at records.NHL.com Maurice Richard Trophy winners at NHL.com