Is 20 The PWHL's 50 When It Comes To Goal Scoring Marks? It's Actually More

Goal scoring is always at a premium in elite level hockey.

The goaltending it good, the defenders are good, and teams are skilled at shot blocking.

In the PWHL, hitting double digits in goals is an accomplishment in itself.In the PWHL's inaugural 24-game season, only six players hit 10 or more goals.

In fact, aside from Natalie Spooner's astonishing 20 goal mark, the next highest total in year one was 11 goals.Expanding the schedule by six games to 30 hasn't boosted the number of double digit goal scorers by much.

Currently, there are 10 players in the PWHL with 10 or more goals this season paced by Marie-Philip Poulin with 17, Tereza Vanisova and Hilary Knight with 15 each, and Sarah Fillier with 12.

In the NHL, players are often judged by marks they can hit.

A 20 goal scorer certainly brings value, but this season there were 147 players in the NHL who hit 20 goals.

By the numbers, it's more accurate that hitting the 10 goal mark in the PWHL is like being a 30 goal scorer in the NHL, a mark only 10 players in the PWHL hit, and 46 NHL players.

As the numbers climb to players reaching 15 or 20 goals in a single season in the PWHL, it becomes even more rare, and far more difficult.Is 20 The PWHL's 50?If there's one mark in the NHL that denotes an elite goal scorer however, it's reaching the 50 goal plateau.

This season, only one player, Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl.

He scored 52 goals despite missing 11 games, playing 71 this season.When you look at the goals per game mark, 20 goals in a 30 game season equates to a .666 goals per game rate.

In the NHL, the equivalent is 55 goals.

Natalie Spooner's 20 in 24 games in the PWHL's inaugural season was the equivalent of a 68 goal season in the NHL.

Since the NHL began awarding the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy in 1999, only once has a player hit that mark, which was Auston Matthews' 69 goal season in 2024.

Even Alex Ovechkin, who recently broke the NHL's all-time goal scoring record, has never crossed that line.This season, the PWHL's leading goal scorer, Marie-Philip Poulin, has 17 goals.

If she scored her 18th in her final game of the season, that mark is actually the equivalent of 50 goals over an 82 game season.When will we see another 20 goal season?It's not an if, it's a when.

It's also a question of, who? Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight remain two of the PWHL's premier goal scorers.

Others including Sarah Fillier, who leads all rookies in scoring by a landslide, also have the potential to hit the mark.

Coming from the NCAA, Kristyna Kaltounkova is the best goal scorer in the forthcoming PWHL Draft.

In 2026, Laila Edwards is the next new player who should be able to someday threaten the mark.Considering only three players in the league today, however, are likely to hit the 15 goal mark, it's plausible it will take a newcomer a few seasons in the league to reach the milestone.

In all likelihood, it will take a player scoring in bundles, like Tereza Vanisova did this year recording two hat tricks to hit 15 goals, for a player to make the mark.

Consistency is key, but without breakout multi-goal games, the mark will be a challenge to reach.In reality, the only way the PWHL will consistently see a 20 goal scorer each season is by increasing the number of regular season games beyond 30.

With expansion, that growth will come soon, although the league has stated that the challenges of the 2026 Olympics are likely to leave the schedule untouched at 30 games next season despite the introduction of two new teams.With recent WNBA expansion, the league's regular season is climbing from 40 games to 44.

Seeing the PWHL go to 42 games to play each team six times would not be out of reach, but currently the league looks to be sticking to a 30 game schedule, which would see each team play each other four times, plus two additional games.More games equates to more goals.

But currently, the 20 goal mark is one to be chased, that few will hit in the PWHL..

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