# NHL Plus-Minus Award

The NHL Plus/Minus Award was a trophy awarded annually by the National Hockey League to the ice hockey "player, having played a minimum of 60 games, who leads the league in plus-minus statistics." It was sponsored by a commercial business, and it had been known under five different names. First given for performance during the 1982–83 season, Wayne Gretzky won the award the most times, with three. Gretzky also led the league once prior to the inception of the award. Bobby Orr has led the NHL the most times in plus-minus, with six, all prior to the inception of the award. The award was discontinued after being awarded to Pavel Datsyuk following the 2007–08 season.

## History

The plus/minus statistic was first established during the 1967–68 NHL season. This statistic reflects a player's ability to contribute offensively and defensively. The award was first given at the end of the 1982–83 season. From 1982–83 to 1987–88, it was known as the Emery Edge Award. During 1988–89, there was no formal name for the Award. From 1989–90 to 1995–96, it was known as the Alka-Seltzer Plus Award. From 1996–97 to 1997–98, it was known as the Bud Ice Plus-Minus Award. Finally, from 1998–99 to 2007–08, it was known as the Bud Light Plus-Minus Award.
Three-time winner Wayne Gretzky won the award the most times out of any player, and is one of only three repeat winners, joined by two-time winners John LeClair and Chris Pronger. Gretzky recorded the highest single-season result, +100, of all Award winners. The Award was won by players on the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings four times each, with three wins by players on the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.
Including the 20 seasons the League tracked plus-minus as a statistic without an award, the Boston Bruins have led the League 11 times (six by Bobby Orr and twice by David Krejci, the only other repeat leaders), Edmonton Oilers five times (four by Wayne Gretzky, including three official awards) and four times each by players on the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers.

## Winners

* Season shortened by the 1994–95 NHL lockout
Positions key :
| C | Centre | LW | Left wing | RW | Right wing | F | Forward | D | Defence |
Bold Player with the best plus-minus ever recorded in a season.

### Plus-minus leaders (1967–1982)

Before 1983, there was no award for leading the League in plus-minus. The NHL started counting the statistics in 1967, and this lists all the leaders from the inception of the statistic to the inception of the award.
| Season | Player | Team | Position | Rating | Win # |
| 1967–68 | Dallas Smith | Boston Bruins | D | +33 | 1 |
| 1968–69 | Phil Esposito | Boston Bruins | C | +55 | 1 |
| 1968–69 | Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | D | +55 | 1 |
| 1969–70 | Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | D | +54 | 2 |
| 1970–71 | Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | D | +124 | 3 |
| 1971–72 | Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | D | +83 | 4 |
| 1972–73 | Jacques Laperriere | Montreal Canadiens | D | +77 | 1 |
| 1973–74 | Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | D | +84 | 5 |
| 1974–75 | Bobby Orr | Boston Bruins | D | +80 | 6 |
| 1975–76 | Bobby Clarke | Philadelphia Flyers | C | +83 | 1 |
| 1976–77 | Larry Robinson | Montreal Canadiens | D | +120 | 1 |
| 1977–78 | Guy Lafleur | Montreal Canadiens | RW | +73 | 1 |
| 1978–79 | Bryan Trottier | New York Islanders | C | +76 | 1 |
| 1979–80 | Jim Schoenfeld | Buffalo Sabres | D | +60 | 1 |
| 1980–81 | Brian Engblom | Montreal Canadiens | D | +63 | 1 |
| 1981–82 | Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | C | +80 | 1 |
| Season | Player | Team | Position | Rating | Win # |
| 1982–83 | Charlie Huddy | Edmonton Oilers | D | +63 | 1 |
| 1983–84 | Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | C | +76 | 1 |
| 1984–85 | Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | C | +100 | 2 |
| 1985–86 | Mark Howe | Philadelphia Flyers | D | +85 | 1 |
| 1986–87 | Wayne Gretzky | Edmonton Oilers | C | +70 | 3 |
| 1987–88 | Brad McCrimmon | Calgary Flames | D | +48 | 1 |
| 1988–89 | Joe Mullen | Calgary Flames | F | +51 | 1 |
| 1989–90 | Paul Cavallini | St. Louis Blues | D | +38 | 1 |
| 1990–91 | Marty McSorley | Los Angeles Kings | D | +48 | 1 |
| 1990–91 | Theoren Fleury | Calgary Flames | RW | +48 | 1 |
| 1991–92 | Paul Ysebaert | Detroit Red Wings | LW | +44 | 1 |
| 1992–93 | Mario Lemieux | Pittsburgh Penguins | C | +55 | 1 |
| 1993–94 | Scott Stevens | New Jersey Devils | D | +53 | 1 |
| 1994–95* | Ron Francis | Pittsburgh Penguins | C | +30 | 1 |
| 1995–96 | Vladimir Konstantinov | Detroit Red Wings | D | +60 | 1 |
| 1996–97 | John LeClair | Philadelphia Flyers | C | +44 | 1 |
| 1997–98 | Chris Pronger | St. Louis Blues | D | +47 | 1 |
| 1998–99 | John LeClair | Philadelphia Flyers | LW | +36 | 2 |
| 1999–2000 | Chris Pronger | St. Louis Blues | D | +52 | 2 |
| 2000–01 | Patrik Elias | New Jersey Devils | LW | +45 | 1 |
| 2000–01 | Joe Sakic | Colorado Avalanche | C | +45 | 1 |
| 2001–02 | Chris Chelios | Detroit Red Wings | D | +40 | 1 |
| 2002–03 | Peter Forsberg | Colorado Avalanche | C | +52 | 1 |
| 2002–03 | Milan Hejduk | Colorado Avalanche | RW | +52 | 1 |
| 2003–04 | Martin St. Louis | Tampa Bay Lightning | RW | +35 | 1 |
| 2003–04 | Marek Malik | Vancouver Canucks | D | +35 | 1 |
| 2004–05 | Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout | Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout | Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout | Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout | Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout |
| 2005–06 | Wade Redden | Ottawa Senators | D | +35 | 1 |
| 2005–06 | Michal Rozsival | New York Rangers | D | +35 | 1 |
| 2006–07 | Thomas Vanek | Buffalo Sabres | LW | +47 | 1 |
| 2007–08 | Pavel Datsyuk | Detroit Red Wings | C | +41 | 1 |

### Plus-minus leaders (2008–present)

* Season shortened by the 2012–13 NHL lockout † Season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic
| Season | Player | Team | Position | Rating | Win # |
| 2008–09 | David Krejci | Boston Bruins | C | +37 | 1 |
| 2009–10 | Jeff Schultz | Washington Capitals | D | +50 | 1 |
| 2010–11 | Zdeno Chara | Boston Bruins | D | +33 | 1 |
| 2011–12 | Patrice Bergeron | Boston Bruins | C | +36 | 1 |
| 2012–13* | Pascal Dupuis | Pittsburgh Penguins | RW | +31 | 1 |
| 2013–14 | David Krejci | Boston Bruins | C | +39 | 2 |
| 2014–15 | Nikita Kucherov | Tampa Bay Lightning | RW | +38 | 1 |
| 2014–15 | Max Pacioretty | Montreal Canadiens | LW | +38 | 1 |
| 2015–16 | Tyler Toffoli | Los Angeles Kings | C | +35 | 1 |
| 2016–17 | Ryan Suter | Minnesota Wild | D | +34 | 1 |
| 2016–17 | Jason Zucker | Minnesota Wild | LW | +34 | 1 |
| 2017–18 | William Karlsson | Vegas Golden Knights | C | +49 | 1 |
| 2018–19 | Mark Giordano | Calgary Flames | D | +39 | 1 |
| 2019–20† | Ryan Graves | Colorado Avalanche | D | +40 | 1 |
| 2020–21† | Mikko Rantanen | Colorado Avalanche | RW | +30 | 1 |
| 2021–22 | Johnny Gaudreau | Calgary Flames | LW | +64 | 1 |
| 2022–23 | Hampus Lindholm | Boston Bruins | D | +49 | 1 |
| 2023–24 | Gustav Forsling | Florida Panthers | D | +56 | 1 |

### Situational plus–minus leaders (2007–present)

While not all types of goals are included in the calculation of plus-minus — such as power play goals — and every other type of goal is weighed the same, situational plus–minus (Sit +/−) allows for each goal to be included by adjusting by the number of skaters (i.e. not goaltenders) on the ice at the time of the goal, to accommodate for special-team and empty net goals. The plus–minus rating is calculated by dividing the number of skaters on the ice for the team scored upon by the number of skaters on the ice for the scoring team, applied as a plus to all players (including goaltenders) on the ice for the scoring team and as a minus for all players (including goaltenders) on the ice for the team scored upon. This also allows the statistics to be applied to goaltenders.
* Season shortened by the 2012–13 NHL lockout † Season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic
| | Best situational plus–minus | Best situational plus–minus | Best situational plus–minus | Best situational plus–minus | Best situational plus–minus | Worst situational plus–minus | Worst situational plus–minus | Worst situational plus–minus | Worst situational plus–minus | Worst situational plus–minus |
| Season | Player | Team | Position | NHL +/− | Sit +/− | Player | Team | Position | NHL +/− | Sit +/− |
| 2007−08 | Pavel Datsyuk | Detroit Red Wings | C | +41 | +75.30 | Jamal Mayers | St. Louis Blues | RW | −19 | −41.86 |
| 2008–09 | Mike Green | Washington Capitals | D | +24 | +70.76 | Brendan Witt | New York Islanders | D | −34 | −56.22 |
| 2009–10 | Alex Ovechkin | Washington Capitals | LW | +45 | +87.71 | Nate Thompson | New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning | C | −17 | −46.00 |
| 2010–11 | Daniel Sedin | Vancouver Canucks | LW | +30 | +73.63 | Chris Phillips | Ottawa Senators | D | −35 | −52.77 |
| 2011–12 | Marc-Andre Fleury | Pittsburgh Penguins | G | N/A | +59.61 | Milan Jurcina | New York Islanders | D | −34 | −45.67 |
| 2012–13* | Chris Kunitz | Pittsburgh Penguins | LW | +30 | +52.55 | Erik Gudbranson | Florida Panthers | D | −22 | −28.20 |
| 2013–14 | Chris Kunitz | Pittsburgh Penguins | LW | +25 | +62.04 | Steve Ott | Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues | C | −38 | −48.09 |
| 2014–15 | Nikita Kucherov | Tampa Bay Lightning | RW | +38 | +54.85 | Mike Smith | Arizona Coyotes | G | N/A | −76.31 |
| 2015–16 | Alex Ovechkin | Washington Capitals | LW | +21 | +60.65 | Bo Horvat | Vancouver Canucks | C | −30 | −38.15 |
| 2016–17 | Braden Holtby | Washington Capitals | G | N/A | +63.28 | Fedor Tyutin | Colorado Avalanche | D | −25 | −45.07 |
| 2017–18 | Connor Hellebuyck | Winnipeg Jets | G | N/A | +67.44 | Johan Larsson | Buffalo Sabres | C | −30 | −46.50 |
| 2018–19 | Brayden Point | Tampa Bay Lightning | C | +27 | +72.77 | Adam Larsson | Edmonton Oilers | D | −28 | −46.52 |
| 2019–20† | Artemi Panarin | New York Rangers | LW | +36 | +64.04 | Filip Hronek | Detroit Red Wings | D | −38 | −53.69 |
| 2020–21† | Philipp Grubauer | Colorado Avalanche | G | N/A | +64.13 | David Savard | Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning | D | −27 | −37.82 |
| 2021–22 | Johnny Gaudreau | Calgary Flames | LW | +64 | +94.80 | Karel Vejmelka | Arizona Coyotes | G | N/A | −57.20 |
| 2022−23 | Connor McDavid | Edmonton Oilers | C | +22 | +83.35 | John Gibson | Anaheim Ducks | G | N/A | −79.24 |
| 2023-24 | Nathan MacKinnon | Colorado Avalanche | C | +34 | +84.21 | Mario Ferraro | San Jose Sharks | D | −38 | −67.37 |