Unless NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan decides to start using his powers for evil, it seems likely that Teemu Selanne will one up him in the not too distant future. Going into Monday’s contest against Calgary, Selanne is just one goal away from tying Shanahan for 12th place on the NHL’s all-time goal scoring list. Shanahan, who had 656 goals in 1,524 games, has already fallen down one spot thanks to Jaromir Jagr’s return this season.
The silver lining for Shanahan is that he’s likely to stay in 13th place for quite a while. After Selanne and Jagr, only one other active player – the 34-year-old Jarome Iginla – is a member of the 500 goal club, and even then Iginla is a recent addition. After Iginla, the next best active player is the 37-year-old Jason Arnott, who currently has 412 goals. There are certainly young star players who, if they don’t slow down, could someday approach the level that Selanne, Jagr, and Shanahan have reached, but they have a long road ahead of them.