List of oldest National Hockey League players

Below is the List of oldest National Hockey League (NHL) players, with their last year in parentheses. Only hockey players who played at least one game in the regular season or playoffs when they were 40 or older are included on the list.

Gordie Howe, pictured here in 1966, played his final NHL game at 52.

Oldest players in a regular season or playoff game

Goaltenders

Lester Patrick served as a replacement goaltender in the 1928 Stanley Cup Finals. At age 44, he remains the oldest goaltender in playoff history.

45 years, 345 days - Maurice Roberts (1951)^[8]
45 years, 32 days - Johnny Bower (1969)
44 years, 323 days - Gump Worsley (1974)
44 years, 99 days - Lester Patrick (1928)^[9]
44 years, 78 days - Jacques Plante (1973)^[3]
43 years, 78 days - Dominik Hasek (2008)
42 years, 241 days - Martin Brodeur (2015)
42 years, 194 days - David Ayres (2020)[1]
42 years, 178 days - Dwayne Roloson (2012)
42 years, 136 days - Eddie Johnston (1978)
42 years, 91 days - Hughie Lehman (1928)
41 years, 350 days - Ed Belfour (2007)
41 years, 344 days - Curtis Joseph (2009)
41 years, 177 days - George Hainsworth (1937)
40 years, 307 days - Nikolai Khabibulin (2013)
40 years, 288 days - Tony Esposito (1984)
40 years, 205 days - Ryan Miller (Present)
40 years, 107 days - Terry Sawchuk (1970)^[4]
40 years, 66 days - Sean Burke (2007)
40 years, 32 days - Hap Holmes (1928)
40 years, 10 days - Tim Thomas (2014)
40 years, 3 days - Roberto Luongo (2019)[2]

41–52 years

Zdeno Chara has been the oldest active NHL player since July 2019

52 years, 11 days - Gordie Howe (1980)^[1]
48 years, 71 days - Chris Chelios (2010)
45 years, 319 days - Jaromir Jagr (2017)
44 years, 100 days - Doug Harvey (1969)[3]
44 years, 39 days - Tim Horton (1974)^[5]
43 years, 326 days - Zdeno Chara (Present)
43 years, 317 days - Teemu Selanne (2014)
43 years, 277 days - Claude Lemieux (2009)
43 years, 134 days - Mark Recchi (2011)
43 years, 129 days - Igor Larionov (2004)
43 years, 73 days - Mark Messier (2004)
43 years, 35 days - Allan Stanley (1969)
42 years, 332 days - Johnny Bucyk (1978)
42 years, 282 days - Gary Roberts (2009)
42 years, 155 days - Matt Cullen (2019)
42 years, 126 days - Frank Boucher (1944)
42 years, 100 days - Dave Andreychuk (2006)
42 years, 13 days - Dave Keon (1982)
41 years, 358 days - Tommy Albelin (2006)
41 years, 357 days - Nicklas Lidstrom (2012)
41 years, 352 days - Ray Whitney (2014)
41 years, 335 days - Alex Delvecchio (1973)
41 years, 220 days - Adam Oates (2004)
41 years, 220 days - Joe Thornton (Present)
41 years, 156 days - Carl Brewer (1980)
41 years, 145 days - Patrick Marleau (Present)
41 years, 136 days - Daniel Alfredsson (2014)
41 years, 114 days - Doug Mohns (1975)
41 years, 98 days - Bobby Hull (1980)
41 years, 84 days - Dean Prentice (1973)
41 years, 66 days - Brett Hull (2005)
41 years, 62 days - Ron Francis (2004)
41 years, 53 days - Terry Harper (1981)^[6]

40 years

Joe Thornton is the second-oldest active player in the NHL

40 years, 357 days - Steve Yzerman (2006)
40 years, 355 days - Sergei Gonchar (2015)
40 years, 337 days - Mike Modano (2011)
40 years, 323 days - Larry Robinson (1992)
40 years, 319 days - Mathieu Schneider (2010)
40 years, 311 days - Scott Mellanby (2007)
40 years, 297 days - Mike Knuble (2013)
40 years, 294 days - James Patrick (2004)
40 years, 293 days - Steve Thomas (2004)
40 years, 283 days - George Armstrong (1971)
40 years, 282 days - Teppo Numminen (2009)
40 years, 243 days - Ron Stewart (1973)
40 years, 190 days - Larry Zeidel (1969)
40 years, 190 days - Jean Ratelle (1981)
40 years, 189 days - Sean O'Donnell (2012)
40 years, 180 days - Kjell Samuelsson (1999)
40 years, 180 days - Shane Doan (2017)
40 years, 164 days - Rob Blake (2010)
40 years, 163 days - Bill Cook (1937)
40 years, 163 days - Ray Bourque (2001)
40 years, 142 days - Grant Ledyard (2002)
40 years, 97 days - Al MacInnis (2003)
40 years, 95 days - Brendan Shanahan (2009)
40 years, 92 days - Harry Howell (1973)^[2]
40 years, 90 days - Kimmo Timonen (2015)
40 years, 79 days - Joe Nieuwendyk (2006)
40 years, 72 days - Mario Lemieux (2005)
40 years, 68 days - Guy Carbonneau (2000)
40 years, 59 days - Luc Robitaille (2006)
40 years, 57 days - Viacheslav Fetisov (1998)
40 years, 56 days - Joe Mullen (1997)
40 years, 46 days - Larry Murphy (2001)
40 years, 45 days - Ken Schinkel (1973)^[7]
40 years, 40 days - Noel Price (1976)
40 years, 23 days - Mark Howe (1995)
40 years, 19 days - Don Marshall (1972)
40 years, 3 days - Dit Clapper (1947)

Notes

1.^ Gordie Howe first retired at 43 years old in 1971. He took a two year hiatus and returned to hockey in the World Hockey Association with the Houston Aeros, then returned to the NHL with the Hartford Whalers for his final full pro season in 1979-80. In 1997 Howe returned at 69 years old playing one game (one shift) in the IHL with the Detroit Vipers.

2.^ Harry Howell finished his career in World Hockey Association in 1976 at 43 years old.

3.^ Jacques Plante finished his career in the World Hockey Association during the 1974–1975 campaign with Edmonton Oilers retiring at 46 years old. Plante became the oldest goaltender in the WHA.

4.^ Terry Sawchuk died of head injuries after a scuffle with teammate Ron Stewart when both men were drunk.

5.^ Tim Horton died in a single-vehicle car accident on his way back to Buffalo after playing in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.

6.^ Terry Harper retired when he became the assistant coach of the Colorado Rockies.

7.^ Ken Schinkel retired when he became head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins after Red Kelly was fired.

8.^ Maurice "Moe" Roberts became the oldest goaltender in the NHL. At that time he was the assistant trainer with the Chicago Black Hawks and replaced an injured Harry Lumley at the third period.

9.^ Lester Patrick replaced an injured Lorne Chabot in the second period. Patrick was the general manager and coach of the New York Rangers at that time. Patrick remains the oldest goalie to play in a Stanley Cup Finals. Of the full-time players, Dominik Hasek is the oldest goaltender to play in the finals.

References

Clipperton, Joshua (February 22, 2020). "Hurricanes beat Leafs with emergency backup Ayres". TSN. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
Sadler, Emily (June 26, 2019). "Panthers' Roberto Luongo announces retirement after 19 seasons". Sportsnet. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
"Flyers on Move to Meet Blues". The Gazette (Montreal). Montreal, Quebec. April 2, 1969.