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Everyone knows that Wayne Gretzky is the NHL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,857 career points; almost 1,000 career points behind him at #2 and #3 overall are Jaromir Jagr (1,921) and Mark Messier (1,887), respectively. Both played alongside transcendent players during the first halves of their careers and were arguably Robin rather than Batman (Jagr with Mario Lemieux in Pittsburgh, Messier with Gretzky in Edmonton), but are nevertheless all-time legends in their own right – between the 1,800+ career points each, Ross Trophies, Hart Trophies, Pearson Awards, captaincies, and Stanley Cup titles, etc., the question is:
Who was better – Jaromir Jagr or Mark Messier?
The Beginning
Jagr and Messier each entered the NHL as teenagers, where they played alongside a plethora of other stars on powerhouse teams and gradually developed into among the best players in hockey.
After taking up skates as a young child in his native Czechoslovakia, Jagr was already playing for HC Kladno at the country’s highest level of hockey by age 15. A few years later, he became the first Czech player to be drafted into the NHL without having to defect when he was selected fifth overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. As a rookie, he had a strong season, posting 27 goals and 30 assists for 57 points with a -4 +/- rating to finish sixth in the Calder Trophy vote for the league’s top rookie.
As for Messier, he was born in Alberta, Canada, where his father was playing in the Western Hockey League at the time. During his junior days, he first played for Spruce Grove Mets of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), where he became team captain. From there, he joined the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the 1978-1979 season, playing first for the Indianapolis Racers and then, for the Cincinnati Stingers. However, the WHA proceeded to fold and Messier thus entered the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, where he was selected 48th overall in the third round by the Edmonton Oilers – he had an up-and-down rookie season, scoring 12 goals with 21 assists for 33 points and -9 +/- rating.
Career Comparison
Over the course of careers that spanned nearly a quarter-century each, Jagr and Messier both became superstars and captains with their original teams (Penguins and Oilers, respectively) in the first halves of their careers before moving around in the latter part and experiencing more mixed results.
Jagr steadily improved upon his rookie season in Pittsburgh, increasing his scoring to 69 points, 94 points, and then, 99 points by his age-21 season in 1993-1994. During the lockout-shortened 1994-1995 season, he led the league with 70 points (32 goals and 38 assists) in 48 games with a +23 +/- rating to win the first of five career Ross Trophies and finish second in the Hart voting for MVP to Eric Lindros. The next year, Jagr amassed career-highs of 62 goals and 87 assists for 149 points with a +31 +/- rating; though it was the most points ever in a single season by a European-born player, he only finished fourth for the Hart Trophy and actually did not lead the league in any scoring category (teammate Lemieux had 69 goals and 92 assists for 161 points!). After another strong season, Jagr proceeded to win four consecutive Ross Trophies as the league’s top scorer from 1997-1998 to 2001-2002:
- 1997-1998: 35 goals and 67 assists for 102 points with a +17 +/- rating; finished second in the Hart voting to Dominik Hasek and also took over as the Penguins’ captain
- 1998-1999: 44 goals and 83 assists for 127 points with a +17 +/- rating; won his first Pearson Award (now known as the Lindsay Award) for most outstanding player in the regular season and his only Hart Trophy
- 1999-2000: 42 goals and 54 assists for 96 points with a +25 +/- rating; won his second Pearson and finished second for the Hart to Chris Pronger
- 2000-2001: 52 goals and 69 assists for 121 points with a +19 +/- rating; finished third in the Hart race to Joe Sakic and Lemieux
After 11 seasons in Pittsburgh and becoming just the second Penguin to score 1,000 career points (unsurprisingly, Lemieux was the first), with friction developing between him and Lemieux, as well as high salary demands, Jagr was traded with Frantisek Kucera to the Washington Capitals for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, and Ross Lupaschuk (clearly not a great haul for Pittsburgh); in Washington, Jagr signed the then-largest ever contract in NHL history at seven years for $77M.
However, Jagr’s time in the nation’s capital was a relative disappointment by his very high standards – in his first season with Washington in 2001-2002, he had 31 goals and 48 assists for 79 points with an even +/- rating; this was followed by a 77-point campaign in 2002-2003 (36 goals and 41 assists with a +5 +/- rating). Halfway through the 2003-2004 season, he was traded to the New York Rangers for Anson Carter and cash considerations, where he would recapture some of his Penguins glory. Post the lockout in 2005-2006, in his first year with the Rangers, Jagr had 54 goals and 69 assists for 123 points (his last 100-point season) and a +34 +/- rating to win another Pearson Award and place second for MVP to Joe Thornton. In 2006-2007, he had another strong campaign (30 goals and 66 assists for 96 points with a +26 +/- rating) and the next season, was named Rangers captain. During his time in New York, Jagr surpassed Stan Mikita as the all-time leading scorer among European-born players and also reached both the 600-goal and 1,500-point marks; he was the fourth-fastest player to reach 1,500 career points behind Gretzky, Lemieux, and Marcel Dionne. Following the 2007-2008, the 35-year-old Jagr left the NHL to join Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
After three seasons in the KHL, Jagr returned to the NHL at 39 years old with the Philadelphia Flyers and would spend seven more years in the league; he was a bit of a nomad, though, spending one season with the Flyers, splitting another between the Dallas Stars and Boston Bruins, playing one-and-a-half years with the New Jersey Devils, another two-and-a-half with the Florida Panthers, and one season with the Calgary Flames. During this stretch, his best season came in 2015-2016 with the Panthers, when as a 43-year-old, he had 27 goals and 39 assists for 66 points with a +23 +/- rating and finished seventh for the Hart Trophy while winning the Masterton Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey. In his final NHL season in 2017-2018, Jagr played in 22 games for the Flames; he did not retire from professional hockey though, returning to his hometown team HC Kladno in the Czech Extraliga.
As for Messier, he was part of an Oilers dynasty in the 1980s that included fellow Hall of Famers Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey, and Glenn Anderson. Skating alongside so many other stars, he also showed continuous improvement, increasing his scoring output first to 63 points in 1980-1981, then putting up a 50-goal season (50 goals and 38 assists for 88 points with a +20 +/- rating) in 1981-1982. This was followed by consecutive 100-point seasons:
- 1982-1983: 48 goals and 58 assists for 106 points with a +18 +/- rating
- 1983-1984: 37 goals and 64 assists for 101 points with a career-best +40 +/- rating
Initially a left winger, Messier switched to center during his time in Edmonton and continued at a point-per-game-plus place, though missed 20-25 games in each of the next couple of years. Nevertheless, he quickly bounced back with consecutive 100-point seasons in 1986-1987 (37 goals and 70 assists for 107 points) and 1987-1988 (37 goals and 74 assists for 111 points). Moreover, Messier’s importance to the Oilers increased after Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 – not only did he assume the captaincy, but Messier also put up 45 goals and 84 assists for a career-high 129 points with a +19 +/- rating in 1989-1990 to win both the Pearson Award and Hart Trophy; in the MVP race, he edged out Ray Bourque by only two votes, the closest vote in league history at the time. However, after a dozen years with Edmonton and as the team began trading away many of its high-priced stars, Messier demanded a trade in 1991 and was subsequently sent to the New York Rangers for Louie DeBrusk, Bernie Nicholls, and Steven Rice.
In his first year with the Rangers in 1991-1992, Messier again won both the Hart and Pearson on the strength of 35 goals and 72 assists for 107 points with a +31 +/- rating. While this would be his last 100-point season, he remained a point-per-game producer in each of his half-dozen seasons in New York. Notably, Messier had 47 goals and 52 assists for 99 points and +29 +/- rating in 1995-1996 to finish second for the Hart behind Lemieux. A year later, he was reunited with Gretzky and had arguably the last great season of his career at age 36: 36 goals and 48 assists for 84 points with a +12 +/- rating. The reunion was short-lived – after just one season together, Messier would sign as a high-priced free agent with the Vancouver Canucks.
However, in his three seasons back in Canada, Messier was a relative disappointment, never scoring more than 60 points in a season or having better than a -10 +/- rating. As a result, upon becoming a free agent again at age 40, he returned to the Rangers, where he would play another four seasons. The second time around, his first season was again his best, as Messier scored 24 goals with 43 assists for 67 points, albeit with a -25 +/- rating. In his remaining three years, though, he never had more than 43 points and retired after the 2003-2004 season at age 43, only 11 games shy of breaking Gordie Howe’s record of 1,767 career regular season games; nevertheless, Messier is the all-time leader in NHL games played (regular and postseason) at 1,992.
Overall, both Jagr and Messier played well over two decades and 1,700+ career games in the NHL – Jagr has the slight lead in career goals scored, total points, and +/- rating, while Messier compiled more assists. Breaking that down into individual seasons, Jagr also had more 30-goal seasons (15x vs. 11x) and 50-goal seasons (3x vs. 1x), whereas Messier accumulated more 100+ point campaigns (6x vs. 5x); additionally, with more slightly more total points and slightly fewer games played, Jagr has the higher point-per-game average (1.11 vs. 1.07). This also translated into more awards and accolades for Jagr – though Messier was selected to more All-Star Games (15 to 13) and won an additional Hart Trophy (2 to 1), Jagr holds a 5-0 advantage in Ross Trophies and a 3-2 edge in Pearson Awards. Given the length and dominance of their respective careers, Messier was a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection in 2007, as Jagr will most certainly be when his time comes.
Regular Season Statistics
| Jaromir Jagr | Player | Mark Messier |
| 24 (1990-2008, 2011-2018) | Seasons | 25 (1979-2004) |
| 1,733 | Games Played | 1,756 |
| 766 | Goals | 694 |
| 1,155 | Assists | 1,193 |
| 1,921 | Points | 1,887 |
| +322 | +/- | +211 |
| 13x | All-Star Games | 15x |
| 1x | Hart Trophies | 2x |
| 5x | Ross Trophies | – |
| 2x | Stanley Cups | 6x |
| – | Conn Smythes | 1x |
| 3x Pearson, 1x Masterton | Other Awards | 2x Pearson |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | 2007 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
In addition to each player’s regular season individual brilliance, Jagr and Messier both helped guide their teams to multiple Stanley Cups titles; in particular, Messier is widely regarded as one of the greatest leaders in hockey history.
In nearly a quarter-century in the NHL, Jagr appeared in the playoffs 18x, including in all 11 of his seasons with the Penguins. His greatest postseason success came early on with back-to-back Stanley Cups as a youngster in 1990-1991 and 1991-1992:
- 1990-1991: 3 goals and 10 assists for 13 points with +2 +/- rating; beat the then-Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars) in six games
- 1991-1992: Jagr’s best individual playoffs with 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points with a +4 +/- rating as the Penguins swept Ed Belfour and the Chicago Blackhawks
As a 41-year-old in 2012-2013, Jagr actually made it back to the Stanley Cup Finals with the Bruins and contributed 10 assists, but Boston would lose to the Blackhawks in six games.
Meanwhile, Messier holds the unique distinction of being the only player to captain two different teams to the Stanley Cup. During his 17 playoff trips (12 with Edmonton and five with the Rangers), he won six titles in all, including five with the Oilers in the 1980s. Notably, Messier won the Conn Smythe in 1983-1984 (8 goals and 18 assists for 26 points and a +9 +/- rating) as Edmonton beat the Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier, and Mike Bossy-led New York Islanders in five games to snap New York’s streak of four straight Cups. In his final championship with the Oilers in 1989-1990, he put up 9 goals and a playoff-leading 22 assists and 31 points (+5 +/- rating) to beat Ray Bourque and the Bruins in five games. However, perhaps Messier’s most memorable playoffs came in 1993-1994 – that season, he helped bring the Stanley Cup back to the New York Rangers after a 54-year hiatus; though Brian Leetch would win the Conn Smythe, Messier had 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points in the postseason with a +14 +/- rating, including the Cup-clinching goal in Game 7 of the Finals vs. Pavel Bure and the Canucks.
On the international stage, Jagr represented first Czechoslovakia and then, the Czech Republic across four decades, with highlights including a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, a bronze at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy, two golds and two bronzes at the World Championships, and a World Cup bronze. Messier was not quite as accomplished, though did win three gold medals at the Canada Cup and bronzes at both the World Championships and the World Cup for his native Canada.
Playoff Statistics
| Jaromir Jagr | Player | Mark Messier |
| 208 | Games Played | 236 |
| 78 | Goals | 109 |
| 123 | Assists | 186 |
| 201 | Points | 295 |
| +30 | +/- | +51 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; both Jagr and Messier played well into their 40s, bouncing around between various teams and still putting up solid, but unspectacular numbers. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Jaromir Jagr | Player | Mark Messier |
| 1992-2001, 2005-2006 | Decade of Dominance | 1981-1984, 1985-1990, 1991-1992, 1995-1996 |
| 738 | Games Played | 749 |
| 434 | Goals | 404 |
| 642 | Assists | 622 |
| 1,076 | Points | 1,026 |
| 233 | +/- | 230 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Similar to their career numbers, the decades of dominance for Jagr and Messier are almost identical (400+ goals, 600+ assists, 1,000+ points, +200+ +/- rating), though Jagr has a slight advantage in essentially every category.
My Thoughts
Playing for nearly 25 years in the NHL (and even longer in terms of professional hockey) is an incredible feat, and doing so at a consistently high level the way Jaromir Jagr and Mark Messier did is even more amazing. In comparing these two all-time greats, I think it comes down to what you value more – from a pure talent and production standpoint, Jagr was better in my mind (four straight Ross Trophies and slightly better career numbers, while also playing in a less offensively-inclined era vs. Messier’s prime in the 1980s); however, when you factor in intangibles such as leadership, that is where Messier has the clear edge – he is not only one of the most respected captains in league history, but also the only one to win a Stanley Cup with two different teams. However, winning is a team accomplishment and Messier was part of one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history; moreover, Jagr also wore the captain’s “C” and won Stanley Cups, so I have to give Jagr the slight edge. Plus, it cannot hurt that Jagr shares the same birthday as me 🙂
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Jaromir Jagr
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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