His records won’t last forever

Phillips closing on Alfredsson’s mark for games played

If Daniel Alfredsson scores on Wednesday night, it will mark the first time he registers a point in a game involving the Ottawa Senators where his tally will not be added to the team’s record book.

After 17 productive seasons with the club, the longtime Senators captain is the franchise’s all-time leader in games, goals, assists and points. Being the leader in all four of those categories for a single franchise is a pretty rare distinction, something not even Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky can say. Howe is the Red Wings leader in games, goals and points, but Steve Yzerman had more assists.

And, while you might expect Gretzky to be the Oilers leader in goals, assists and points, he’s actually ninth in franchise history in games played.

There are only nine other NHL teams that have the same player leading in all four of those major categories.

Some of the franchise leaders are iconic figures, such as Mario Lemieux in Pittsburgh and Joe Sakic with the Avalanche. Rick Nash is the runaway leader in all four categories for the Blue Jackets largely because the franchise is still in its infancy. And oddly enough, Ilya Kovalchuk is the Winnipeg Jets franchise leader in games, goals, assists and points despite never suiting up for a single game for the team in the Manitoba capital.

Gilbert Perreault might be the safest bet to hang onto this quartet of records in Buffalo. Given the current state of the Sabres, it’s hard to imagine anyone coming close to any of his records for games (1,191), goals (512), assists (814) and points (1,326) in the near future.

As for Alfredsson, how long can he remain a member of this exclusive club? Here’s a look at those four franchise records and what it will take to break them.

GAMES PLAYED: 1,178

Of all the Senators franchise records that Alfredsson holds, this is the most vulnerable in the near future. Chris Phillips is less than 100 games away from Alfredsson’s mark, sitting at 1,081 career games with Ottawa. Phillips has been a model of consistency and durability on the blueline, missing only three regular-season games over the past seven seasons. If Phillips plays 80 games this season, he will be only 26 games away from breaking Alfredsson’s record. The only catch is that Phillips is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. If he re-signs in Ottawa, it’s a foregone conclusion Phillips will pass Alfredsson on the games played list around Christmas 2014. If this is Phillips’ last season in Ottawa, Chris Neil would be the next in line to break the record, but he is still almost 400 games short of Alfredsson’s mark.

GOALS SCORED: 426

Nobody is even close to Alfredsson on the all-time goals list in franchise history. Jason Spezza just passed Alexei Yashin and yet he is still almost 200 goals behind Alfredsson. Health issues have been a concern for Spezza, but, in his last full season in the NHL, 2011-12, he tied a career high with 34 goals. Spezza, who is not considered a goal scorer, would need 194 more goals with the Senators to pass Alfredsson’s mark.

That translates to an average of 25 goals a year for eight seasons to set the new franchise record and that might be a tall order for Spezza, considering he turned 30 this summer.

While Bobby Ryan is off to a fast start with four goals in his first eight games with the Senators, he would need to continue that torrid pace for another 11.5 seasons to overtake Alfredsson.

ASSISTS: 682

If Spezza signs an extension with the Senators beyond the 2014-15 season, this is a record that could fall. Spezza is 286 assists behind Alfredsson, but playmaking has always been his strength. His career average is 0.64 assists/per game, meaning it would take him about 475 games to reach that plateau if he maintained a similar pace. Spezza would have been a lot closer to this mark if he hadn’t missed more than 100 regular-season games during the prime of his career because of injuries. However, if he stays in Ottawa for the long-term and stays healthy, he has a chance to break this record. Erik Karlsson is 558 assists behind Alfredsson’s franchise mark. The 2012 Norris Trophy winner averages 0.51 assists/per game, which means he would need to play another 1,000 games at that pace to move into Alfredsson’s neighbourhood.

POINTS: 1,108

Spezza is almost 500 points behind Alfredsson, which makes this mark seem unreachable for now. Spezza has averaged 1.02 pointsper-game in his career, better than Alfredsson’s 0.94 mark with the club. Again, though, those missed regular-season games might come back to hurt Spezza when he’s trying to chase down Alfredsson in this category. Spezza has 629 career points, but that number should have been closer to 750. He has an outside shot of breaking this record, but will need to put together another eight seasons of 60 points to do so.