Who Is the Oldest Player in the NHL?
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The oldest active player in the NHL is Brent Burns of the Colorado Avalanche. Born March 9, 1985, the defenseman is 41 and was the oldest player on any 2026-27 opening-night roster, according to the NHL.
What makes Burns particularly compelling is not just the age number but what he is still doing on the ice. His ironman streak passed 1,000 consecutive games in April 2026, second in NHL history behind Phil Kessel's record of 1,064, and he has kept it going into 2026-27. At 6'5" (196 cm) and around 228 pounds (103 kg), he remains a physically imposing presence on the back end, a Norris Trophy winner who stopped playing like someone with anything to prove a long time ago, and keeps proving things anyway.
Burns signed with Colorado as a free agent in July 2025 after three seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, making the Avalanche his fourth NHL franchise, and re-signed for 2026-27 on another one-year deal. Originally a 20th-overall pick in the 2003 NHL Draft, he made his NHL debut for the Minnesota Wild on October 8, 2003. That date is itself a small piece of trivia: 56 players on 2025-26 opening-day rosters were born on or after that day, meaning they have never known an NHL without Brent Burns in it.
He is one of three 41-year-olds on 2026-27 opening-night rosters, along with Corey Perry of the Los Angeles Kings and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, 40, is the only other player in the league aged 40 or older.
Top 10 Oldest Active NHL Players in the 2026-27 Season
The list of veterans still competing in 2026-27 reads like a Hall of Fame ballot in progress. To settle any debate about the order, the ranking below is sorted strictly by birth date, oldest first. Ages are as of November 2, 2026.
1. Brent Burns (41) – Colorado Avalanche The oldest man in the league. See above.
2. Corey Perry (41) – Los Angeles Kings Perry set an NHL record for most playoff goals by any player aged 39 or older in a single postseason while helping Edmonton reach the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, then signed with the Kings. He re-signed with Los Angeles on another one-year deal in July 2026. He has over 1,400 career games and a reputation for making opponents regret underestimating him at any age.
3. Alex Ovechkin (41) – Washington Capitals The NHL's all-time goals leader since passing Wayne Gretzky's record in the spring of 2025, Ovechkin decided against retirement and returned to Washington for 2026-27. He has stayed noncommittal about whether this will be his final season.
4. Evgeni Malkin (40) – Pittsburgh Penguins Evgeni Malkin turned 40 on July 31, 2026, after re-signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins on a one-year contract in May. The former Hart Trophy winner and three-time Stanley Cup champion is playing what could be the final chapter of Pittsburgh's legendary core alongside Sidney Crosby.
5. Kris Letang (39) – Pittsburgh Penguins Kris Letang turned 39 in April 2026 and remains a key part of Pittsburgh's blue line as the franchise navigates its transition away from the championship core. The three-time Cup champion is in the fifth year of the six-year contract he signed in 2022.
6. Cam Talbot (39) – Columbus Blue Jackets Cam Talbot signed a one-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets in September 2026. Born July 5, 1987, he is the oldest goaltender on an NHL roster this season.
7. Sidney Crosby (39) – Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby turned 39 in August 2026. The three-time Stanley Cup champion became the Penguins' all-time leading scorer when he passed Mario Lemieux, and 2026-27 is the final season of his current contract. He has been in the NHL since 2005, the same season Burns was playing his second NHL year.
8. Mats Zuccarello (39) – Los Angeles Kings Mats Zuccarello signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings on July 1, 2026, after seven seasons with the Minnesota Wild. The Norwegian winger turned 39 in September.
9. Nick Foligno (39) – Minnesota Wild Nick Foligno re-signed with the Minnesota Wild on a one-year deal for his 20th NHL season and turned 39 on October 31, 2026.
10. Claude Giroux (38) – Ottawa Senators Claude Giroux signed a one-year contract to stay with the Ottawa Senators for 2026-27. The former Philadelphia Flyers captain turns 39 in January.
Who Is the Oldest Player in NHL History?
The answer to this question is not close. Gordie Howe played his last NHL game on April 11, 1980, at the age of 52 years and 11 days. His record does not merely sit at the top of the list. It stands more than four years clear of the next name on it.
Mr. Hockey made his NHL debut for the Detroit Red Wings in 1946 at 18 years old. He played 25 seasons in Detroit, retired once, came back through the WHA to play alongside his sons Mark and Marty, then rejoined the NHL as a 51-year-old when the Hartford Whalers absorbed the folded New England Whalers franchise in 1979. He played all 80 regular-season games that final year, recording 41 points. He stood 6'0" (183 cm) and 205 pounds (93 kg) in an era with no helmets and even fewer concessions to the physical cost of the game.
His final All-Star Game also happened to be Wayne Gretzky's first.
No player has competed past the age of 48 since. The gap between Howe and the rest of history is not a record. It is a different category of human entirely.
Top 10 Oldest Players in NHL History
1. Gordie Howe – 52 years, 11 days (1980) The standard that will almost certainly never be broken. Five decades of NHL hockey. 801 goals. 1,850 points. 1,767 games. The only player to compete in the NHL across five different decades.
2. Chris Chelios – 48 years, 71 days (2010) Chris Chelios retired after 26 seasons, tied with Howe for most in NHL history. The three-time Cup champion won titles with the Montréal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings, and holds the record for most career games played by a defenseman (1,651) and the most career playoff games in any North American professional sport (266). He still averaged over 20 minutes per game on the Detroit blueline into his mid-40s, a conditioning story almost as remarkable as his longevity.
3. Maurice "Moe" Roberts – 45 years, 345 days (1951) A career minor-leaguer who resurfaced in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks as an emergency substitute in 1951. Roberts holds the unlikely distinction of being the oldest goaltender in NHL history. His first NHL game had come 26 years earlier with the Boston Bruins. His career spanned four decades and totaled only 10 NHL appearances.
4. Jaromir Jagr – 45 years, 319 days (2018) Jaromir Jagr left the NHL with the Calgary Flames in 2018 as the second-leading point-scorer in league history and the oldest player to ever record an NHL hat trick. He continued playing professional hockey in the Czech Extraliga for his hometown club, which he also owns, and at 52 scored on his first shift back after his birthday, surpassing Howe as the oldest professional hockey player on the planet in any league.
5. Zdeno Chara – 45 years, 42 days (2022) Zdeno Chara finished his 24-season career back where it started, with the New York Islanders. At 6'9" (206 cm) he remains the tallest player to have competed at NHL level. The Norris Trophy winner and 2011 Stanley Cup champion spent the best years of his career with the Boston Bruins, where he was the most physically imposing presence the league had seen in a generation.
6. Johnny Bower – 45 years, 32 days (1970) The legendary Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender won four Stanley Cups and was famously evasive about his real age for much of his career, with some historians believing the official record undersells it. He played into his mid-40s in an era without the protective equipment and sports science that modern players benefit from, which makes the longevity even harder to explain.
7. Gump Worsley – 44 years, 323 days (1974) The Hall of Fame goaltender played his final season for the Minnesota North Stars at age 44. Worsley was also one of the last NHLers to play without a mask, a detail that seems increasingly improbable the further it recedes into history.
8. Doug Harvey – 44 years, 100 days (1969) One of the greatest defensemen in NHL history, Harvey won seven Norris Trophies and six Stanley Cups. His final NHL game came on March 29, 1969, at age 44 with the St. Louis Blues, 22 years after he first took the ice for the Montréal Canadiens.
9. Teemu Selanne – 43 years, 317 days (2014) Teemu Selänne scored 31 goals and 80 points at age 42, one of the most extraordinary individual seasons any player has produced past their 40th birthday. The Finnish Flash retired with 684 career goals, eighth-most in league history, having reinvented himself multiple times over a career that never really slowed until he chose to stop.
10. Igor Larionov – 43 years, 129 days (2004) Igor Larionov, The Professor, played his final NHL game at 43 for the New Jersey Devils. A three-time Cup champion with Detroit, his hockey intelligence compensated for any physical decline that came with age. He remains the standard for European players who wonder just how long elite reading of the game can carry a career.