Who was the first player to score 100 points in an NHL season?

Phil Esposito was the first player to score 100 points in an NHL season.

He reached the milestone on March 2, 1969, during the 1968–69 season, scoring twice in a 4–0 Boston Bruins victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Esposito finished that campaign with 49 goals and 77 assists for 126 points, establishing a new scoring standard and winning both the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy.

The achievement was especially notable because three players crossed 100 points in that same season. Bobby Hull finished with 107 points for Chicago, and Gordie Howe recorded 103 for Detroit, but both reached the mark after Esposito. Bobby Orr is sometimes associated with the milestone because he became the first defenceman to score 100 points, doing so later in 1969. Esposito’s breakthrough helped launch an era of high scoring and was the first of six 100-point seasons he recorded.