Published November 4, 2008 | Last Updated June 20, 2010
Average number of assists awarded for each goal scored has been gradually creeping up during the NHL history. In other words, more assists are being awarded for each goal scored. This could be due to number of reasons. Perhaps the share of power-play goals has increased resulting in more assists per goal; Or maybe officiating has become more relaxed and assists are being awarded more generously.
The number of assists credited for each goal is also consistently lower in the playoffs than during the regular season.
The chart below shows a time series on the number of assists credited for each goal scored (How was this calculated?) between the 1917-18 and 2009-10 seasons.
NHL Average Assists Per Goal
| 1917-18 | 0.4152 | 0.7059 | 1948-49 | 1.3620 | 1.3108 | 1979-80 | 1.6184 | 1.5905 |
| 1918-19 | 0.4595 | 0.5227 | 1949-50 | 1.4495 | 1.5244 | 1980-81 | 1.6206 | 1.5944 |
| 1919-20 | 0.4530 | na | 1950-51 | 1.4381 | 1.3714 | 1981-82 | 1.6471 | 1.6113 |
| 1920-21 | 0.4129 | 0.7143 | 1951-52 | 1.4977 | 1.2712 | 1982-83 | 1.6359 | 1.5875 |
| 1921-22 | 0.5921 | 0.5556 | 1952-53 | 1.5040 | 1.3232 | 1983-84 | 1.6321 | 1.5950 |
| 1922-23 | 0.6038 | 0.8000 | 1953-54 | 1.5361 | 1.3043 | 1984-85 | 1.6587 | 1.6107 |
| 1923-24 | 0.4824 | 0.5714 | 1954-55 | 1.5484 | 1.5000 | 1985-86 | 1.6435 | 1.6218 |
| 1924-25 | 0.5756 | 0.5714 | 1955-56 | 1.5902 | 1.5714 | 1986-87 | 1.6431 | 1.6154 |
| 1925-26 | 0.3701 | 0.6154 | 1956-57 | 1.6106 | 1.5000 | 1987-88 | 1.6517 | 1.6290 |
| 1926-27 | 0.4710 | 0.3947 | 1957-58 | 1.6559 | 1.5960 | 1988-89 | 1.6567 | 1.6654 |
| 1927-28 | 0.5000 | 0.6486 | 1958-59 | 1.6276 | 1.6759 | 1989-90 | 1.6615 | 1.6248 |
| 1928-29 | 0.5950 | 0.3846 | 1959-60 | 1.6640 | 1.6447 | 1990-91 | 1.6675 | 1.6436 |
| 1929-30 | 0.8324 | 0.8889 | 1960-61 | 1.6471 | 1.5882 | 1991-92 | 1.6688 | 1.6239 |
| 1930-31 | 0.9241 | 1.0000 | 1961-62 | 1.6527 | 1.6275 | 1992-93 | 1.6720 | 1.6627 |
| 1931-32 | 1.0492 | 0.8406 | 1962-63 | 1.6189 | 1.5385 | 1993-94 | 1.6589 | 1.6155 |
| 1932-33 | 1.2106 | 0.9672 | 1963-64 | 1.6398 | 1.5804 | 1994-95 | 1.6558 | 1.5709 |
| 1933-34 | 1.1346 | 1.1754 | 1964-65 | 1.6192 | 1.5340 | 1995-96 | 1.6588 | 1.6818 |
| 1934-35 | 1.3063 | 1.0455 | 1965-66 | 1.6492 | 1.6118 | 1996-97 | 1.6482 | 1.6279 |
| 1935-36 | 1.3983 | 1.3662 | 1966-67 | 1.6494 | 1.6092 | 1997-98 | 1.6540 | 1.6304 |
| 1936-37 | 1.2664 | 1.2857 | 1967-68 | 1.6208 | 1.5491 | 1998-99 | 1.6763 | 1.6841 |
| 1937-38 | 1.4023 | 1.3099 | 1968-69 | 1.6442 | 1.5000 | 1999-00 | 1.6810 | 1.6753 |
| 1938-39 | 1.5499 | 1.4444 | 1969-70 | 1.6074 | 1.5700 | 2000-01 | 1.6965 | 1.7143 |
| 1939-40 | 1.4642 | 1.3000 | 1970-71 | 1.6301 | 1.5361 | 2001-02 | 1.6782 | 1.6573 |
| 1940-41 | 1.4978 | 1.5476 | 1971-72 | 1.6051 | 1.5714 | 2002-03 | 1.7023 | 1.6969 |
| 1941-42 | 1.5492 | 1.3874 | 1972-73 | 1.6360 | 1.5477 | 2003-04 | 1.6942 | 1.6429 |
| 1942-43 | 1.5194 | 1.2473 | 1973-74 | 1.6197 | 1.5890 | 2005-06 | 1.7208 | 1.7441 |
| 1943-44 | 1.4261 | 1.2821 | 1974-75 | 1.6192 | 1.6358 | 2006-07 | 1.7413 | 1.7082 |
| 1944-45 | 1.1967 | 0.9184 | 1975-76 | 1.6265 | 1.5683 | 2007-08 | 1.7171 | 1.6930 |
| 1945-46 | 1.1325 | 1.0659 | 1976-77 | 1.6209 | 1.6228 | 2008-09 | 1.7256 | 1.7065 |
| 1946-47 | 1.2996 | 1.2976 | 1977-78 | 1.6233 | 1.6308 | 2009-10 | 1.7223 | 1.7086 |
| 1947-48 | 1.3700 | 1.2529 | 1978-79 | 1.6342 | 1.5899 | | | |
Assists per goal scored is calculated by dividing the total number of assists during the season by the total number of goals scored during that same season.
