According to the NHL’s stats page, throughout the history of the NHL there have been 33 goaltenders that have recorded at least one point in their career while appearing in 28 games or less. Why 28 games? Well, that is the number that Minnesota Wild forward Ben Jones has appeared in without recording a single point. Which puts him as the current active leader among skaters in games played without a point in the NHL.
For the first time in his professional hockey career, Jones had a sustained run of play in the NHL last season. With injuries ravaging the Wild line-up, the former Vegas Golden Knights draft pick was recalled from Iowa and appeared in 26 games from November until early January. While he played well in a fourth-line role, he failed to register a point during his stint, running his career pointless streak to 28 games (he appeared in two games with Golden Knights back in 2021-22).
To his credit, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. According to Natural Stat Trick, Jones posted 2.36 iXG and ripped off 50 shot attempts during his 212 minutes of 5v5 ice time. His 6.78 shots-per-60-minutes ranked ninth on the team overall and his 6.21 iSCF/60 was higher than Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno, and others. The centerman was trying, the puck gods just weren’t answering his prayers on the ice.
Oddly enough, goal scoring hasn’t been a concern for the 6’0”, 187 lb forward. He produced a 41-goal season in 2018-19, which capped off a junior career in Niagara that featured 240 points (89 goals, 151 assists) in 260 games. In the AHL he’s had two 20+ goal seasons and put up 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) in 49 games with Iowa last year. Oh, and he scored the fastest goal in franchise history as well.
Jones, who is in the second-year of a two-year contract, will likely see the bulk of his playing time in Iowa again this year, but he remains right on the cusp of being a full-time NHL player. He was one of the last cuts in camp last season, and was recalled a couple of times later in the season after his 26-game stint.
If he does get recalled at some point this year and sees regular action, there is a really good chance that he finally picks up his first point. The puck will bounce his way eventually, or he’ll pick up an assist somewhere along the way. Hopefully, it comes rather soon. While he leads active players in most career games without a point, he still has a way to catch the all-time leader - Gord Strate.
Strate, a defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings, managed to appear in 61 games over three seasons without recording a single point from 1956 to 1959. That’s fairly impressive considering the Red Wings finished first in the league and third in the league in two of those seasons. Yes, there were only six teams in the NHL, but still, Detroit was a good team and for Strate to stay in the line-up despite not producing any offense at all.
Currently, Jones is tied for eighth all-time with D’arcy Coulson, who played in 28 games with the Philadelphia Quakers during the 1930-31 season. Marc Moro, is next up on the list at 30 games. Moro, a former second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators, spread his scoring futility over five seasons of games with the Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, and Toronto Maples Leafs from 1997 to 2002.
Playing one game in the National Hockey League is a tremendous feat, let alone 28 games. Still, it’ll feel even better for Jones once he sees that “0” change to a “1” under Points on his career stats page. Hopefully, he’ll be able to celebrate that this season with the Wild.