The NHL’s Top 50
A RUNDOWN OF THE LEAGUE’S BEST
1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton (2)
Crosby held this title for so many years. McDavid’s No. 1 and the scary thing is he hasn’t even hit his prime yet.
2. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh (1)
He fell to 10th in league scoring and tied for 34th in goals but he’s still an elite two-way player who knows how to win.
3. Alex Ovechkin, Washington (15)
He led the league in goals with 49 and had 27 points to capture the Conn Smythe while leading the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup.
4. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh (6)
His numbers for a second-line centre are ridiculous — 42 goals and 97 points, both tied for fourth.
5. Erik Karlsson, San Jose (3)
On a terrible Ottawa team he led all defencemen in points per game at 0.87 and at age 28 he could set the world on fire in San Jose.
6. Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles (31)
When you finish seventh in scoring with 92 points and win the Selke Trophy as best defensive player you’re doing something right.
7. Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay (10)
Norris Trophy winner is the defensive anchor of a strong Lightning team and finished fifth among blue-liners with 63 points.
8. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado (NR)
Two players from Cole Harbour, N.S., in the top 10. MacKinnon put up huge numbers at age 22 and has grown into one of hockey’s most valuable centres.
9. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles (9)
One of the best all-around defenceman of his generation, Doughty just keeps impressing with shutdown defensive play and 60 points.
10. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay (11)
One of only three players to record 100 points last season, superskilled Kucherov is the driver of a high-powered Lightning attack.
11. Taylor Hall, New Jersey (NR)
Former first overall draft pick piled up 93 points — 41 more than any other New Jersey player — and led the Devils to the playoffs before walking away with the Hart Trophy.
12. Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg (12)
He was a point-per-game player in the regular season and added 14 goals in 17 playoff games. Just seems to get better every year.
13. Auston Matthews, Toronto (14)
The arrival of John Tavares takes some of the pressure off Matthews, who is already a great two-way player and will only get better.
14. Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg (29)
At age 31, Wheeler had his best season, tying for the league lead in assists with 68, scoring 91 points and captaining the Jets to their first two playoff series wins.
15. Patrick Kane, Chicago (4)
His production dropped off dramatically last season as the Blackhawks missed the playoffs but he’s still a great talent and a gamebreaker.
16. Claude Giroux, Philadelphia (NR)
Had by far his best season at age 30, finishing second in league scoring behind McDavid with 102 points, including 34 goals.
17. Patrice Bergeron, Boston (17)
Scored 30 goals last season for the fourth time and remains one of the best defensive centres in the game.
18. Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay (24)
Rebounded from injury that wiped out most of his previous season to score 86 points.
19. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus (16)
Bobrovsky gets the nod as the top goalie on this list after back-toback stellar seasons in which he backstopped the Blue Jackets to a combined 78 wins.
20. John Tavares, Toronto (23)
He’s been an elite talent for years and had 84 points last year. Who knows how good he can be on a very strong Toronto team?
21. Patrik Laine, Winnipeg (25)
He scored 80 goals in two seasons as a teenager and 50-goal seasons are seemingly around the corner.
22. Brad Marchand, Boston (19)
His antics make him unpopular but you can’t deny his talent. He put up 85 points in just 68 games.
23. Brent Burns, San Jose (8)
He’s big, he can shoot, he can pass, he can play defence and he looks like a caveman. What’s not to like? And he’s got Karlsson on his team.
24. John Carlson, Washington (NR)
At age 28, Carlson was a star for the Capitals, leading all NHL defencemen in scoring with 68 points and adding 20 more in the playoffs.
25. P.K. Subban, Nashville (34)
He can rifle the puck, play the physical game and drive opposing forwards crazy. Best of a great bunch of blue-liners in Nashville.
26. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay (NR)
He finished third in the Vezina voting after posting 44 wins, a 2.62 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
27. Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh (33)
He never seems to get his due, but Kessel finished seventh in NHL scoring with 92 points and has scored 30 goals or more six times.
28. Tyler Seguin, Dallas (28)
Scored 40 goals for the first time in his career and seems to be just hitting his peak at age 26.
29. Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia (NR)
Became the setup man for Giroux’s trigger last season and finished with 65 assists.
30. Sean Couturier, Philadelphia (NR)
Had, by far, his best season, earning a Selke nomination while putting up 31 goals and 76 points.
31. Jamie Benn, Dallas (22)
Won a scoring title in 2016 with 89 points and finished 22nd last year with 79. He’s a big, physical forward who scores regularly.
32. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg (NR)
Emerged in his second full season as a Vezina candidate after going 44-11-9 to lead the Jets. Big, calm and confident, he posted a 2.36 GAA and .924 save percentage.
33. Pekka Rinne, Nashville (NR)
He won the Vezina Trophy for his regular season (42 wins, 2.31 GAA, .927 save percentage) but his playoff play was unimpressive.
34. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington (NR)
Emerged from the shadows to have his best season, which included a team-high 56 assists. Added 12 goals and 32 points in the playoffs.
35. Aleksander Barkov, Florida (NR)
Has emerged as an outstanding two-way centre, he put up 27 goals and 78 points in 79 games.
As a 21-year-old, he put up career highs in goals (35) and points (80) and will likely only get better.
36. David Pastrnak, Boston (41)
37. Mathew Barzal, Islanders (NR)
The rookie of the year finished 14th in league scoring with 85 points and fifth in assists with 63.
38. Braden Holtby, Washington (7)
He had a bad regular season, but went 16-7 with a 2.16 GAA to backstop the Caps to the Cup.
39. Nicklas Backstrom, Washington (18)
His assist and point totals were a bit low last season but there are few better setup men in all of hockey.
40. Artemi Panarin, Columbus (32)
Has averaged 29 goals and 78 points over three seasons and had his best year after getting dealt from Chicago to Columbus.
41. Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis (21)
He has four straight 30-plus goal seasons but his numbers did fade a bit last season.
42. William Karlsson, Las Vegas (NR)
Wild Bill was one of the best stories in hockey, going from six goals and 25 points with Columbus to 43 goals and 78 points with Vegas.
43. Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary (39)
The diminutive winger can be counted on for big production every season. He had career highs in assists (60) and points (84).
44. Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis (49)
Had a career high in goals (15) and points (54) last season at age 28 and remained the same steady force on the blue-line.
45. Roman Josi, Nashville (35)
Some would suggest Josi, and not P.K. Subban, is the best defenceman on the Preds. There’s certainly an argument to be made with his shutdown play and point production.
46. Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg (NR)
The combination of skating ability, physical play and offensive sense make Big Buff unique. When he’s on, he controls games.
47. John Klingberg, Dallas (NR)
Who’s the highest scoring Swedish defenceman in the NHL? Klingberg led all defencemen in assists with 59 and was second in points.
48. Marc-Andre Fleury, Las Vegas (NR)
He moved to Vegas with three Stanley Cups already under his belt and almost led the expansion Golden Knights to another one.
49. Seth Jones, Columbus (NR)
Finished 10th in scoring among defencemen with 57 points and has the all-around game to put him among the NHL’s elite.
50. Mikko Rantanen, Colorado (NR)
The 21-year-old Finn had a breakout year, improving from 20 goals and 38 points to 29 goals and 84 points, 17 th best in the league.
(Last Year’s rankings are in parenthesis)
❚ Falling off the list … Carey Price, Montreal (5)
❚ Jonathan Toews, Chicago (13)
❚ Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton (20)
❚ Duncan Keith, Chicago (26)
❚ Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota (27)
❚ Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim (30)
❚ Joe Pavelski, San Jose (36)
❚ Kris Letang, Pittsburgh (37)
❚ Shea Weber, Montreal (38)
❚ Jack Eichel, Buffalo (40)
❚ Ryan Suter, Minnesota (42)
❚ Matt Murray, Pittsburgh (43)
❚ Max Pacioretty, Las Vegas (44)
❚ Jeff Skinner, Buffalo (45)
❚ Mikael Granlund, Minnesota (46) ❚ Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona (47)
❚ Filip Forsberg, Nashville (48)
❚ Zach Werenski, Columbus (50)