There was only one rule: As with last year’s list, this ranking is forward-looking. It doesn’t factor in legacy or past performance; it considers only how the league’s best are expected to stack up against each other in 2025-26. The overall ranking below is an amalgam of top-50 lists from Insiders across the network. For each individual list, players were assigned points based on how high they finished in that particular ranking — the higher they ranked on an Insider’s list, the more points they accrued.

Each player’s position on the overall ranking is determined by the total points they collected across all our Insiders’ lists.

With that, here is Sportsnet’s ranking of the top 50 Players in the NHL, concluding with the game’s unequivocal best — Nos. 10-1.

THERE ARE FEW certainties in a game so suffused with random, careening chaos, but for the past decade, consistent greatness is what the Florida Panthers’ Finnish gem has delivered — it’s been death, taxes, and an Aleksander Barkov Selke Trophy nomination by the year’s end. But the NHL’s unpredictable tumult has finally come for the Cats captain. Last week, it was announced that Barkov underwent surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament, the 30-year-old suffering the knee injuries during a training camp skate. He’s expected to be sidelined for seven to nine months, giving him a shot at returning during the Stanley Cup Playoffs but ruling him out of the NHL’s return to the Olympic Games.

It’s a devastating blow for his countrymen, no doubt, and a gut punch for the Panthers. And the weight of his absence underlines why Barkov sits as high on this list as he does. Through 12 years in the big leagues, the Tampere product has evolved into a two-way force — a prolific offensive talent who can author the type of big-game moments that win championships, and a suffocating defensive presence who does the thankless work that helps get a team to the Final in the first place. For all the high-flyers dotted throughout Florida’s lineup, there’s little question who remains the engine that drives the Cats forward. Now, faced with the prospect of navigating their way back to the dance without him, the Panthers must hope Barkov can return for the playoffs, and find the type of immediate impact teammate Matthew Tkachuk did a year ago.

IF HIS FIRST few years in Vegas were about settling in and finding his footing, this past season was Jack Eichel’s chance to remind the hockey world who he truly is. For the first time since joining the Golden Knights, Eichel was able to suit up for a full campaign, missing only a handful of games after four straight years with significant time spent on the sidelines. The last season he had health on his side, Eichel earned Hart Trophy votes, putting up 36 goals and 78 points as a 23-year-old in Buffalo. Half a decade later, now past the spinal injury that threatened to cut short his big-league career, the American pivot returned to the NHL mountaintop, amassing a career-best 94 points for Vegas — the eighth-highest sum in the league — and finishing top-five in voting for both the Hart and Selke.

Eichel played a pivotal role in helping Vegas claim its second division title in three years, before seeing a promising playoff run cut short in Round 2 by Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers. But after leading one of the most lethal offences in the game last season — the Knights had the second-best power play in the NHL in 2024-25, while finishing among the league’s best in 5-on-5 goals, as well as goals and shots per game — Vegas’s leading man figures to have even more help in 2025-26. Set to hop over the boards with him is Mitch Marner, the all-world facilitator who played a pivotal role in helping Auston Matthews snag three Rocket Richard Trophies over the past five years. Marner’s arrival is surely a welcome sight for Eichel, who heads into a contract year looking for a hefty raise.

SPEAKING OF RAISES, nobody in the NHL this season is matching the one Kirill Kaprizov just earned. On the heels of a five-year run in which he’s taken the league by storm, Kaprizov reset the market this week by signing the most lucrative contract in NHL history — an eight-year, $136-million deal that carries a $17-million cap hit, nearly double the hit attached to his current deal. The 28-year-old made waves a few years ago when he inked a five-year, $45-million contract after just one sterling, Calder-winning campaign in Minnesota. Fast-forward to 2025, and Kaprizov heads into the final year of that pact, after which he’ll earn $19 million per season — with over $18 million of that delivered as a signing bonus — for the first four years of his new contract. It’s a weighty sum to grant a player who’s only suited up for five NHL seasons and won only one trophy (that 2021 Calder). But that’s all the time Kaprizov’s needed to prove he’s among the very best in the game.

You could look to the numbers — the 47 goals and 108 points he put up in his sophomore season, the 46-goal, 96-point effort he came up with just two seasons ago, or the team-leading 15 playoff goals and 21 playoff points he’s collected since debuting with the Wild — but that misses the point. You need only watch a few shifts of Kaprizov dancing around defenders, floating feathery passes through a tangle of opposing sticks, or dropping a shoulder and charging straight to the cage to understand why he’s worth the price of admission. The 28-year-old looks every bit the real deal and he enters the new campaign a star in his prime and a problem for everyone else in the West.

AFTER FOUR SEASONS of utter dominance — a span in which Matthews amassed three Rocket Richard Trophies, one Hart Trophy, another MVP nod from his fellow players, and nominations for the Selke and Lady Byng — the 2024-25 campaign saw the Toronto Maple Leafs’ talisman held at bay. Injuries pushed the American pivot’s campaign off-course early, Matthews suffering an upper-body injury in training camp that wound up being difficult to shake. By the end of the year, he’d missed 15 games, embarked on a trip to Germany in pursuit of a solution, and finished with a career-low 33 goals, looking not quite himself in the post-season, either. After his club’s promising playoff run came to an early end against the eventual champs, Matthews admitted the campaign had been a physically difficult one.

But the upcoming season doesn’t figure to get much easier for him. With longtime linemate Marner moving on to ply his trade in Vegas, the balance of the Maple Leafs’ core has been upended. The captain figures to be leaned on even more by head coach Craig Berube as the club looks to avoid a step backwards without their star playmaker. And Matthews’ hunt for a bounce-back campaign will take place without the facilitator with whom he shared prolific chemistry. The hope for No. 34, and his club, and the Leafs faithful, is that 2025-26 brings a return to full health for the all-world talent, and a return to his place as one of the game’s most feared snipers.

EVEN AMID A SEASON to forget in Vancouver — marked by tumult on and off the ice, the departure of one of the club’s most prolific scorers, and a tumble out of playoff contention a year after the Canucks put together a two-round run — Quinn Hughes still managed to author a memorable campaign. The blue-line phenom was a rare bright spot in Vancouver in 2024-25, navigating bickering teammates and ill-timed injury spells and still finishing with a dominant 76 points in 68 games from the backend, making clear who reigns as the Canucks’ heart-and-soul leader. That sterling effort earned Hughes his second Norris Trophy nomination in as many seasons, and a few Hart Trophy votes too.

But the question on every Canucks fan’s mind is how long Hughes will remain in Vancouver. The 25-year-old phenom has two years left on the six-year, $47.1-million deal he signed in 2021. But Hughes has been open about how difficult the chaos of the 2024-25 campaign was for him, and how big a factor a successful 2025-26 is in his decision on where to spend the next phase of his career. That he and his brothers — Jack and Luke, both members of the New Jersey Devils — continue to openly mull the idea of playing together has only muddied the waters further. The only thing that is clear? A season short on drama and full of post-season success is a must for the Canucks, or else more pain is coming in Vancouver.

IT MIGHT SEEM odd to suggest someone with a trophy haul like Nikita Kucherov’s might not get the respect he deserves, but even after two Stanley Cups, three scoring titles, and a few MVP nods, the Tampa Bay Lightning veteran still seems underappreciated. It’s perhaps unavoidable in a league overflowing with high-flyers, with new young talents adding their own dynamism to the game each year and so many established superstars — like the four names above Kucherov on this list — continuing to dominate. But the past two years have proven that the Bolts leader remains among the very best offensive minds the game has ever seen — and at 32 years old, he seems to only be getting better.

Over the past two seasons, no one on NHL ice has amassed more points than Kucherov’s 265. He’s collected a league-leading 99 points on the man-advantage alone in that span, and the second-most points at even-strength, too. But it’s Kucherov’s status as one of the game’s most cerebral playmakers that has seen him evolve into an all-time great. Go back three decades, through all the stars that have made their mark on the league in that span, and you’ll find only two NHLers who’ve managed to put up a 100-assist season since Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux did it — McDavid and Kucherov. Expect No. 86 to remain a handful in 2025-26 as he looks for his third straight scoring title.

GIVEN ALL THE ANKLES, records and shutout streaks Cale Makar has broken in the big leagues, it’s easy to forget the Calgary product’s only been an NHLer for six years. Somehow in that short span, he’s already established himself among the all-time great big-league blue-liners. The 26-year-old has been a finalist for the Norris Trophy every year since his rookie campaign — which saw him claim the Calder, and rack up some Norris votes, too. He’s fresh off claiming the award for the second time in his career, after an all-world year that saw him become the first defenceman in a decade-and-a-half to put up 30 goals (and only the ninth defender to ever do it), and the first in more than three decades to put up back-to-back 90-point seasons.

The scariest thing about the Colorado Avalanche rearguard’s ascent is that his ceiling keeps rising. Makar’s already entrenched himself as the best defender in the game right now, not to mention having a Stanley Cup ring and a Conn Smythe to his name. His legacy is secured, even as he remains in his prime and years away from a decade of NHL service. The future might look murky for his Avs, who find themselves a team in flux after a few early post-season exits and a fair amount of roster turnover, but you can still bank on continued offensive dominance from Nos. 8 and 29 in Denver.

YOU HAVE TO IMAGINE Leon Draisaitl is a nightmare for other marquee stars around the game. Not because trying to push the six-foot-two, 209-pound pivot off the puck often winds up a fool’s errand. Not because the calm, collected Oilers centreman owns a well-established reputation as one of the most lethal scorers in the game. No, it’s what No. 29 manages to keep doing amid the brutal chaos of the post-season that must weigh heaviest on his contemporaries — the fact that, in a league full of high-flying scorers who go quiet when the lights are brightest, Draisaitl is the counterbalance. The one who delivers. The one who proves, time and time again, that he’ll pull out the big moment, in the big game, and will his club forward.

While the man who wears No. 97 in blue-and-orange has outscored everyone else in the game over the past four years of deep Oilers’ playoff runs, it’s Draisaitl who’s paced the league in post-season goals. And when it comes to clutch, over the past two years of back-to-back Cup Final runs, no one has potted more game-winners than Cologne’s favourite son, nor more overtime clinchers. Then there’s the regular season. The 29-year-old heads into 2025-26 fresh off claiming his first Rocket Richard Trophy, fresh off putting up his fourth-straight 100-point season — his sixth century-mark in the past seven years — while pacing the league in game-winning tallies for the third time. The Oilers’ future hangs in the balance as Draisaitl’s running mate mulls where to carry out the next chapter of his big-league tenure — if McDavid does decide Edmonton is still his best shot at a Stanley Cup ring, it’ll be because they’ve got No. 29.

EVEN THE DISMANTLING of his own hockey club cannot slow Nathan MacKinnon. You can trade away a franchise icon, rebuild his roster on the fly, throw a rotating cast of wingers over the boards with him, but No. 29’s will and talent are unstoppable. Regardless of who is out on the ice around him, MacKinnon will go forward, at galloping speed, with the puck on his stick and a head full of steam. It’s that relentless drive that allowed the Nova Scotian phenom to post his third straight 100-point campaign last season, finishing second in the Art Ross race behind Kucherov, even as the team around him was retooled and rebuilt. It’s why the 30-year-old managed to pace the league in shots for the second year in a row and averaged more ice per night than any other forward in the game. The bulldozing Colorado Avalanche centreman only has one speed.

Unfortunately for anyone in his way in 2025-26, the 2024 Hart Trophy winner no doubt had a fire lit under him in the final game of Colorado’s 2025 post-season. After a promising two-round run in 2024 that ended in a six-game bout with the Stars, MacKinnon’s Avs found themselves face-to-face with Dallas yet again last year. The former MVP did his part in the seven-game nail-biter — scoring in all but one of those tilts and amassing seven goals and 11 points overall through the series — only to see it all come crashing down courtesy of a third-period, Game 7 hat trick from his former teammate, Mikko Rantanen. Others might be humbled by the bitter series-ending moment — given all MacKinnon’s shown to this point, it seems sure to only add more fuel to his fire.

IT’S A CROSSROADS moment for Connor McDavid. After a decade of running roughshod over the rest of the league, leaving defenders dizzy and redefining what high-octane means in the context of NHL offence, the game’s most prolific talent finds himself somewhat stymied. For two straight years, the Oilers captain has led his club into the Stanley Cup Final against Paul Maurice’s Panthers, and for two straight years, McDavid’s thrown all he can at the Eastern behemoth — pacing the league in playoff scoring both years, the first of those two efforts so dominant it earned him the Conn Smythe — only to see his chance at glory slip away. This past regular season seemed no more enjoyable for No. 97. Hampered by injuries in 2024-25, McDavid finished the season without a trophy nomination for the first time in half a decade, and just the second time in his career, five others besting him in the Art Ross race and nine others finishing above him in Hart Trophy voting.

And even still, despite that post-season frustration, despite the missed time and the scaled-back numbers, there is no debating who reigns supreme as the best of the best on NHL ice. It’s because his greatness is so undeniable that the hockey world waits with bated breath for McDavid to decide on his next chapter, the onlookers all understanding how seismically the future Hall of Famer could shift the league’s balance of power were he to choose a new sweater to don in 2026-27.

The path to keeping him in Oilers colours seems clear. With 14 individual awards already stuffed into his case — five Art Ross Trophies, four MVP nods from his fellow players, three Hart Trophies, one Rocket Richard Trophy and that one awkwardly awarded Conn Smythe — there seems only one piece of silverware the 28-year-old is fixated on at this point. Had the Oilers brass answered last June’s disappointment with an aggressive summer of roster-building, perhaps No. 97 would already be inked.

Instead, the new season beckons, his Oilers will go again, and Edmonton waits to find out if it will be for the final time.

The NHL’s Top 50 Players 2025-26:

1. Connor McDavid, C, Edmonton Oilers
2. Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado Avalanche
3. Leon Draisaitl, C, Edmonton Oilers
4. Cale Makar, D, Colorado Avalanche
5. Nikita Kucherov, RW, Tampa Bay Lightning
6. Quinn Hughes, D, Vancouver Canucks
7. Auston Matthews, C, Toronto Maple Leafs
8. Kirill Kaprizov, LW, Minnesota Wild
9. Jack Eichel, C, Vegas Golden Knights
10. Aleksander Barkov, C, Florida Panthers

11. David Pastrnak, RW, Boston Bruins
12. Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins
13. Mikko Rantanen, RW, Dallas Stars
14. Connor Hellebuyck, G, Winnipeg Jets
15. Kyle Connor, LW, Winnipeg Jets
16. Brayden Point, C, Tampa Bay Lightning
17. Mitch Marner, RW, Vegas Golden Knights
18. Sam Reinhart, C/RW, Florida Panthers
19. Jack Hughes, C, New Jersey Devils
20. William Nylander, RW, Toronto Maple Leafs
(Read Nos. 11-20)

21. Zach Werenski, D, Columbus Blue Jackets
22. Victor Hedman, D, Tampa Bay Lightning
23. Brady Tkachuk, LW, Ottawa Senators
24. Artemi Panarin, LW, New York Rangers
25. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, Florida Panthers
26. Miro Heiskanen, D, Dallas Stars
27. Igor Shesterkin, G, New York Rangers
28. Rasmus Dahlin, D, Buffalo Sabres
29. Nick Suzuki, C, Montreal Canadiens
30. Brandon Hagel, LW, Tampa Bay Lightning
(Read Nos. 21-30)

31. Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, Tampa Bay Lightning
32. Tim Stutzle, C, Ottawa Senators
33. Sebastian Aho, C, Carolina Hurricanes
34. Josh Morrissey, D, Winnipeg Jets
35. Sergei Bobrovsky, G, Florida Panthers
36. Mark Scheifele, C, Winnipeg Jets
37. Adam Fox, D, New York Rangers
38. Evan Bouchard, D, Edmonton Oilers
39. Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa Senators
40. Jaccob Slavin, D, Carolina Hurricanes
(Read Nos. 31-40)

41. Robert Thomas, C, St. Louis Blues
42. Tage Thompson, C/RW, Buffalo Sabres
43. Macklin Celebrini, C, San Jose Sharks
44. Alex Ovechkin, LW, Washington Capitals
45. Clayton Keller, LW/RW, Utah Mammoth
46. Jake Oettinger, G, Dallas Stars
47. Jesper Bratt, LW, New Jersey Devils
48. Thomas Harley, D, Dallas Stars
49. Jake Guentzel, LW, Tampa Bay Lightning
50. Lane Hutson, D, Montreal Canadiens
(Read Nos. 41-50)