- Connor McDavid is the first 99 overall in EA Sports NHL history
- EA built a brand new 99 Club for NHL 27 and made him the only member
- Read below for McDavid’s 2024 plea for 99s and the rest of Ratings Week
Connor McDavid asked for this two years ago.
EA Sports handed the Oilers captain a 99 overall rating in NHL 27 on Monday, making him the inaugural member of the new EA Sports NHL 99 Club. No player has ever been rated 99 in the history of the series.
Back in September 2024, EA had the game’s top five centers peel stickers off cue cards to reveal their NHL 25 ratings. McDavid came up with a 97, three points clear of Sidney Crosby and a point ahead of Nathan MacKinnon.
He was not shy about what he thought of the number.
“My only question is, the NFL does 99s, why does the NHL not do 99s?” McDavid said, per Caleb Kerney of Yahoo Sports.
Two years later, he has his answer. EA’s ratings blog calls 99 the ceiling of the system, reserved for players who show mastery across almost every part of the game, and the studio credited McDavid’s speed, vision and puck control.
We put the news beside the NHL 27 Deluxe Edition cover, and that pairing tells its own story. Macklin Celebrini, all of 20 years old, is the youngest cover athlete the series has ever had. McDavid, at 29, is the one who finally broke the rating ceiling.
Monday’s reveal was only Day 1 of EA’s Ratings Week. Three more drops are on the calendar:
- Aug. 19: Top 10 forwards
- Aug. 20: Top 10 defensemen
- Aug. 21: Top 10 overall highest-rated players
The league’s own account played off the jersey number when it shared the news:
NHL 27 arrives Sept. 11, with Deluxe Edition buyers getting on the ice Sept. 4. Connected Franchise is back this year, so there will be plenty of GMs trying to pry a 99 out of Edmonton.
McDavid has spent a decade as the default answer to who the best player in the world is. The video game finally stopped rounding him down.
