NHL 26 Player Ratings: Top 10 Rankings at Every Position

The newest iteration of EA Sports’ hockey game is almost here, with NHL 26 being released on September 12. Fans will have the opportunity to take the virtual ice with their favorite teams and players ahead of the NHL regular season, which starts on October 7.

Over the past week, EA Sports has revealed the top 10 ratings at each position, as well as the top 10 players overall. It’s no surprise that Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon are at the top, but who else is up there?

Let’s get right into the top 10 NHL player ratings at each position.

NHL 26 Player Ratings – Center

McDavid, MacKinnon, and Draisaitl are not only the top three centers in the game, but the top three players overall. And rightfully so. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that these are the three best players in the NHL today.

Barkov gets his due as the No. 4 center after long being one of the most underrated players in hockey. The two-way pivot has led the Florida Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cups and won the Selke Trophy in each season as well.

Crosby is getting up there in age, but don’t let that fool you; he’s still one of the best centers in hockey. He’s at a 94 rating along with Eichel and Matthews, which feels about right.

Hughes has yet to fully establish himself as a superstar in the NHL, partially due to injuries, but it won’t be long before he does. He’s up there ahead of Brayden Point and Mark Scheifele, who round out the top 10 as pretty good players themselves.

NHL 26 Player Ratings – Left Wing

Kaprizov might be the best player in the league that not a ton of people talk about. He had 56 points (25 goals, 31 assists) despite missing half the season due to injury last year. The Russian winger deserves the top spot.

Tkachuk also missed some time last season, 30 games to be exact, but the Panthers’ rat is one of the best in the game when he is playing — especially in big games.

Panarin had a “down” year for himself with “just” 89 points (37 goals, 52 assists) last season after putting up 120 points (49 goals) the previous year. He’s still well over a point-per-game in his career, though, and arguably could be higher than Tkachuk if the latter wasn’t on the cover.

Connor and Bratt are both overlooked by a lot of fans, but they get their due here in NHL 26. I will say that Bratt might be a bit high, though, since he hasn’t cracked 90 points in a season yet.

Ovechkin is always going to be among the top left wingers in the game. Always.

Hagel is another name that might surprise people, but he broke out with 90 points last season, shattering his career-high of 75 set the previous year.

Then there are representatives once again for the Wild (Boldy), Panthers (Marchand), and Lightning (Guentzel). Marchand may be getting a slightly higher rating than some would think, but he was one of the best players during the Panthers’ Cup run.

NHL 26 Player Ratings – Right Wing

Kucherov is still No. 1 with a bullet, but it might not be too long before Pastrnak passes him.

Rantanen and Reinhart deserve to be in the top five as well. The Stars winger took over to defeat his former team in Game 7, and Reinhart has proven himself as a top winger on a dynasty.

Then there are Nylander and Marner, who, despite being on different teams, will always be connected. I would probably put Marner over Nylander by at least one rating point, but alas.

Keller falls into the bucket of a budding superstar. There aren’t a lot of eyes on him in Utah, but he put up 90 points last year and is only getting better.

Raymond, Marchenko, and Stone round out the top 10, with guys like Adrian Kempe, Alex Debrincat, and Cole Caufield just missing the cut.

NHL 26 Player Ratings – Left Defense

Hughes finished third in Norris Trophy voting last year despite missing 14 games, and he probably would’ve finished second had it not been for a career year by Werenski.

Veteran blueliners Josi and Hedman are right there with Werenski at 92, along with the youngster Dahlin. This seems like a pretty fair ranking so far.

Heiskanen had one great offensive season (73 points in 79 games in 2022-23) but has been more of a strong two-way guy in recent years. If he can crack 70 points again, he might get into the top five.

Slavin and Forsling get respect as two of the best defensive defensemen in the game, there in the bottom half of the top 10, with Morrissey and Sanderson as more offensively-focused. Watch out for Sanderson, who just turned 23 in July.

NHL 26 Player Ratings – Right Defense

There is no argument to be made that anyone but Makar should be No. 1. He had 30 goals and 92 points last season as he took home his second Norris Trophy.

Fox is another Rangers player who had a down year, so 90 feels a bit generous, but can’t be argued against too much.

McAvoy has been a strong constant on the Boston blue line. Is he the third-best RHD in the game, though?

After those top three, there are guys bunched up at an 88 rating. Seider and Dobson feel like they could be above McAvoy, or at least Parayko, and Bouchard’s offensive upside is definitely known about.

Carlson, Doughty, and Hamilton are still hanging on in the latter half of their careers.

NHL 26 Player Ratings – Goalie

The netminder who became the first at his position to win the Hart Trophy since Carey Price is the best goalie in the game. Next.

Then there’s a rush on Russians with Vasilevskiy, Shesterkin, Sorokin, and Bobrovsky next. You can argue about the order, but they deserve to be in the top five.

Oettinger looked like he was on a path to being a top-five goalie. Maybe he’ll get there next year.

The bottom four leave much to be desired in terms of top-10 goalies, but so it goes in today’s NHL.

NHL 26 Player Ratings – Overall

You can’t really have too many qualms here.

Personally, admitting that I am a bit biased as a Flyers fan, Crosby as the eighth-best player in the game seems a bit high. Outside of that, though? Seems pretty solid.