- Connor McDavid is No. 1 on NHL Network’s final top 50 rankings entering 2026-27
- Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov and Cale Makar fill out the next three spots
- Read below for the full top 10, including two Avalanche teammates in the top four
NHL Network wrapped up its nine-part countdown of the NHL’s top 50 players on Sunday, and Connor McDavid is No. 1 again.
McDavid led the league with 138 points last season and won the Ted Lindsay Award for the fifth time, tying Wayne Gretzky as the only player to pull that off. He has led the NHL in points, assists and power-play points since he entered the league in 2015-16, and he has cracked 100 points in nine of his 11 NHL seasons.
Nathan MacKinnon came in at No. 2 behind him. The Avalanche center put up 127 points last season, his fourth straight year over 111, and led the NHL at plus-57 on his way to the Rocket Richard Trophy.
Nikita Kucherov took No. 3 after winning his second career Hart Trophy, with a margin of 10 voting points over runner-up McDavid. His 130 points in 2025-26 were the second most of his career, and his point and assist totals over the past three seasons combined lead the entire NHL.
Cale Makar rounded out the top four, giving Colorado two players in that group. He finished second in Norris Trophy voting this year, his sixth straight season as a finalist after winning in 2022 and 2025, and became just the 11th defenseman in league history to score 20 goals in three straight seasons.
Macklin Celebrini checked in at No. 5, his first trip into the top five since signing a five-year, $94 million contract that made him the league’s highest-paid player. The 20-year-old nearly doubled his rookie point total with 115 points last season. The IIHF later named him Male Player of the Year after he captained Canada at the World Championship and was voted the tournament’s best forward.
Leon Draisaitl landed at No. 6 despite playing just 65 games because of injury, still finishing with 97 points and an NHL-best 177 power-play goals since 2015-16.
Aleksander Barkov held at No. 7 even though he missed the entire 2025-26 season recovering from injury. He has captained the Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cups and won three Selke Trophies as the league’s top defensive forward.
David Pastrnak slotted into No. 8 off his fourth straight 100-point season, one that leaves him 67 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
Quinn Hughes grabbed No. 9 after a trade from Vancouver to Minnesota in December turned the Wild’s season around. He finished with 76 points and an NHL-best 27:44 in ice time per game between the two stops.
Jack Eichel closed out the top 10, coming off a trip to the Stanley Cup Final with Vegas and a 90-point regular season.
The rankings cap a nine-part series that had Sidney Crosby at No. 12 and Auston Matthews at No. 15 in the 20-11 tier revealed last week.
