Pre-Olympic Break: The Top 50 Forwards in the League
Defining the best players in the NHL is a moving target. How can you rank a breakout player against an established star? How do you compare a 50 goal scorer against a two-way shutdown player? What about a superstar on a struggling team vs a high-end contributor on a contender?
I’ve taken a stab at ranking the Top 50 forwards (minimum 20 games played) today. Rather than looking at points and reputation alone, I averaged player rankings across five distinct categories to try to award players who dominate across several aspects of the game.
Points per game: The classic benchmark. The Hart trophy is always won on the scoresheet.
Shot Attempts per game: It’s pretty hard to drive offense if you’re not shooting the puck. This rewards high-volume shooters who consistently put pressure on opposing defenses.
5v5 Goals Boost: How many more goals does your team score at even strength with you on the ice vs you off? This isolates a player’s direct impact on their team’s scoring output.
5v5 xGoals Boost: To account for "puck luck" or hot goaltending, this looks at Expected Goals. It rewards players whose teams generate more high-quality looks while they are on the ice than off.
Dangerous Shots For per game: How many dangerous shots does your team generate while you’re on the ice? This helps measure how dynamic of a chance generator each forward is.
By averaging the rankings across these five categories, we get a clearer picture of who is truly driving play in 2026. Let’s dive into the Top 50.
50. Carter Verhaeghe, FLA: Outsized role on the defending champs given their injury woes
49. Tyson Foerster, PHI: Tocchet has him playing at all game states. Fantastic goalscorer.
48. William Nylander, TOR: Offensive driver when healthy and not flipping the bird.
47. Charlie Coyle, CBJ: Having a huge season. Columbus is a much better team at evens with him on the ice.
46. Dylan Guenther, UTA: Shot attempt machine, growing into a star
45. Artturi Lehkonen, COL: Underrated two-way, even strength demon. Quietly one of the Avs better players.
44. Anthony Cirelli, TBL: Jon Cooper’s swiss army knife. Tampa scores 71% of the 5v5 goals when he’s on the ice.
43. Logan Cooley, UTA: Excellent goalscorer. 1.35 goals per 60 minutes. Could chip in more on the PP.
42. Roope Hintz, DAL: Unsung Stars hero that reliably wins minutes against the other team’s best players.
41. Mikko Rantanen, DAL: Elite finishing at 5v5 and he’s been lethal on the PP with 8.44 points per 60.
40. David Pastrnak, BOS: Red hot recently, but he’s lower on this list as Boston performs comparably well with him off the ice.
39. Will Smith, SJS: Macklin’s right hand man, taking huge strides in every aspect of the game in his sophomore season.
38. Trevor Zegras, PHI: Completely different player in Philly. He’s blossomed offensively.
37. Jordan Kyrou, STL: Unlucky and stuck on a bad team. When he gets traded and his shooting luck regresses, watch for him to have the next Zegras-type turnaround.
36. Kirill Marchenko, CBJ: Elite shooter. Turns CBJ from a bad team (48% of goals) to a strong playoff team (58% of goals).
35. Martin Necas, COL: High volume shooter and chance creator. Colorado was smart to lock him up, perfect replacement for Rantanen.
34. Mathew Barzal, NYI: Counting stats don’t jump out, but what an insanely talented and complete player. NYI plays much better with him than without.
33. Mark Scheifele, WPG: The Jets record 0.83 5v5 high danger shots per game with Scheifele on the ice, 4th highest in the NHL.
32. Nick Schmaltz, UTA: Him and Keller have been lights out this season. Streaky player, that scores in bunches. 87% of his points are primary.
31. Troy Terry, ANA: Veteran leader on a young team. Quiet point per game producer, who tilts the ice at even strength.
30. Cutter Gauthier, ANA: Ranks third in the league with 7.3 shot attempts per game. Breakout season, future superstar.
29. Connor Bedard, CHI: The Hawks are an expansion-level team without him. Still needs to shore up some details, but game breaking talent and production levels.
28. Joel Eriksson Ek, MIN: The Wild have a +21% swing (!!) in goal differential with him on the ice. One of the best two-way pivots in the league.
27. Auston Matthews, TOR: Still a shot machine (8th in attempts/game) even on a bad team without Marner. Can’t do it all on his own though.
26. Filip Forsberg, NSH: Mega talented leader for the Preds. Taken large strides defensively this year, only allowing 2.16 goals against per 60.
25. Luke Evangelista, NSH: My most improved player this year. Incredibly underrated.
24. Kyle Connor, WPG: Incredible release, 1.28 goals per 60. High event player, but offensively unstoppable.
23. Lucas Raymond, DET: Great across the board. Doesn’t PK much yet, but hasn’t allowed a single goal against all season.
22. Alex Tuch, BUF: Probably not being traded at the deadline anymore, but would have been a great target for any contender. Does it all, headed for a huge payday.
21. Jared McCann, SEA: Also in trade rumours this season, but probably staying put. Monster at 5v5 and on the PP.
20. Jack Hughes, NJD: Bad luck on and off the ice this year, but the Devils are hopeless without him.
19. Kirill Kaprizov, MIN: Not sure that he’s worth $17M, but he’s a top notch finisher and point producer who plays a ton of minutes every night.
18. Clayton Keller, UTA: Tilts the ice at 5v5 by 11% for the Mammoth. Still their best player by some distance, despite all of their young talent.
17. Tom Wilson, WSH: Definitely the right choice over Bennett for Team Canada. Best player on Washington this season.
16. Mark Stone, VGK: Who knew he had 1.43 points per game? Not me. Superstar that impacts every part of the game (when not on LTIR).
15. Nick Suzuki, MTL: One of the best Cs in the league at even strength and in the 98th percentile in powerplay production. Well deserved Olympic selection.
14. Nikita Kucherov, TBL: Best point producer in hockey over the past two seasons. Endlessly skilled offence creator for one of the best teams in the league.
13. Mitch Marner, VGK: Not a hot take to say he’s done better than the Leafs since their offseason split. Impacts all game states for Vegas.
12. Alex Debrincat, DET: Gigantic part of the Wings turnaround. 4th in the league with 7.1 shot attempts per game.
11. Nathan Mackinnon, COL: Before you come for me, I think he should be well inside the top 10. Held back by the Avs outchancing opponents only 2% more when he is on the ice than off.
10. Macklin Celebrini, SJS: The league will belong to him one day. Improving your team’s 5v5 goal share by 20% as a 19-year old is unheard of.
9. Leon Draisaitl, EDM: Perennial top 10 player quietly having another incredible season. Put anyone on his line and he’ll outscore his competition.
8. Zach Hyman, EDM: Injured early, but has completely changed the Oilers since he’s come back. Perfect complimentary player for McDavid.
7. Cole Caufield, MTL: Improves goal share and expected goal shares for the Habs by 17% and 11% respectively. Scores a point per game and is a top 40 shot generator in the league. Huge miss by Guerin on the US Olympic team.
6. Jack Eichel, VGK: Best American player of this generation? Putting together a season that could get him a Hart nomination.
5. Artemi Panarin, NYR: Whoever he gets traded to will immediately become a contender. Lifts all aspects of the Rangers’ game. Even strength outscorer, and power play savant.
4. Matt Boldy, MIN: Unexpected name this high on the list. Volume shooter, who helps Minnesota outscore opposition almost 2-to-1 at 5v5.
3. Brandon Hagel, TBL: Outscores, drives play, kills penalties and produces at an elite level. Most underrated player in the league this year?
2. Jason Robertson, DAL: Another bad call by Bill Guerin. 50 goal threat that wins all of his minutes at evens and makes teams pay on the powerplay. Incredible talent.
1. Connor McDavid, EDM: Least surprising #1 ever. What he lacks for in 5v5 defense, he makes up for with elite production and chance creation. He laps everyone else in the world on the PP and is a lights out penalty killer.
I’ll admit the names on this list and order they’re in is unexpected (Why is Mackinnon outside the top 10? Where the hell is Crosby?). However, I don’t want to put my thumb on the scale by getting into biases and arguments based on vibes. This is purely a demonstration of which players are effectively impacting the game individually and with respect to their teams in the 2025-26 season.
So, who is the biggest snub? Who doesn’t belong in each tier? Who will stay on this list for another 5 years and who is just a flash in the pan?
