Sportsnet Insiders rank the NHLs top 50 players: 10-1

But as the season begins and expectations are all over the place, rosters could be more malleable. This rookie class looks to be one of the best in recent memory, with plenty of young star power to wow fans. With all this talent ready to be debuted, the Calder Trophy race will be as enjoyable as ever. So, to kick the season off, here are ten rookies to keep an eye on (listed alphabetically).

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On top of scoring goals and an impressive point total, he is a solid two-way player who can take on additional responsibilities. Bo Horvat has turned into a dependable 30-goal, 70-point two-way center that the New York Islanders can rely on in any situation. With Selke Trophy votes in two of the last three years, his defensive play has been on notice, and that is part of what makes him so valuable to the strong defensive team, the Islanders.

Brandt Clarke, RD, Los Angeles Kings

If there was an award for the best defensive defenseman, Slavin would likely take the cake. The Hurricanes defender is an elite shutdown option on the Carolina blue line, anchoring one of the best defensive units in the league. Don’t expect Slavin to score many points, as he’s too busy keeping the puck out of his own net.

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But if they fade again in the second half, Hastings will be under the microscope again. Logan Stankoven wowed many NHL fans in the playoffs with his ability to step up and score immediately for the Dallas Stars. He has already demonstrated at the AHL level that he is one of the best players and is ready to jump to the NHL. A pure goal scorer by definition, he could easily notch 25 to 30 goals this season, playing in Dallas’s top-six forward group and their power play. He is surrounded by a ton of veteran talent that will put him in the best position to succeed while also being on an incredibly talented roster that could go deep into the playoffs. Oliver Moore was the best skater from the 2023 draft class with blazing speed and excellent agility.

Brad Marchand, LW, Bruins

It is hard to improve on the season MacKinnon had, but he has found a way to do so in each of the past four seasons. Though he already has a Stanley Cup on his resume, he will certainly be looking to get back into contention for another Cup this season. In four of his six years in the NHL, he has earned Norris Trophy votes, and while he hasn’t finished higher than seventh in voting, there is a strong chance he can be higher this season. Dobson is one of the most valuable players on the club, and as they look to do a slight retool and make some changes to their team, Dobson is one of the few cornerstones they will build around. On a team that specializes in team defense, having a defenseman reach the 70-point mark is quite impressive. On top of that, Noah Dobson led the Islanders defense in scoring by a significant margin of over 40 points.

• He has scored 80+ points in each of the last three seasons and has back-to-back 40-goal seasons.
• He is a goal-scoring winger with high-end defensive play and has been one of the most important players on a Dallas Stars team with high aspirations.
• What makes Draisaitl so key in this series is that, although he’s earned a reputation as a prolific goal-scorer, he’s no pushover in the physicality department.
• He is one of the hardest-working players on the ice every time he plays, and he can do just about anything asked of him.
• Gabe Perrault looks like someone who could be a power play specialist at the next level with great skill and smarts in the offensive zone.
• Byfield is still young at just 22 years old, and he has proven that he has the skills to take a big jump in production and could use his size as an advantage.

Prospects #30-21

From Michigan Tech they snagged a pair of touted forwards, 1st Team All-CCHA Ryland Mosley and 2023 CCHA Rookie of the Year Kyle Kukkonen. India and the Netherlands, in the men’s and women’s competitions, respectively, have been tremendously successful at the Olympic Games. India has won eight gold medals, including six consecutive between 1928 and 1956 – scoring 197 goals and conceding just eight in the process! The Netherlands has won nine total medals at the Games, including four golds (with their most recent one coming at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games).

Leon Draisaitl, F, Edmonton Oilers

Rutger McGroarty is a true power forward, strong and determined enough to win pucks with great playmaking skills that allow him to make smart plays with the puck once he wins it. Filip Bystedt is a prospect who would likely rise up the 2022 Draft if it was re-done today. Last season, Minten cracked the Leafs’ lineup out of training camp, a testament to his off-ice training and his mature defensive game.

Prospects #80-71

Previously he worked for NBC Sports on their national news desk reporting on breaking news for the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, in addition to covering the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games. A graduate of Quinnipiac University, he spent time in college as a beat reporter covering the men’s ice hockey team. Part of the reason the Stars have materialized into legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in the Western Conference is due to Oettinger. The Dallas goaltender wasted no time adjusting to the NHL level when he made the jump from the NCAA in 2020. The 24-year-old is one of the most promising young goaltenders, coming off a season where he posted a 2.42 GAA and a .916 SV%. McDavid picked up all 20 first-place votes last season despite having finished second in Hart Trophy voting to Auston Matthews just a few months earlier.

Jason Robertson, LW, Dallas Stars

Not only was he an excellent defensive option, he also led the Rangers in playoff scoring with 20 points in 16 games. He had challenged for the top center spot on the team, and at the very least, gives them the ability to have a fantastic tandem of centermen at the top of the lineup. Strong offensive production numbers have placed Kevin Fiala on the list, and he has been one of the most consistent players in the league https://gambibet.org/ over the past three years. 30 goals, 70 points, and strong defensive play is a combination that makes a winger very valuable. He is a fantastic complimentary piece to any of the top three centers the LA Kings have, and his versatile playstyle allows him to be deployed in nearly any situation. Drafted ninth overall by the Sabres at the 2022 draft, Matthew Savoie is a highly creative centreman with a high-end skill set.

Matthew Tkachuk, F, Florida Panthers

However, I’m still a firm believer in Reinbacher’s projection as a high-end defender for the Montreal Canadiens. Luneau reads plays incredibly well, tracking opponents’ routes and plans about as quickly as you could ask for. The Senators didn’t have a strong group overall, but with three high-end left-handed defensemen, with preference going to the two home-grown ones, he was the odd man out and played on the third pair with more limited time.

After ranking sixth last year, Victor Hedman tumbled down the list to No. 23 this year. Hedman’s Tampa Bay Lightning teammate Andrei Vasilevskiy also tumbled out of the top 10, checking in at No. 19 after placing seventh last year. Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey.

With many awards finalists and proven playoff performers in the mix this spring, who comes out on top? We start with a player who scored more goals this season than anyone in the past 30 years. The Robin to McDavid’s Batman, Draisaitl is a world-class talent who would be the best player on 30 other teams. The German center finished with 52 goals and a career-high 128 points last season, giving him now three years with at least 50 goals and four seasons with at least 100 points. Draisaitl is regarded as the best passer in the league, and rightfully so with his slick dishing ability.

He is a very intelligent offensive player and can make these great reads and plays at full speed. Catton was phenomenal for Team Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup a year ago as well where he scored 10 points in just five games while captaining Canada to the gold medal. I think his offensive versatility and his potential while attacking off the rush will make him an excellent addition for the Kraken.

Lightning’s Geekie suspended 1 preseason game

The projection is tantalizing, but the reason people are hesitant about Geekie is that his skating is average at best. He will need to keep putting work into his ability to play at a fast pace but his length and skill combo should make him an effective middle-six player for Tampa Bay regardless. He also seems to have a knack for unleashing the full weight of that extra gear when it matters most. Perhaps it was because he began his NHL career in the post-season that Makar feels so at home in the grind of the playoffs. Just 25 years old, fresh off a career 21-goal, 90-point season, the question isn’t whether Makar can maintain his current level — it’s how much higher he’ll have raised it when all is said and done.

Ranking NHL’s Top 50 players for 2023-24 season

Here, in the twilight of his career, he’s still doing it, altering his game to keep up with a league that seems to be running a hundred miles-per-hour faster than it did when he was in his prime. Whether that’s enough to pull the team around him back into playoff relevancy remains unclear. But coming off another summer of roster tweaks, with a new young linemate to mold into an ideal wingman, it would be foolish to count Crosby out. Aleksander Barkov has taken over as the top two-way center in the NHL now that Patrice Bergeron has retired, and on top of that, has found strong offensive consistency over the past three seasons. During the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Barkov had some of the toughest matchups possible and did an excellent job shutting down the top players on all of the teams he faced on the path to winning the Stanley Cup.

• EJ Emery is a big, right-shot defender who moves well which means that he has a near perfect physical toolkit as most NHL teams are concerned.
• There is a legitimate argument to have Auston Matthews as high as number two on this list.
• Hughes has been among the best defensemen in the league since breaking in, and with a previously established elite offensive game, the development in his defensive play over the last five years has been outstanding.
• In a year where seemingly every star for the Avalanche was hurt at some point, Rantanen played a major role in keeping the team afloat.
• The New Jersey defenseman recorded 52 assists and 74 points during the Devils’ breakout season.
• He has a good contract, plays important minutes, and has a strong presence in the game.

Hyman has turned himself into a net-front menace, and that hasn’t changed in the playoffs, no matter how hard other teams have tried to neutralize him. Hyman leads all playoff performers with 14 goals, and the Panthers better have an answer for him in the low slot, especially when Edmonton is on the man advantage. Sergei Bobrovsky really thrived throughout the Panthers’ series win against the Rangers. Bobrosvsky yielded two or fewer goals in five of his six starts in that series and compiled a 2.00 goals-against-average even after surrendering five goals in Game 3 against New York. According to Money Puck, Bobrovsky has registered a .960 save percentage when facing unblocked shots throughout the postseason.

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Many point to his ice time with McDavid as the reason, but it is clear that he is an elite talent in his own regard. With 81 playoff points over his last three seasons, Draisaitl is not only one of the best playoff producers in the NHL but one of the best in history. In the same season he was named captain of the Canucks, he had the best season of his career which ended by taking home the Norris Trophy. Hughes has been among the best defensemen in the league since breaking in, and with a previously established elite offensive game, the development in his defensive play over the last five years has been outstanding.

Barlow was also named captain of the Owen Sound Attack at just 17 which speaks to his maturity and leadership abilities. Riley Heidt’s excellent acceleration and edge work make him a natural choice as the lead puck carrier for zone entries and he has excelled in that role with the Prince George Cougars throughout his junior career. His playmaking skills either at full speed or after settling in the offensive zone are impressive and make him a very mobile and shifty threat whenever he has the puck. Good habits away from the puck give me some confidence that he’ll become a full-time NHLer as well.

Experience will be something this team can lean on, as only two of the projected twelve forwards are freshmen and there’s also lots of experience on defense. Tim Lovell, Jacob Truscott, Ethan Edwards, and Tyler Duke are all juniors, seniors, or 5th year players. Luca Fantilli, who may suit up as the 7th D or could be on the third pair, is also a junior.

He’s still incredibly young, having been born just two days before the cutoff for the 2024 Draft, so there’s a ton of runway for him to develop into an effective player. David Pastrnak seemed destined for greatness from the jump, making his presence known with a 35-goal campaign just three years into his NHL career. At 23, he took it one step further, winning the Rocket Richard with a 48-goal, 95-point outburst, and earning the first Hart Trophy votes of his career, too. Just a few years after that, he was sniping 60 — joining one of the most exclusive goal-scoring clubs in the modern NHL — while topping 100 points for the first time and collecting his first Hart nomination.

The top of the Oilers’ lineup, headlined by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, is as loaded as they come. Edmonton has no problem lighting up the scoreboard with so much high-end skill on the ice, but players like Mattias Ekholm give the lineup some balance on the back end too. Bobrovsky was a large reason why the Panthers made its Stanley Cup Final run last season, but, like the team, he ran out of gas against the Golden Knights. The Panthers have limited opponents to 24.4 shots per game, but the Oilers average 28.8. The Panthers are known for their structured systems that make scoring a pain, but at the end of the day, you need an elite goaltender as the last line of defense. Florida’s netminder is 12-5 this postseason with a 2.20 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage, and one shutout.

He shows great speed, edges, and confidence in his movement when attacking off the rush and he always has the opposition on their heels trying to predict his next move. Morrow has produced a ton of offense in the NCAA, but his defensive game has really developed well with the University of Massachusetts, turning him into a much more well-rounded player. There is a good argument for Jaccob Slavin in the conversation of the best pure defensive player in the NHL. His defensive impacts are impeccable, and he has started to elevate his offensive game lately as well.

In the ensuing offseason, he was signed by the Canucks and loaned to the SHL where he played with Örebro HK and led all U20 SHL players in goals and points. Lekkerimäki was excellent at the 2024 World Junior Championship for Sweden, scoring seven goals in as many games and winning the award as the tournament’s MVP en route to a silver medal. Cole Eiserman was the 2024 Draft’s premier goal scoring prospect, and he was by far the most polarizing player in the group. He can play physically, but can sometimes get caught chasing hits and losing track of defensive coverage. Liam Greentree is a big winger who looks like he could be a great all-round player in the NHL someday if he can make some improvements to his speed and acceleration. Greentree does most things well, fighting hard in puck battles, making smart passes, and handling defensive responsibilities well.

The New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning lead the charge with six players each in the top 100, while the Anaheim Ducks and Philadelphia Flyers failed to get anyone on our list. Positionally, centers continue to dominate, with 34 of 100 slots and six of the top 10. Defensemen accounted for 28 of 100 spots, while nine goalies made the top 100 (and only one in the top 25). As for the wings, left wings win this round, with 18 in the top 100 compared to 11 right wings. Ullmark’s play was a big reason the Bruins broke the regular-season records for most points and wins last year. The Boston goaltender was sensational in net, leading the league in wins (48), GAA (1.89) and SV% (.938) en route to his first Vezina win.

He is an effective scorer, and despite having a slow start to the season, he caught up quickly and finished with over a point per game. His physicality, leadership, and playoff performances have launched him up the list over the past two years and he has become one of the most impactful players in the league. One of the best defensemen in the league, Roma Josi continues to score a significant amount of goals and points every season.

All of the concerns about Jakob Chychrun’s ability to stay healthy were put to bed last season when he played his first full season, playing in all 82 games. He did tie his career-high in points, but with a significant amount more games played than any other season, the Senators were hoping for a bit more out of him than that. Not only did he not have the offensive output they were hoping for, but his defensive game wasn’t as strong in Ottawa either. This will be a good skating team and they will play with aggression because they still have plenty of skill, but I’d hope that it isn’t as much of a defensive rollercoaster as it has been at times given the experience.