Every year, media outlets such as NHL Network and ESPN put out lists ranking the top players in the NHL. For the first time, Devils Army Network will be doing the same. We will be ranking the top-20 hockey players in the world. This list was created by averaging out the lists of seven of our staff members. The data was collected and this was the result.
#1 – Connor McDavid, Center (EDM)
2025 NHLN Rank – #1
2025 ESPN Rank – #1
If there was any question that Connor McDavid would be anywhere but one on this list, that was put to rest when every single list submitted had him first. McDavid isn’t just the best player right now, but one of the best ever. A true generational talent on every level.
#2 – Nathan MacKinnon, Center (COL)
2025 NHLN Rank – #2
2025 ESPN Rank – #3
Three different players received second place votes, but Mackinnon was the only one to get more than one. If there was one player who has the skillset and talent to challenge McDavid for his top spot on this list, it’s Mackinnon with his explosive speed and elite hands.
#3 – Cale Makar, Defenseman (COL)
2025 NHLN Rank – #4
2025 ESPN Rank – #2
While there is some debate among the NHL community as to who the best defenseman is right now, there was none among our staff. Cale Makar ranked a firm third on this list being ranked in that spot on five of the seven lists. When it’s all said and done, there may be no defenseman in NHL history with the offensive output of Cale Makar.
#4 – Leon Draisaitl, Center (EDM)
2025 NHLN Rank – #3
2025 ESPN Rank – #4
Leon Draisaitl is the wingman to Connor McDavid, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t great in his own right. Since 2018-19, the German center hasn’t scored less than 40 goals in a season except the shortened 2021 season where he scored 31 in 56 games. Draisaitl is a major reason why the Oilers have been a top team in the west over the past half-decade.
#5 – Nikita Kucherov, Winger (TBL)
2025 NHLN Rank – #5
2025 ESPN Rank – #5
While there is a consensus that Connor McDavid is the best player in the NHL, there are a group of players that at least some of the public eye thinks are the second best. Nikita Kucherov is definitely on that list, being ranked as high as second on one of the lists.
There is an argument to be made that Kucherov is the smartest player in the NHL, with even players like Nathan MacKinnon saying he wishes he was like Kucherov. Definitely high praise from another one of the league’s best.
#6 – Auston Matthews, Center (TOR)
2025 NHLN Rank – #15
2025 ESPN Rank – #8
There is a lot of divide on public opinion of Auston Matthews, which clearly shows the difference between ESPN and NHL Network’s ranking of the now 10th-year center. While Matthews’ was definitely underwhelming in the postseason last year, injuries clearly played a massive role in that. In the regular season last year, in what was considered a ‘down year” for him, he put up 33 goals and 78 points in just 67 games. There’s still a high-end player in Auston Matthews, which leads to his ranking of sixth on our list.
#7 – Connor Hellebuyck, Goaltender (WPG)
2025 NHLN Rank – #8
2025 ESPN Rank – #6
NHL Network has Connor Hellebuyck at eight, ESPN has him at six, we have him right in the middle at seven. Hellebuyck was the highest ranked goaltender on all seven of the lists submitted for this article, and for good reason. From 2022-23 to 2024-25, Connor Hellebuyck had a .922 save percentage (SV%), and 122.45 goals saved above expected (GSAx).
The gap for GSAx between Hellebuyck and Ilya Sorokin in second is 41.4, the same gap between Sorokin and Stuart Skinner in 11th. Pure domination in net deservedly gets Hellebuyck in the top 10 of this list.
#8 – David Pastrnak, Winger (BOS)
2025 NHLN Rank – #11
2025 ESPN Rank – #11
There was actually some consensus between NHL Network and ESPN as to where to rank Pastrnak, but we believe that is actually too low. Pastrnak was only ranked outside the top 10 in one of our seven lists, and was ranked as high as four on one. He isn’t just an elite goal scorer, he’s an elite play driver. Among all NHL players since 2018-19, he ranks fourth in wins above replacement (WAR) via JFresh and TopDown Hockey.
#9 – Quinn Hughes, Defenseman (VAN)
2025 NHLN Rank – #10
2025 ESPN Rank – #7
While many Devils fans think that Jack is the best Hughes, he falls just short of his big brother on this list. Quinn was ranked as the second-best defenseman on all but one list where he was the third highest blueliner. While injuries have caused Hughes to miss some time over the last year or so, he has still absolutely dominated when on the ice.
#10 – Aleksander Barkov, Center (FLA)
2025 NHLN Rank – #6
2025 ESPN Rank – N/A
Aleksander Barkov has been praised as the best two-way center for some time now, culminating in back-to-back Selke trophies to pair with his back-to-back Stanley Cups. While Barkov is unfortunately expected to miss the entirety of this season with an ACL tear (which is why he is unranked on ESPN’s list), that doesn’t take away from what he has done to get him ranked 10th on this list.
#11 – Kirill Kaprizov, Winger (MIN)
2025 NHLN Rank – #12
2025 ESPN Rank – #15
Kirill ‘the thrill’ is one of the most electric players in the NHL. He is now also the richest player in the NHL, as the Russian winger inked an eight-year, $136 million extension to stay in Minnesota for the foreseeable future. While that’s a lot of money, it is well deserved. Through the first six years of his career, Kaprizov has averaged 100 points per 82 games.
#12 – Jack Hughes, Center (NJD)
2025 NHLN Rank – #31
2025 ESPN Rank – #36
While this is a Devils blog, it’s hard to say that when Jack Hughes is on the ice he isn’t one of the best players in the world. Since the 2021-22 season, Hughes has scored 317 points in 267 games while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per game. Jack has also quietly become an elite defensive forward, ranking in the 80th percentile of even strength defense over the past three seasons.
If Hughes can stay on the ice this season, his ranking on ESPN and NHL Network’s annual lists will shoot back up into the top 20.
#13 – Mikko Rantanen, Winger (DAL)
2025 NHLN Rank – #13
2025 ESPN Rank – #10
Mikko Rantanen has garnered respect around the NHL for quite some time, but when he was traded away from Colorado the question was if he could continue to produce at an elite level away from Nathan Mackinnon. Rantanen showed that he certainly could when he scored 12 points in seven games to beat Mackinnon’s Avalanche as a member of the Dallas Stars in the first round of last year’s playoffs.
#14 – Jack Eichel, Center (VGK)
2025 NHLN Rank – #14
2025 ESPN Rank – #9
Jack Eichel was seen as an elite player in Buffalo, but it took a trade to a contender in Vegas for him to propel himself into the superstar echelon. Last season, Eichel had his best yet with a career high 94 points, but there was still some variety in where he was placed on the submitted lists. Eichel is the first player on this ranking who went unranked on a list, but was also ranked as high as eighth on another one.
#15 – Sidney Crosby, Center (PIT)
2025 NHLN Rank – #7
2025 ESPN Rank – #21
Sidney Crosby has a 14 spot difference between NHL Network and ESPN, but was one of the more consistently ranked players for us. Crosby had the eighth lowest range among all players, and the lowest among all players ranked outside the top 10. At age 38, ‘Sid the Kid’ is still showing that he is still one of the best players in the NHL, leading his Penguins to their best start in years.
#16 – Matthew Tkachuk, Winger (FLA)
2025 NHLN Rank – #20
2025 ESPN Rank – #72
Matthew Tkachuk is one of the most unique players in the NHL due to his combination of skill and physicality. While he won’t play until the midway part of the year, which is why he’s ranked so low on ESPN’s list, when he finally gets back into the ‘Cats lineup he will no doubt come in as one of their best players.
#17 – Mitch Marner, Winger (VGK)
2025 NHLN Rank – #18
2025 ESPN Rank – #18
Mitch Marner had the best regular season of his career last year, breaking the 100 point mark for the first time. Following yet another disappointing playoff run for Toronto, the elite two-way winger decided to make the move out west to Vegas where he has gotten off to a hot start with his new team.
#18 – Igor Shesterkin, Goaltender (NYR)
2025 NHLN Rank – #26
2025 ESPN Rank – #14
While Igor Shesterkin hasn’t been able to equal the numbers from his 2021-22 Vezina Trophy winning season, the rest of the NHL hasn’t forgotten that he is a large reason why the Rangers are a competitive team. Since entering the league full time in 2020-21, Shesterkin is second in the NHL in GSAx with an incredible 115.7. That mark is only behind the sole netminder ahead of him on this list, Connor Hellebuyck.
#19 – Andrei Vasilevskiy, Goaltender (TBL)
2025 NHLN Rank – #9
2025 ESPN Rank – #12
It couldn’t have been closer between Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy’s spots on this list. Only 0.14 separated them in average ranking among the seven lists. Since becoming a full time starter in 2016-17, Vasilevskiy has only had less than a .915 SV% once and it was 2023-24 when he missed the first two months of the season with injury.
#20 – William Nylander, Winger (TOR)
2025 NHLN Rank – #19
2025 ESPN Rank – #26
William Nylander has quietly been one of the best goal scorers in hockey over the past three seasons, notching at least 40 goals in each season and ranking eighth among all players in goals in that span. His impressive play has done just enough to put Nylander inside the top NHL 20 players according to us.
Honorable Mentions
These are the players that received three or more votes, enough to be considered for the list, but whose average ranking placed them outside the top 20:
Zach Werenski, Defenseman (CBJ)
Zach Werenski was on all but one, the most of any player not ranked. His impressive 2024-25 season was not quite enough to get him in the top 20.
Miro Heiskanen, Defenseman (DAL)
Miro Heiskanen missed a significant amount of time last season with a knee injury, but still garnered enough attention among our staff to nearly be ranked.
Brayden Point, Center (TBL)
Point’s consistently great play got him on four lists and as high as No. 17 on one. However, his exclusion from three kept him outside the top-20.
Jason Robertson, Winger (DAL)
As the second Dallas Star that just missed the top 20, Jason Robertson got a few nods based on his elite analytical profile combined with great counting stats.
Kyle Connor, Winger (WPG)
Connor has become one the league’s more underrated players, culminating in a career-year last season with 97 points.
Sam Reinhart, Center (FLA)
Sam Reinhart has become one of the best two-way players in hockey since being traded to Florida, getting him on four lists.
Other Players Receiving Votes
- Rasmus Dahlin – BUF (2)
- Alex Ovechkin – WSH (2)
- Tage Thompson – BUF (1)
- Sebastian Aho – CAR (1)
- Jaccob Slavin – CAR (1)
- Wyatt Johnston – DAL (1)
- Sergei Bobrovsky – FLA (1)
- Jesper Bratt – NJD (1)
- Nico Hischier – NJD (1)
- Adam Fox – NYR (1)
- Artemi Panarin – NYR (1)
- Macklin Celebrini – SJS (1)
- Logan Cooley – UTA (1)
- Elias Pettersson – VAN (1)