The dawn of a new NHL campaign brings with it a familiar test for our Sportsnet Insiders.
As we have for the past two years, we put one particular question to contributors across the network in the lead-up to the new season: Who is the best in the game? Of all the historic, all-world phenoms, all the prolific young talents taking the league by storm, who truly holds the crown? And past the big-league leader holding down that throne, who comprises the rest of the league’s upper echelon?
We picked the brains of our Insiders to get a sense of an answer, asking them to rank the top 50 players in the league at this moment, each of them submitting individual lists to be amalgamated into one collective ranking.
There were only two rules. First, each list had to incorporate all skill-sets and all positions into one list. Second, the rankings had to be forward-looking — contributors couldn’t factor in legacy or past performance, only how each player is expected to perform in the coming season.
Our full Top 50 ranking was built from these lists submitted by Insiders across the network. For each Insider list, players were assigned points based on how high they finished in that particular ranking — the higher they ranked on a particular Insider’s list, the more points they accrued. Each player’s position on our overall ranking is a result of how many total points they collected across all of our Insiders’ lists.
With that, here is Sportsnet’s ranking of the top 50 players in the NHL, starting with Nos. 50-41.
The former Ottawa Senators captain begins a new chapter in 2026-27, having left Canada behind to suit up with his brother in Florida. He arrives after a season disrupted by injury — Tkachuk missed the majority of last season’s opening months with a thumb injury, and managed 22 goals and 59 points in 60 total games during his final season for the Sens. The Panthers are no doubt hoping a change of scenery, a return to full health, and a reunion with his brother will help Tkachuk return to his career-best form he showed a few years back.
It’s been a sterling four-year run for Utah’s talisman. After hitting his stride in 2022-23 with a breakout 37-goal, 86-point effort, the Chesterfield, Mo., product has collected 126 goals and 340 points over the past four campaigns, highlighted by a career-best 90-point effort in 2024-25. He took a slight step back production-wise in 2025-26, finishing the year with 26 goals and 88 points — that said, he also earned Selke Trophy votes for his improved defensive play, and crucially, helped the Mammoth earn their first playoff berth since moving to Salt Lake City. More growth, and more progress for his club, will be the goal in 2027.
After finishing in the top 25 in last year’s Insider rankings, Panarin falls to No. 48 this time around. The 34-year-old’s tenure in New York came to an end in February, with a trade that sent him west to a new chapter with the Los Angeles Kings. He left Manhattan having amassed 607 points through 482 games as a Blueshirt — a stretch that included four seasons above the 90-point plateau, two of which earned him Hart Trophy votes. His first foray in a Kings sweater over the final stretch of 2025-26 saw him score at a point-per-game pace. Now begins his true chance to write a new legacy in California.
The 2025-26 campaign was a rollercoaster for McAvoy. On one hand, the 28-year-old endured a painful season of injuries, suffering a broken jaw less than a year after a shoulder separation ended his 2024-25. On the other, the rearguard put together the most productive season of his career, amassing 61 points through 69 games and earning Norris Trophy votes for the sixth time in nine seasons. He also helped his Bruins return to the level expected of them, the club clawing its way back into the post-season after missing out in 2025. A healthier 2026-27 should bring another strong campaign for one of the B’s most pivotal leaders.
Long considered one of the game’s most underrated snipers, Guentzel enters 2026-27 coming off a career-best campaign in Tampa Bay. The 31-year-old collected a personal-best 88 points in his second season for the Bolts, along with 38 goals — his fifth season hovering around the 40-goal mark. He also earned Selke Trophy votes for the first time in his career, as his club finished among the East’s best outfits for the second straight year. The veteran Bolts will run it back with largely the same squad in 2026-27, and Guentzel figures to be a key cog in that machine once more.
After 11 seasons in a Canes sweater, Slavin found Stanley Cup glory in 2026, playing a pivotal role for Carolina as they authored a dominant climb to the championship summit. On an individual level, it was a more difficult campaign, as injuries limited Slavin to just 39 games on the year, the fewest he’s ever played in an NHL season. The shortened campaign also marked the first time in a decade the veteran wound up without any Norris votes, Slavin having earned votes for the award in each of the past nine seasons. He looked more himself during the Canes’ run, and the club will surely be hoping that form continues as they look to repeat in 2026-27.
There’s been no shortage of tumult in Winnipeg over the past couple years. After claiming the Presidents’ Trophy with a dominant 116-point season just a year ago, 2025-26 saw the Jets plummet to seventh in their division, missing the playoffs entirely. Now, the club enters 2026-27 fresh off a summer dominated by trade rumours. But amid the chaos, Connor has been among the few providing some much-needed consistency. The 29-year-old is coming off his second straight 90-point effort, and his fourth hovering around the 40-goal mark. If the Jets are to find a path back to the playoffs in 2027, another sterling effort from their star winger will be a must.
Buffalo’s season of drought-ending progress — 2025-26 saw them win their division for the first time since 2010, make the playoffs for the first time since 2011, and win a playoff round for the first time since 2007 — unsurprisingly coincided with one of the most productive seasons of Thompson’s career. The 28-year-old amassed 40 goals and 81 points on the year — his third season in and around the 40-goal plateau, and his second season above the 80-point mark. He remains the Sabres’ offensive engine, and figures to be a key factor in their hunt for more progress this season.
After back-to-back Cup runs in Florida, the 2025-26 campaign wound up one to forget for Tkachuk and the Panthers alike. A lower-body injury suffered at the 4 Nations Face-Off sidelined the veteran winger for the first half of the season. And the Panthers, who endured plenty of other ill-timed injuries throughout their lineup, tumbled to second-last in the Atlantic, missing the post-season for the first time since 2019. Tkachuk managed 34 points in 31 games, but he’ll no doubt have eyes on returning to his Hart Trophy finalist form from 2023.
The Lightning’s cerebral pivot was ranked as high as No. 16 on our Insiders’ 2025 list, but falls to No. 41 after a disappointing 2025-26. A January 2026 knee injury derailed Point’s season, forcing him to miss the Olympic Games in Milan — all told, he managed 18 goals and 50 points for the Bolts, a sharp decline from the 40-goal, 82-point line he’d pieced together a year prior. After three straight seasons above 40 goals and 80 points — highlighted by a 51-goal, 95-point outburst in 2022-23 — the Lightning faithful will no doubt be hoping for a healthy return to form for their veteran centreman in 2026-27.
Check back Tuesday for Nos. 40-31.