Connor McDavid headlines the top tier of The Athletic\'s sixth annual NHL Player Tiers rankings, which categorized 150 players across five talent levels using advanced analytics and input from over 20 hockey executives.
The rankings separated players into five groups: MVP cornerstones, franchise pillars, All-Star candidates, true stars and elite support. McDavid joined teammate Leon Draisaitl, along with Nathan MacKinnon, and Cale Makar in the top MVP tier alongside other elite talents.
The Athletic consulted more than 20 hockey personnel including general managers, executives, coaches, scouts and data analysts. Former NHL players participated in the evaluation process for the first time this season.
The panel used projected Net Ratings as a baseline before making adjustments based on qualitative assessments. Net Ratings measure a player\'s contribution to team goal differential, with plus-10 representing elite performance.
\"You can sit and argue all day about some of these guys,\" one general manager said. \"They\'re all good players, and some of it\'s personal preference.\"
The ranking system starts with modeled projections based on advanced statistics before incorporating extensive panel feedback. First-line forwards begin at plus-five ratings while top-pair defensemen start at plus-three.
Multiple rounds of internal deliberation resulted in tiered groupings rather than traditional numerical rankings. The approach emphasizes player groupings over specific order within tiers.
\"Every year, it gets a little easier,\" a data analyst said about the ranking process.
Kirill Kaprizov earned placement in Tier 1C despite missing significant time last season due to injury. The Wild forward was second in goal scoring with 23 goals before his December injury.
The Athletic noted Kaprizov\'s early MVP candidacy before his injury derailed his season. His return performance included nine points in six playoff games against Vegas.
\"I think Kirill comes back this year and is in the Hart conversation,\" an executive said regarding Kaprizov\'s potential bounce-back season.
The rankings include goaltenders for the second consecutive year, with Connor Hellebuyck leading netminders in Tier 2A.
Complete NHL Player Tiers
Tier 1 — MVP Cornerstones
1A: Connor McDavid (EDM), Leon Draisaitl (EDM), Nathan MacKinnon (COL), Cale Makar (COL)
1B: Aleksander Barkov (FLA), Nikita Kucherov (TB), Quinn Hughes (VAN), Auston Matthews (TOR)
1C: Kirill Kaprizov (MIN), David Pastrnak (BOS)
Tier 2 — Franchise Pillars
2A: Sidney Crosby (PIT), Rasmus Dahlin (BUF), Jack Eichel (VGK), Miro Heiskanen (DAL), Connor Hellebuyck (WPG), Jack Hughes (NJ), Matthew Tkachuk (FLA)
2B: Mitchell Marner (VGK), Brayden Point (TB), Mikko Rantanen (DAL), Igor Shesterkin (NYR), Zach Werenski (CBJ)
2C: Sebastian Aho (CAR), Evan Bouchard (EDM), Adam Fox (NYR), Nico Hischier (NJ), Josh Morrissey (WPG), William Nylander (TOR), Artemi Panarin (NYR), Sam Reinhart (FLA), Jaccob Slavin (CAR), Andrei Vasilevskiy (TB)
Tier 3 — All-Star Candidates
3A: Matt Boldy (MIN), Jake Guentzel (TB), Brandon Hagel (TB), Thomas Harley (DAL), Victor Hedman (TB), Seth Jarvis (CAR), Roman Josi (NSH), Jason Robertson (DAL), Jake Sanderson (OTT), Tim Stutzle (OTT), Nick Suzuki (MTL), Robert Thomas (STL), Brady Tkachuk (OTT)
3B: Jesper Bratt (NJ), Macklin Celebrini (SJ), Kyle Connor (WPG), Gustav Forsling (FLA), Clayton Keller (UTA), Dylan Larkin (DET), Charlie McAvoy (BOS), Elias Pettersson (VAN), Moritz Seider (DET), Ilya Sorokin (NYI), Tage Thompson (BUF)
3C: Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA), Filip Forsberg (NSH), Lane Hutson (MTL), Jake Oettinger (DAL), Lucas Raymond (DET), Devon Toews (COL), Shea Theodore (VGK)
Tier 4 — True Stars
4A: Mathew Barzal (NYI), Connor Bedard (CHI), Noah Dobson (MTL), Nikolaj Ehlers (CAR), Wyatt Johnston (DAL), Adrian Kempe (LA), Mark Scheifele (WPG), Mikhail Sergachev (UTA), Mark Stone (VGK), Andrei Svechnikov (CAR), MacKenzie Weegar (CGY), Tom Wilson (WSH)
4B: Quinton Byfield (LA), John Carlson (WSH), Anthony Cirelli (TB), Joel Eriksson Ek (MIN), Brock Faber (MIN), Dylan Guenther (UTA), Roope Hintz (DAL), Matthew Knies (TOR), Travis Konecny (PHI), Kirill Marchenko (CBJ), Jeremy Swayman (BOS), Linus Ullmark (OTT)
4C: Sam Bennett (FLA), Logan Cooley (UTA), Mattias Ekholm (EDM), Seth Jones (FLA), Bo Horvat (NYI), Noah Hanifin (VGK), Zach Hyman (EDM), Jordan Kyrou (STL), Matvei Michkov (PHI), J.T. Miller (NYR), Martin Necas (COL), Colton Parayko (STL), Juuse Saros (NSH), John Tavares (TOR), Carter Verhaeghe (FLA), Dustin Wolf (CGY)
Tier 5 — Elite Support
5A: Pavel Buchnevich (STL), Thatcher Demko (VAN), Lukas Dostal (ANA), Pierre-Luc Dubois (WSH), Aaron Ekblad (FLA), Dougie Hamilton (NJ), Kevin Fiala (LA), Nazem Kadri (CGY), Brad Marchand (FLA), Timo Meier (NJ), Sean Monahan (CBJ), Sam Montembeault (MTL), Travis Sanheim (PHI), Anthony Stolarz (TOR), Dylan Strome (WSH)
5B: Mackenzie Blackwood (COL), Cole Caufield (MTL), Thomas Chabot (OTT), Alex DeBrincat (DET), Drew Doughty (LA), Simon Edvinsson (DET), Vladislav Gavrikov (NYR), Tomas Hertl (VGK), Anze Kopitar (LA), Esa Lindell (DAL), Ryan McDonagh (TB), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM), Alex Ovechkin (WSH), Morgan Rielly (TOR), Gabriel Vilardi (WPG)
5C: Mikey Anderson (LA), Philip Broberg (STL), Leo Carlsson (ANA), Vince Dunn (SEA), Adam Fantilli (CBJ), Conor Garland (VAN), Dylan Holloway (STL), Erik Karlsson (PIT), Jackson LaCombe (ANA), Artturi Lehkonen (COL), Jacob Markstrom (NJ), Aliaksei Protas (WSH), Bryan Rust (PIT), Dylan Samberg (WPG), Christopher Tanev (TOR), Logan Thompson (WSH), Vincent Trocheck (NYR)
Players in Tiers By Team
8 players: Tampa Bay (TB)
7 players: Dallas (DAL), New Jersey (NJ)
6 players: Colorado (COL), Edmonton (EDM), Florida (FLA), Los Angeles (LA), New York Rangers (NYR), Toronto (TOR), Washington (WSH)
5 players: Carolina (CAR), Detroit (DET), Montreal (MTL), St. Louis (STL), Winnipeg (WPG)
4 players: Boston (BOS), Buffalo (BUF), Ottawa (OTT), Utah (UTA), Vancouver (VAN), Vegas (VGK), Utah (UTA)
3 players: Calgary (CGY), Columbus (CBJ), Minnesota (MIN), Nashville (NSH), New York Islanders (NYI), Philadelphia (PHI), Pittsburgh (PIT)
2 players: Anaheim (ANA), Chicago (CHI), Seattle (SEA)
Via Sean Gentille, Shayna Goldman, Dom Luszczyszyn/The Athletic