McDavid the choice again in TSN’s Top 50 Players poll

Some things never change.

Sidney Crosby averages a point per game, Alex Ovechkin scores at a 40-goal pace and Connor McDavid is the No. 1 player in TSN’s annual Top 50 NHL Players poll.

McDavid is the uncontested choice of voters … again.

He received 18 first-place votes in a poll of 20 TSN hockey experts on the eve of the 2025-26 season.

That makes it nine straight years for McDavid, who is generally regarded as the most skilled player in hockey history.

Others may have won more personal honours and more team honours – McDavid, as an example, has yet to win a Stanley Cup – but nobody, not Bobby Orr, not Mario Lemieux, has been as sensational a talent.

McDavid is coming off what he regards as a down season - witness 26 goals - but he did stretch his streak of scoring at a 100-point pace to nine seasons.

The Edmonton Oilers’ captain, whose contract expires at the end of this season, has yet to sign a new deal. He has hesitated not because of a disagreement over money but because he wants to ensure - as much as one can - to maximize his chances of winning a Cup.

McDavid’s Quest

When Legends won first Cup

> McDavid is entering his 11th NHL season

Most of the modern legends of the game - Orr, Sidney Crosby (No. 13 in this year’s Top 50), Wayne Gretzky and Lemieux - won Cups relatively early in their careers.

McDavid is entering his 11th season and can take heart from the knowledge Dominik Hasek won in his 11th season, and this year’s No. 49 Ovechkin won in his 13th season.

An important footnote is that McDavid did win the first 4 Nations Face-Off last season with Canada, scoring the championship-winning goal in overtime.

The only other player to receive No. 1 votes in the Top 50 poll was Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, who collected the other two first-place nods and finished No. 2 - runner-up to McDavid - for the second straight season and fourth time in six years.

He is a worthy candidate for top billing: MacKinnon has earned 1st all-star status at centre each of the last two seasons and was MVP of the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off.

MacKinnon has an exemplary career playoff record, averaging a point per game every single one of his nine playoff appearances, including Colorado’s run to the Stanley Cup in 2022.

Completing the top 10 are:

No. 3 Edmonton centre Leon Draisaitl is a four-time 50-goal scorer who has won the Rocket Richard, Art Ross, Hart and Ted Lindsay awards. Now he has set his sights on the Selke Trophy and recognition as one of the NHL’s premier defensive forwards.

No. 4 Colorado right defenceman Cale Makar is one of a kind. He’s the only current player with a year-end honour to his credit every season of his career. Makar made it six straight years in 2024-25 with a second Norris Trophy and third selection to the first all-star team.

No. 5 Tampa Bay right winger Nikita Kucherov went about winning a second straight scoring title in a business-like fashion and his peers took notice, voting him a second Ted Lindsay Award as the NHLers’ choice for most outstanding player.

No. 6 Vancouver left defenceman Quinn Hughes has put himself in elite company with four consecutive 60-assist seasons. Only three other blueliners have done it: Orr, Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque.

No. 7 Toronto centre Auston Matthews is only the third player in NHL history to begin his career by scoring at a 40-goal pace nine straight seasons. The other two who have done it? Bossy and Wayne Gretzky.

No. 8 Minnesota left winger Kirill (The Thrill) Kaprizov is arguably as important to his franchise as any player in the league and he knows it, reportedly turning down an eight-year, $16-million-AAV contract one season away from unrestricted free agency.

No. 9 Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck had a year for the ages in 2024-25: he won 47 games, second most in NHL history; he won his third Vezina Trophy; and he became just the fourth goalie in the Expansion Era to win the Hart Trophy.

No. 10 Boston right winger David Pastrnak has recorded three straight 100-point seasons and – in a world of wingers that includes Kucherov - is the only forward to earn a berth on the 1st or 2nd all-star team each of those years.

There are more Americans - 16 - than Canadians - 14 - in the Top 50 for the second time in four years, reflecting the narrowing of the gap between the two hockey nations. If indeed there is a gap now.

The biggest difference, of course, is in global titles. Canada has won a combined 10 Canada Cup, World Cup, 4 Nations Face-Off and Olympic competitions. The U.S. has won just once (1996 World Cup).

The upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics promises to be one of the most pitched battles yet between the two bitter rivals.

The Top 50 Players