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ESPN staff
With the 2021-22 NHL season in full swing, we present our annual ranking of the league’s top 100 players.
To create our list, we asked an ESPN panel of more than 50 hockey experts to rate players based on how good they will be in the 2021-22 season compared to their peers. Emphasis was placed solely on expectations for the upcoming season and predicting potential greatness, rather than past performance, career résumé or positional value. That means long-term injuries, like the one Nikita Kucherov is dealing with, played a part. From those ratings, we were able to rank the best of the best, 1 to 100. Jack Eichel, whose near-term future is clouded by both injury and a possible trade, finished outside the top 100.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning lead the way with seven players in the top 100, followed by the Vegas Golden Knights, with six. Despite hot starts by the Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks, those are the only teams that don’t have a player on the list.
Jump to notables outside the top 10:
Crosby | Ovechkin | Kucherov
Kane | Bergeron | Stamkos
Giroux | Fleury | Malkin
See more: Experts pick snubs, more
2020 rank: 1
Age: 24
He’s the NHL’s human highlight reel. “You turn on the TV, and if the Oilers played, you’re going to get a McDavid highlight, somehow and some way,” Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice said. McDavid plays the game at a different speed, posterizing defensemen with his stickhandling while creating offensive chances at full velocity. His career 1.42 points-per-game rate ranks him fourth in NHL history (minimum 400 games). This season, he’s producing at a rate that has him on track to crack 200 points — something only Wayne Gretzky has accomplished, the last time in 1985-86. There used to be a conversation about the best player in the world. Once McDavid started improving his defensive play, as he did last season, that conversation ended. It’s Connor’s world, and we’re just spinning in it. –Greg…
Source : espn
