The 2026-27 NHL season is 10 days old, and it has already been a wild campaign. Rookies have made exciting debuts, Igor Shesterkin scored a goal, and Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers put on an incredible scoring display.
This week ESPN released its annual NHL Rank, listing the top 100 players for the coming season as voted on by a panel of broadcasters, reporters and analysts. The updated 1-32 team poll is based on games through Wednesday, with points percentages through Thursday's games and previous rankings taken from the preseason preview.
The Colorado Avalanche, ranked first, landed five players on the list: Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Martin Necas, Mackenzie Blackwood and Devon Toews. The Utah Mammoth, off to a surprisingly hot start, have four Top 100 players: Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley and Mikhail Sergachev. The Vegas Golden Knights, despite a 2026 Stanley Cup Final appearance, placed just four players: Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone and Shea Theodore.
The Minnesota Wild have Quinn Hughes and Kirill Kaprizov in the top 10, along with Matt Boldy in the top 20 and the currently injured Brock Faber at No. 72. The New York Rangers have just two representatives, Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox. The Florida Panthers will rely on four top-50 players, including Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, while the Carolina Hurricanes, the reigning Cup champions, have five, including Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis.
Source: ESPN NHL · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing