McDavid tops Matthews, Makar for No. 1 on TSN's Top 50 players
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The Crosby-McDavid TSN Top 50 Dynasty has reached 13 years.
Connor McDavid is No. 1 in the TSN pre-season player rankings for a sixth straight season after a seven-year reign by Sidney Crosby.
And it wasn’t close, even though Toronto centre Auston Matthews and Stanley Cup-winning Colorado defenceman Cale Makar had sensational 2021-22 seasons
No. 2-ranked Matthews was the NHL’s uncontested premier regular season performer, winning the Rocket Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. Matthews received four times as many first-place votes in Hart voting as defending MVP McDavid.
No. 3-ranked Makar, meanwhile, won the Norris Trophy and was the unanimous choice for the Conn Smythe Trophy, becoming just the third defenceman in league history to win both honours in the same season. The other two? Eight-time Norris winner Bobby Orr and seven-time Norris winner Nicklas Lidstrom.
Still, McDavid received all 20 first-place votes, earning unanimous status as TSN’s projected No. 1 player for the 2022-23 season.
It is the second straight season McDavid has been the all-in choice for No. 1.
To be clear, McDavid’s bona fides are impeccable. The Edmonton superstar won the regular season and playoff scoring titles – setting career highs in goals for each – becoming the first player to do since Evgeni Malkin in 2009.
As usual an extraordinary number of his goals and assists shouldn’t have been counted as much as hung in a museum to preserve for future generations to appreciate.
McDavid remains hockey’s most spectacular player, even in the face of a challenge from Makar, and is justifiably regarded as the most highly evolved player in hockey history.
He won the playoff scoring title with 33 points – among them 10 goals and 17 primary assists – despite Edmonton losing in the third round.
Oiler running mate and fellow centre Leon Draisaitl finished one point behind McDavid in the postseason scoring race – collecting an NHL-record 17 points in five second-round games versus Calgary – and finished No. 4 in the TSN poll.
The Great Nate, Nathan MacKinnon, is No. 5. The Colorado centre ranks third all-time in playoff points per game, standing in the shadows of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
The TSN Top 10 is filled out, in order, by a trio of Tampa Bay Lightning, No. 6 defenceman Victor Hedman, No. 7 goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and No. 8 right winger Nikita Kucherov, plus No. 9 Florida centre Aleksander Barkov and No. 10 Minnesota left winger Kirill Kaprizov.
Top 50 Players for 2022-23 (For stats and more go to TSN.ca):
1. Connor McDavid, Edm
2. Auston Matthews, Tor
3. Cale Makar, Col
4. Leon Draisaitl, Edm
5. Nathan MacKinnon, Col
6. Victor Hedman, TB
7. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB
8. Nikita Kucherov, TB
9. Aleksander Barkov, Fla
10. Kirill Kaprizov, Min
11. Sidney Crosby, Pit
12. Mitchell Marner, Tor
13. Roman Josi, Nsh
14. Jonathan Huberdeau, Cgy
15. Igor Shesterkin, NYR
16. Artemi Panarin, NYR
17. Johnny Gaudreau, CBJ
18. Adam Fox, NYR
19. Matthew Tkachuk, Fla
20. Alex Ovechkin, Wsh
21. Mikko Rantanen, Col
22. Patrick Kane, Chi
23. Steven Stamkos, TB
24. Brad Marchand, Bos
25. David Pastrnak, Bos
26. Brayden Point, TB
27. Sebastian Aho, Car
28. J.T. Miller, Van
29. Kyle Connor, Wpg
30. Charlie McAvoy, Bos
31. Filip Forsberg, Nsh
32. Mika Zibanejad, NYR
33. Patrice Bergeron, Bos
34. Jacob Markstrom, Cgy
35. Jack Eichel, VGK
36. Elias Lindholm, Cgy
37. Nazem Kadri, Cgy
38. Aaron Ekblad, Fla
39. Gabriel Landeskog, Col
40. Juuse Saros, Nsh
41. Jake Guentzel, Pit
42. Jaccob Slavin, Car
43. John Carlson, Wsh
44. Jason Robertson, Dal
45. Moritz Seider, Det
46. Quinn Hughes, Van
47. Alex DeBrincat, Ott
48. Chris Kreider, NYR
49. Jack Hughes, NJ
50. Kris Letang, Pit