Draisaitl vaults to No. 1 in TSN's Top 25 NHL Players this season

Leon Draisaitl is not yet the highest-paid player in the NHL, but he is the highest ranked.

That’s the headline from our annual Mid-Season Top 25 NHL Player Ranking, based on performance in 2024-25 and voted on by a panel of 12 TSN hockey experts.

Draisaitl earned No. 1 status on the strength of an outstanding first four months of the season after signing an eight-year, $14-million AAV extension that will almost certainly make him the highest-paid player in 2025-26.

With 36 goals in 51 games, the superstar Edmonton centre is the only player on pace for 50 this season – 58 to be precise.

His 76 points are second to No. 2-ranked Nathan MacKinnon’s 78. If you don’t include empty-net points (three for Draisaitl and 12 for MacKinnon), Draisaitl is first in points with 73 compared to MacKinnon’s 66.

MacKinnon was first in balloting at this time last year.

Perennial pre-season No. 1 Connor McDavid has had an injury- and suspension-interrupted season but still has 67 points in 45 games and stands No. 3 at mid-season.

Arguably, McDavid hasn’t been the best Connor. That distinction probably belongs to Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

The Jets’ franchise goalie is No. 4 on TSN’s list – but No. 1 in every significant NHL goalie statistical category: starts (41), wins (32), goals-against average (2.00), save percentage (.927) and Evolving Hockey’s goals saved above expected (37).

He belongs at the heart of any Hart Trophy conversation.

Completing the top five is Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov, who leads the league in points per game with 75 in 48 games (1.56).

Blue-chip blueliners, Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes (No. 6) and Colorado’s Cale Makar (No. 7), are up next.

The two will go head-to-head in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and, no doubt, again in Norris Trophy voting.

Hughes has a defenceman-high 58 points, a shocking 23 more than any other Canuck, and Makar has 18 goals, most among NHL blueliners.

There is virtually no daylight between Hughes and Makar according to our experts – a mere one voting point separated them.

Rounding out the top 10 are No. 8 and new Carolina Hurricane Mikko Rantanen, the rare superstar traded in-season, No. 9 Mitch Marner, tied for second in first assists (35), and No. 10 Kyle Connor, who rises from No. 47 in the pre-season ranking.

Conspicuously absent from the Top 25 are Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby:

- At age 39, Ovechkin’s  23 goals in 35 games place him second to Draisaitl in goals per game (0.66 to 0.71). And with 876 career regular season goals, Ovechkin stands only 19 away from surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time high 894. The Washington captain is on pace to hit 895 in 29 games, on April 13 vs. Columbus, two contests before the end of the regular season.

- At age 37, Pittsburgh icon and newly named Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby is on pace for a record 20th straight point-per-game season.

Two members of the Top 25 have legitimate beefs with Team Canada management. Both were snubbed when the 4 Nations roster was announced in early December.

- No. 14: Washington’s Logan Thompson is tied with Hellebuyck for best save percentage (.927, albeit in 14 fewer starts);  Adin Hill’s .901 save percentage is the best of Canada’s three goalies.

- No. 17: Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele has 31 goals, tops among all Canadian NHLers.

The Jets lead the way in our Top 25 with four players: Hellebuyck, Connor, Scheifele and No. 25 Josh Morrissey. Toronto has three representatives: Marner, No. 20 William Nylander and No. 23 Auston Matthews. Colorado also has three players: MacKinnon, Makar and No. 21 Martin Necas.

Matthews, aka Captain America as of Thursday’s 4 Nations leadership announcements, has played 36 games this season – one more than Ovechkin and one fewer than No. 12-ranked Kirill Kaprizov (37), the Minnesota forward who is fifth in points per game (1.41) and sidelined for at least a month with a lower-body injury.

In terms of national representation,  Canada leads with 10 players in the Top 25, three more than second-place USA (7).

See the full Top 25 list below, which includes each player's pre-season ranking from our Top 50 list compiled last September.