McDavid the unanimous No. 1 in TSN's Top 50 players ranking
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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.
Class Of Their Own - 3 M's Dominate Voting
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connor McDavid | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Auston Matthews | 0 | 12 | 6 |
| Cale Makar | 0 | 6 | 10 |
Connor McDavid collected all 20 first-place votes becoming a unanimous choice as No. 1 in TSN annual polling for the second straight year. Matthews and Makar were definitive choices at No. 2 and 3, combining for 18 of 20 second-place votes and 16 of 20 third-place ballots.
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
| Player | Pos | 2021-22 RK | 2022-23 RK | GP | G | A | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Connor McDavid, Edm | C | 1 | 1 | 80 | 44 | 79 | 123 |
| 2. Auston Matthews, Tor | C | 3 | 2 | 73 | 60 | 46 | 106 |
| 3. Cale Makar, Col | RD | 12 | 3 | 77 | 28 | 58 | 86 |
| 4. Leon Draisaitl, Edm | C | 5 | 4 | 80 | 55 | 55 | 110 |
| 5. Nathan MacKinnon, Col | C | 2 | 5 | 65 | 32 | 56 | 88 |
| 6. Victor Hedman, TB | LD | 7 | 6 | 82 | 20 | 65 | 85 |
| 7. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB | G | 6 | 7 | 63 | 2.67 | .916 | 5 |
| 8. Nikita Kucherov, TB | RW | 4 | 8 | 47 | 25 | 44 | 69 |
| 9. Aleksander Barkov, Fla | C | 10 | 9 | 67 | 39 | 49 | 88 |
| 10. Kirill Kaprizov, Min | LW | 26 | 10 | 81 | 47 | 61 | 108 |
| 11. Sidney Crosby, Pit | C | 9 | 11 | 69 | 31 | 53 | 84 |
| 12. Mitchell Marner, Tor | RW | 16 | 12 | 72 | 35 | 62 | 97 |
| 13. Roman Josi, Nsh | LD | 31 | 13 | 80 | 23 | 73 | 96 |
| 14. Jonathan Huberdeau, Cgy | LW | 18 | 14 | 80 | 30 | 85 | 115 |
| 15. Igor Shesterkin, NYR | G | 15 | 53 | 2.07 | .935 | 6 | |
| 16. Artemi Panarin, NYR | LW | 8 | 16 | 75 | 22 | 74 | 96 |
| 17. Johnny Gaudreau, CBJ | LW | 17 | 82 | 40 | 75 | 115 | |
| 18. Adam Fox, NYR | RD | 23 | 18 | 78 | 11 | 63 | 74 |
| 19. Matthew Tkachuk, Fla | LW/RW | 19 | 82 | 42 | 62 | 104 | |
| 20. Alex Ovechkin, Wsh | LW | 17 | 20 | 77 | 50 | 40 | 90 |
| 21. Mikko Rantanen, Col | RW | 19 | 21 | 65 | 32 | 56 | 88 |
| 22. Patrick Kane, Chi | RW | 14 | 22 | 78 | 26 | 66 | 92 |
| 23. Steven Stamkos, TB | C | 23 | 81 | 42 | 64 | 106 | |
| 24. Brad Marchand, Bos | LW | 11 | 24 | 70 | 32 | 48 | 80 |
| 25. David Pastrnak, Bos | RW | 15 | 25 | 72 | 40 | 37 | 77 |
| 26. Brayden Point, TB | C | 13 | 26 | 66 | 28 | 30 | 58 |
| 27. Sebastian Aho, Car | C | 22 | 27 | 79 | 37 | 44 | 81 |
| 28. J.T. Miller, Van | C | 28 | 80 | 32 | 67 | 99 | |
| 29. Kyle Connor, Wpg | LW | 34 | 29 | 79 | 47 | 46 | 93 |
| 30. Charlie McAvoy, Bos | RD | 39 | 30 | 78 | 10 | 46 | 56 |
| 31. Filip Forsberg, Nsh | LW | 31 | 69 | 42 | 42 | 84 | |
| 32. Mika Zibanejad, NYR | C | 27 | 32 | 81 | 29 | 52 | 81 |
| 33. Patrice Bergeron, Bos | C | 25 | 33 | 73 | 25 | 40 | 65 |
| 34. Jacob Markstrom, Cgy | G | 34 | 63 | 2.22 | .922 | 9 | |
| 35. Jack Eichel, VGK | C | 35 | 35 | 34 | 14 | 11 | 21 |
| 36. Elias Lindholm, Cgy | C | 36 | 82 | 42 | 40 | 82 | |
| 37. Nazem Kadri, Cgy | C | 37 | 71 | 28 | 59 | 87 | |
| 38. Aaron Ekblad, Fla | RD | 38 | 61 | 15 | 42 | 57 | |
| 39. Gabriel Landeskog, Col | LW | 44 | 39 | 51 | 30 | 29 | 59 |
| 40. Juuse Saros, Nsh | G | 40 | 67 | 2.64 | .918 | 4 | |
| 41. Jake Guentzel, Pit | LW | 45 | 41 | 76 | 40 | 44 | 84 |
| 42. Jaccob Slavin, Car | LD | 42 | 79 | 4 | 38 | 42 | |
| 43. John Carlson, Wsh | RD | 41 | 43 | 78 | 17 | 54 | 71 |
| 44. Jason Robertson, Dal | LW | 44 | 74 | 41 | 38 | 79 | |
| 45. Moritz Seider, Det | RD | 45 | 82 | 23 | 34 | 57 | |
| 46. Quinn Hughes, Van | LD | 38 | 46 | 76 | 8 | 60 | 68 |
| 47. Alex DeBrincat, Ott | LW | 47 | 82 | 41 | 37 | 78 | |
| 48. Chris Kreider, NYR | LW | 48 | 81 | 52 | 25 | 77 | |
| 49. Jack Hughes, NJ | C | 49 | 49 | 26 | 30 | 56 | |
| 50. Kris Letang, Pit | RD | 50 | 78 | 10 | 58 | 68 |