Much has been made of Marchenko slotting in on the left side of the top line, in the spot formerly held by Matthew Knies, despite playing primarily as a right winger during his time in Columbus. But the shift to the left is, in fact, a return to Marchenko’s natural position, rather than an experiment.

For all the chaos and upending that came in the hours before his Maple Leafs debut, Kirill Marchenko made the promise of his impact immensely clear in his first outing.

In a league dominated by jaw-dropping, record-setting talent, who truly holds the crown? We asked Sportsnet’s Insiders to rank the best of the best, and in this edition, we roll out the top 10.

The countdown in our top 50 NHLers ranking continues, with players 30-21. This section of the list includes a trio of elite blue-liners and a couple award-winning goalies.

Amid the flurry of off-season moves made by the Maple Leafs this summer, the club's early splash in net has gotten lost in the shuffle. But make no mistake, Sergei Bobrovsky has wasted no time making his presence felt in Toronto.

As we get close to the start of a new NHL season, we surveyed our group of Insiders to come up with a list of the top 50 players in the NHL for 2026-27. We'll unveil that list this week, starting with players ranked 50-41.