A quartet of all-world centremen dominate the next crop of talent featured in our Sportsnet Insiders’ rankings of the top 50 players in the NHL.
Before the new season begins, we’ve tasked our team with sorting out who ranks as the unequivocal best in the game. To get a sense of an answer, we called on contributors from across the network to compile their own individual rankings of the top 50 players in the league.
The rules were simple. First, each list had to incorporate all skill-sets and all positions into one 50-player list. Second, the rankings had to be forward-looking — contributors couldn’t factor in legacy or past performance, only how each player is expected to perform in the coming season.
Our full Top 50 ranking was built from these individual lists submitted by Insiders across the network. For each Insider list, players were assigned points based on how high they finished in that particular ranking — the higher they ranked on a particular Insider’s list, the more points they accrued. Each player’s position on our overall ranking is a result of how many total points they collected across all of our Insiders’ lists.
With that, here is Sportsnet’s ranking of the top 50 players in the NHL, continuing with Nos. 20-11.
Last Year: Unranked
The 2025-26 campaign marked Boldy’s ascent to the league’s elite. After four quality seasons of steady progress in Minnesota, the 25-year-old stitched together a career year for the Wild, collecting personal bests of 42 goals and 85 points. Those sums had Boldy finish top five in goals among wingers across the league, and top 10 in points. He played a key role for the Americans on the Olympic stage too, pulling out an incredible individual effort to score the first goal of the tournament’s gold-medal game. Minnesota will be hoping for similar heroics from their young winger as they push for post-season glory in 2027.
Last Year: Unranked
It was no doubt a breakout season for the rookie of the year, Matthew Schaefer, too. The 19-year-old surprised all by fitting in as seamlessly as he did, launching his big-league career with a sterling 23-goal, 59-point season on Long Island. He made history along the way, becoming the youngest blue-liner to post 50 points in the NHL, and tying Brian Leetch for the most goals tallied by a rookie defender. Still a teenager, with plenty of growth and experience and progress ahead of him, the Islanders will be hoping 2026-27 brings only more production and more history for their young talisman.
Last Year: No. 17
After a near-decade in Toronto, Marner began a new chapter in Vegas in 2025-26 and reminded the Maple Leafs faithful why he was such an essential cog in the blue-and-white machine. Though the regular season wound up a bit of a rollercoaster, and the winger saw his production take a step back on that front — posting 80 points for the Knights a year after his first 100-point campaign — the 29-year-old flexed his full offensive might in the post-season. A key contributor during Vegas’s march to the Stanley Cup Final, Marner finished the run with a league-leading 29 points in 22 games. The Knights will hope he can bring that post-season form to the full 82-game campaign in 2026-27, too.
Last Year: No. 13
The past few seasons have been stocked full of tumult for Rantanen. First came a 2024-25 campaign that saw Rantanen open the year with Colorado before moving first to Carolina, and finally to Dallas. Then came 2025-26, his first full season with the Stars, which saw the veteran collect 77 points in 64 games before tearing his MCL at the Olympics in Milan. Sidelined from early February until late March, Rantanen returned for the final 10 games of the season — putting up a goal and an assist in his first game back — and suiting up for the playoffs. His skill is undeniable and his resumé speaks for itself — the Stars are simply hoping for a healthy season from their $12-million man.
Last Year: No. 28
Eight years after being tabbed first-overall by the Sabres and breaking into the league as an 18-year-old, Dahlin seems to be at the peak of his powers. The now-26-year-old enters the new campaign fresh off the first Norris Trophy nomination of his career, having collected 19 goals and a career-best 74 points for Buffalo. More importantly, the Sabres captain led his club to its first division title since 2010, and its first post-season berth since 2011. Bounced in Game 7 of the second round by Montreal, Dahlin finished second in team scoring in the playoffs. Now, they enter 2026-27 eyeing another step forward in the East.
Last Year: No. 7
The Maple Leafs’ captain was ranked in the top 10 by our Insiders last season. But after the most difficult campaign of his career — disrupted by injury, his production dipping, his Maple Leafs missing the playoffs for the first time since he arrived in Toronto — Matthews drops to No. 15 this year. Limited to 60 games on the season and suffering a knee injury in mid-March, Matthews finished with 27 goals and 53 points, the lowest totals of his career. But much has changed in Toronto since. The club heads into 2026-27 with a new GM at the helm, a new coach directing traffic, and a new talent — 2026 No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna — injecting some new hope. The Leafs faithful will hope the changes bring back Matthews’ best, too.
Last Year: No. 29
Moving in the opposite direction, Suzuki rises from No. 29 on our Insiders’ ranking last year to No. 14 this time around, following a career year in Montreal. The 27-year-old has built steadily over the past few seasons, just as the club around him has. Then came a dominant 2025-26 that saw the Canadiens captain put up his first 100-point season, earn Hart Trophy votes, and win the first Selke Trophy of his career — before leading the Habs in scoring as they pushed to the third round of the playoffs. Approaching bona fide contender territory, the Canadiens will look to make a push once more in 2026-27, and Suzuki figures to lead the charge at both ends of the sheet once again.
Last Year: No. 12
Even approaching 40 years old, the Penguins captain remains one of the premier talents in the game. After three straight 90-point efforts in his mid-30s, Crosby enjoyed a productive 2025-26, scoring at a similar pace. A knee injury suffered at the Olympic Games disrupted his season, with the captain limited to 68 games on the year. Still, Crosby finished 2025-26 with 29 goals and 74 points, earning Hart and Selke votes once again as his Penguins clawed their way back to the post-season. Father Time may be closing in, but No. 87 has shown no signs of slowing down yet. After a flurry of off-season changes, the Pens will be looking to build on their 2026 progress, and another productive season from Crosby will, as always, be pivotal to their efforts.
Last Year: No. 10
If there was any doubt about just how crucial Barkov’s contributions are to the Panthers’ cause, last season cleared up any confusion. The Cats captain missed the entirety of the 2025-26 season after tearing his ACL and MCL during training camp last September. His club, in turn, wound up missing the playoffs, going off the rails without their captain just a year after claiming back-to-back Stanley Cups. Now healthy and ready to reclaim his spot atop the Panthers’ lineup, the all-world centre figures to pull the Cats back into the Eastern elite. The last time he was healthy, the 31-year-old put up 71 points in 67 games for Florida, and won the third Selke of his career.
Last Year: No. 8
The Wild’s talisman is fresh off a resurgent return from injury himself. After missing half of 2024-25 with lower-body ailments, Kaprizov found his elite form again in 2025-26, collecting 45 goals and 89 points for the Wild, earning Hart votes for the fifth time in his six NHL seasons. The 29-year-old finished fourth in the Rocket Richard race, and tallied the second-most goals among all big-league wingers as Minnesota pushed to the second round of the playoffs. Now a few years into their run as Western contenders, the Wild are seeking more playoff progress while their star-studded core remains intact. Much of that pressure will rest on the shoulders of Kaprizov, who begins 2026-27 as the second-highest-paid player in the game.
Check back Friday for Nos. 10-1.
