Werenski, Eichel and Pastrnak headline Sportsnet’s 2026-27 NHL top 10

Sportsnet has completed its league-wide ranking project by unveiling the final portion of its Top 50 NHL players list for the 2026-27 season, covering places 10 through 1. The network turned to its Insiders to sort out which stars should be considered the very best in today’s NHL, with all positions thrown into the same pool and the focus squarely on the upcoming campaign.

Forward-looking method across all positions

To build the Top 50, Sportsnet asked Insiders from across the network to submit individual rankings of the league’s best players, from first to 50th, regardless of position. Each slot on those ballots carried a point value, with higher placements earning more points. The final list reflects the total points accumulated by each player across all of those Insider ballots.

Two ground rules shaped the exercise. First, forwards, defencemen and goaltenders all had to be ranked together rather than in separate categories. Second, the lists were meant to be forward-looking: Insiders were instructed to weigh how each player is expected to perform in 2026-27, not to reward career resumes or long-term reputation.

Werenski, Eichel and Pastrnak anchor the top group

Among the names featured in the top 10 is Columbus Blue Jackets blueliner Zach Werenski, whose recent surge has pushed him into the conversation among the league’s most complete defencemen. Coming off his first Norris Trophy, he enters 2026-27 after a 22-goal, 81-point season, his second straight year with at least 20 goals and 80 points and his second consecutive campaign as a Norris finalist. After a summer in which his long-term future appeared uncertain, he recommitted to the club that drafted him, while positioning himself for a substantial new deal down the road.

Vegas Golden Knights centre Jack Eichel also features prominently. The past two years have been the most productive of his career, with back-to-back 90-point seasons and his first Selke Trophy votes. He then helped drive Vegas to another Stanley Cup Final appearance, leading the league in assists during that run and finishing second in team playoff scoring. Eichel now begins Year 1 of an eight-year, $108-million contract that carries a $13.5-million average annual value as the Golden Knights look for yet another trip to the Final.

In Boston, David Pastrnak is highlighted as the offensive engine of the Bruins. The winger is coming off his fourth straight 100-point season and his fourth consecutive year receiving Hart Trophy votes. Over that span, only four players — Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl, all former MVPs — have produced more points than Pastrnak’s 429. While his individual output has remained elite, Boston’s playoff results have been uneven, adding to the burden he carries as the club’s primary scoring threat.

Hughes, Makar and Draisaitl round out the elite tier

Minnesota Wild defenceman Quinn Hughes is another key figure in the upper tier. After a 92-point season that brought him a first Norris Trophy and Hart Trophy votes, the past two years have brought both change and adversity. Vancouver’s core was broken up, Hughes was traded to the Wild, and injuries complicated his progress, yet he still produced 76 points in each of the last two seasons. Entering the final year of his current deal, which carries a $7.9-million cap hit, he is headed for a significant raise and faces a major decision on whether to remain in Minnesota, explore a move East to join his brothers with the New Jersey Devils, or pursue a fresh start elsewhere.

Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche is presented as the other half of the modern best-defenceman debate. Since making his playoff debut in 2019 and becoming the first defenceman to score in his first NHL post-season game, he has twice surpassed 90 points, become just the ninth blueliner ever to record a 30-goal season and earned a Norris Trophy finalist nod in six straight years, winning the award twice. He already owns a Stanley Cup ring and a Conn Smythe Trophy from Colorado’s 2022 championship run and has been rewarded with an eight-year, $163-million extension that sets a record with a $20.4-million average annual value, the richest contract in NHL history.

Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers is also firmly entrenched in this elite group despite a more frustrating 2025-26 season for his team. Since his first 100-point campaign in 2018-19, he has stacked up six 100-point seasons, added an 84-point effort in the shortened 2020-21 schedule and cleared the 50-goal mark four times. Over the past eight seasons, he has piled up 846 points in 586 games and 359 goals, the latter total leading all NHL players over that stretch. Even in a year limited to 65 games through injury, he registered 35 goals and 97 points, though Edmonton followed two straight runs to the Cup Final with a first-round exit against the younger Anaheim Ducks. Draisaitl is only one season into an eight-year, $112-million deal that places him among the highest-paid players in the league.

By closing out its Top 50 project with this group of star skaters, Sportsnet underscores how a handful of already-decorated players — from recent Norris and Conn Smythe winners to perennial scoring leaders — are expected to shape both the individual awards races and the Stanley Cup picture in 2026-27.