2025-26 NHL player ratings: skating, scoring, defense and 12 more

Fifteen ratings from 0 to 100 for every skater, all computed from data: the play-by-play and shifts of every game, NHL EDGE for skating, and PickALeague's analytics. None is assigned by hand. Each rating compares the player with others at the same position (centers, wingers, defensemen), over several seasons, and pulls small samples toward the average. Hover a rating for its confidence.

PAL Rating, Value Rating and WAR remain separate measures →

The ratings

OV: Overall — Overall ability, weighted by position
POT: Potential — Projected level over the next three seasons
SK: Skating — Speed, bursts, distance and consistency (NHL EDGE)
ST: Strength — Physical strength proxy: contact, hits, body mass
EN: Endurance — Workload handled: ice time, shifts
DU: Durability — Availability over several seasons
CK: Checking — Hits per 60 minutes, and their consistency
FG: Fighting — How often the player fights, not who wins
DI: Discipline — Penalties drawn minus taken, per 60 minutes
FO: Faceoffs — Faceoff win %, and volume
PA: Passing — Primary and secondary assists, creation
SC: Scoring — Goals, xG, finishing, high-danger chances
DF: Defense — Defensive RAPM, xG allowed, penalty kill
PS: Penalty shot — Shootouts and penalty shots
EX: Experience — Regular-season games, playoff games, NHL seasons

The scale95+ NHL elite90–94 Star85–89 High-end80–84 Very good70–79 Established NHL60–69 Depth0–59 Replacement or prospect

— : not enough data for a rating (no EDGE, too few faceoffs…). It is not a zero.

Fade low-confidence ratings

#	Player
1	Connor McDavidEDM · C · 28	98	95	98	69	98	84	64	58	98	75	98	91	70	92	92
2	Jason RobertsonDAL · W · 26	98	97	63	72	91	94	67	43	81	—	90	96	83	95	83
3	Jake SandersonOTT · D · 23	98	97	97	70	87	80	60	69	92	—	87	87	90	76	69
4	Kirill KaprizovMIN · W · 28	97	94	72	69	98	74	63	65	79	—	89	93	75	59	79
5	Quinn HughesMIN · D · 25	97	92	93	37	98	81	42	61	96	—	98	84	79	64	82
6	Roope HintzDAL · C · 28	97	95	96	76	79	74	71	63	79	87	88	89	79	69	86
7	Nathan MacKinnonCOL · C · 30	96	92	97	69	97	87	66	71	86	76	97	90	57	61	94
8	Mark StoneVGK · W · 33	96	92	56	69	88	67	62	77	89	—	93	87	91	88	93
9	Cale MakarCOL · D · 26	96	93	98	45	95	82	63	60	97	—	95	97	71	42	85
10	Cole CaufieldMTL · W · 24	95	97	77	57	89	85	66	58	89	—	83	98	65	95	79
11	Rasmus DahlinBUF · D · 25	95	92	79	78	90	84	76	73	79	—	93	94	81	67	78
12	Auston MatthewsTOR · C · 28	95	89	77	74	88	75	68	63	85	90	88	95	74	85	88
13	Nikita KucherovTBL · W · 32	94	92	78	51	95	84	61	55	86	—	98	89	55	59	95
14	Leon DraisaitlEDM · C · 29	94	89	82	74	95	78	61	61	74	88	96	92	64	83	92
15	Moritz SeiderDET · D · 24	94	97	77	82	93	97	83	76	82	—	88	78	89	67	61
16	Matt BoldyMIN · W · 24	93	97	74	72	96	83	66	75	74	68	86	86	84	95	76
17	Adam FoxNYR · D · 27	93	92	59	54	86	74	59	63	81	—	97	87	92	67	82
18	Brandon HagelTBL · W · 27	93	93	80	70	89	85	65	80	78	64	88	86	81	86	81
19	Nick SuzukiMTL · C · 26	93	97	86	73	93	97	68	43	80	79	93	82	77	89	84
20	Miro HeiskanenDAL · D · 26	93	96	85	65	96	76	56	63	86	—	88	80	87	76	87
21	Sam ReinhartFLA · C · 29	93	90	63	76	89	80	72	69	79	54	83	96	97	94	91
22	Zach WerenskiCBJ · D · 28	92	90	92	64	97	76	54	74	86	—	94	95	71	83	83
23	Matthew SchaeferNYI · D · 18	92	97	96	71	89	81	66	75	98	—	85	96	71	76	43
24	Seth JarvisCAR · C · 23	92	91	88	76	85	80	76	73	89	60	82	89	87	52	81
25	Zach HymanEDM · W · 33	92	88	75	76	91	76	71	69	69	—	81	97	69	89	91
26	David PastrnakBOS · W · 29	91	87	71	74	93	88	71	50	84	—	96	88	61	84	92
27	Alex DeBrincatDET · W · 27	91	92	76	56	88	97	63	82	85	67	88	93	69	84	79
28	Nico HischierNJD · C · 26	91	90	72	68	89	85	66	72	90	89	87	88	76	67	81
29	Lane HutsonMTL · D · 21	91	97	90	49	91	71	61	69	88	—	96	86	74	51	67
30	Dylan LarkinDET · C · 29	91	88	85	64	89	82	65	69	81	85	86	90	72	43	78
31	Nikolaj EhlersCAR · W · 29	90	88	90	47	82	80	60	73	93	—	91	80	78	62	89
32	Jack EichelVGK · C · 28	90	89	91	68	92	77	60	61	91	68	92	83	74	47	88
33	Evan BouchardEDM · D · 25	90	90	79	59	90	95	61	46	87	—	93	93	77	67	84
34	Jackson LaCombeANA · D · 24	90	89	79	74	86	76	72	75	89	—	87	88	79	76	67
35	John TavaresTOR · C · 35	90	87	68	77	84	88	76	54	68	96	85	94	72	60	95
36	Brady TkachukFLA (OTT in 25-26) · W · 26	90	91	58	87	80	77	86	93	71	79	89	94	71	65	77
37	Jaccob SlavinCAR · D · 31	90	87	79	63	79	70	48	65	88	—	72	72	98	76	92
38	William KarlssonVGK · C · 32	90	86	81	67	75	58	58	71	85	87	83	79	89	64	92
39	Sidney CrosbyPIT · C · 38	89	89	80	71	86	82	72	72	75	90	94	87	60	61	99
40	Pavel DorofeyevNYR (VGK in 25-26) · W · 24	89	89	64	63	83	71	61	64	65	—	76	95	89	49	72
41	Adrian KempeLAK · W · 29	89	84	93	77	89	89	78	66	60	58	80	86	73	92	85
42	Sebastian AhoCAR · C · 28	89	88	77	67	90	86	69	56	72	81	91	86	71	65	91
43	Tim StützleOTT · C · 23	89	88	93	78	88	88	78	72	94	75	87	83	62	98	74
44	Tom WilsonWSH · W · 31	89	88	81	86	87	77	85	92	65	—	75	87	85	64	93
45	Mattias EkholmEDM · D · 35	89	85	71	74	82	83	73	68	74	—	86	82	85	76	95
46	Sam MalinskiCOL · D · 27	89	97	91	74	71	73	71	68	77	—	84	80	84	76	66
47	Charlie McAvoyBOS · D · 27	89	95	83	80	88	72	77	72	74	—	89	89	72	69	88
48	Jordan KyrouWSH (STL in 25-26) · W · 27	89	89	87	61	80	85	53	56	81	—	84	84	84	53	80
49	K'Andre MillerCAR · D · 25	89	97	89	78	84	82	80	69	67	—	78	81	83	62	82
50	Brayden PointTBL · C · 29	89	86	95	45	85	79	45	68	85	69	86	97	61	88	90

How each rating is calculated

OV — Overall: Ratings weighted by position (centers: SC and PA 20%, SK and DF 15%, FO 10%…; wingers: SC 25%, PA and SK 20%; defensemen: DF 25%, SK 20%, PA 15%…). FG, PS, EX and POT don't enter it, nor does salary.
POT — Potential: The projected level over the next three seasons: the player's rank, plus the age curve measured on past PAL Ratings, plus 30% of the player's own recent progress. An established star keeps a high POT.
SK — Skating: NHL EDGE: average top speed across seasons, bursts over 20 mph per 60, distance per 60, and the lowest seasonal top speed (consistency). No EDGE: no rating.
ST — Strength: A physical strength proxy, not a strength measurement: contact given and taken per 60, hits, body mass (mostly weight, a little height), workload. Being big isn't enough.
EN — Endurance: Ice time per game against the position, total ice time, average shift length, the lowest per-game ice time of recent seasons, and the performance (PAL) kept up under that load.
DU — Durability: The share of team games played, over five seasons, the most recent weighing most. Says nothing about a current injury.
CK — Checking: Hits per 60 minutes (70%), the lowest recent seasonal rate (20%) and volume (10%). Measures physical play, not defense.
FG — Fighting: Fights per 82 games over four seasons, with a strong prior: one fight doesn't make a fighter. Measures frequency, not outcome.
DI — Discipline: Net value of minor penalties (drawn minus taken, at the price of a penalty minute) per 60, penalties taken and drawn. Not raw PIM.
FO — Faceoffs: Faceoff %, pulled toward 50% with 200 average draws, and volume per 60. Under 150 faceoffs over the window: no rating.
PA — Passing: Primary assists per 60 (40%), secondary (20%), even-strength offensive creation (RAPM, 20%), power-play points (10%), consistency (10%).
SC — Scoring: Goals per 60 (25%), individual xG (20%), multi-season finishing (20%), high-danger chances (15%), shot quality (10%) and volume (10%).
DF — Defense: Defensive RAPM (35%, it accounts for teammates and opponents), relative xG against (20%), on-ice xG against (15%), penalty kill (10%), takeaways minus giveaways (10%), shot attempts against (5%), blocked shots (5%).
PS — Penalty shot: Shootouts (60%) and penalty shots (40%) over four seasons, very strongly pulled toward the average: with no attempt, the rating is an average player's, with zero confidence.
EX — Experience: A logarithmic scale, not a comparison: career regular-season games (65%, 1,200 = maximum), playoff games (25%, 200), NHL seasons (10%, 18). Going from 20 to 200 games counts far more than from 1,000 to 1,180.

PickALeague attribute engine, version 1.0. NHL and NHL EDGE data.