The National Hockey League All-Star Game has only just passed in February 2024, so there is no better time to pick our favorite players. Not to be confused with the NFL, the NHL was founded over 106 years ago and has had an exciting run. It is a professional ice hockey league that covers North America and it consists of 32 teams, with 25 of them being based in the United States and 7 of them in Canada.
Every year, the long-awaited news of who’s winning The Stanley Cup comes knocking, and all eyes are fixed on their favorite team of the year. It’s the oldest and most prestigious NHL trophy across the whole of North America, so the team who manages to swipe this win at the end are the MVPs of the year for sure! But just because you can’t compare this sport to the NFL, doesn’t mean it’s any less of a game. When it comes to numbers, they manage to make their teams stack.
The average NHL total team value sat at a hefty amount of $1.33 billion at the end of 2023, which was a whopping 29% higher than it was valued in 2022. Sitting at the forefront of this financial win for all of these NHL teams is The Toronto Maple Leafs, who sit in all their glory, being worth just shy of $2.8 billion. So, who are the top players from these prestigious teams? Let’s find out.
1. Connor McDavid for the Edmonton Oilers
Sitting tight at the top of our list is Connor McDavid, who walked away with over $1 million recently due to the fact that he helped redesign the prestigious All-Star Game skills challenge for the first time in history. Born in Ontario, Canada, the 27-year-old isn’t new to being at the top of any NHL list, seeing as he is one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time, and he’s attracted many bets for his team over the years. If you do any betting yourself or you’re inclined to check out the hockey Futures season, you can be sure McDavid is making big waves in those odds, and stacking them ever in favor of his home team! We’d place a punt on Connor, we know that for sure. First selected for The Oilers in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the guy is loyal and stands as a testament to his team.
He has topped every NHL list since it was released, so is far from shy to stardom. Although the recent season started as a slow burner compared to his usual standards due to his ongoing injury, he managed to level it up to 82 points in 50 games — proving that even a guy who’s injured can do better than the rest. He deserves our number-one NHL player list, and we can’t wait to see him get to the end of the season on a continued high!
2. Auston Matthews for the Toronto Maple Leafs
If you take a look back through NHL history, you’ll see that a center has scored 75 goals just 4 times. That’s right: we’ve seen Gretzky do it twice, and Lemieux, and Esposito achieve one each, and they all put themselves on a star-studded list of NHL players. Auston Matthews will soon be joining this historical list, with him being on course to reach this remarkable achievement this season. We’re looking forward to one of the most important, impressive, and quite frankly amazing performances in NHL history — placing this 26-year-old above any player in his field.
In just one year, 2019 to 2020, the hockey star managed to score 75 goals, which is 30 more on average than any other player across the board. He’s earned the reputation as one of the best two-way centers there is, and we’re excited to see him hit more milestones. He’s definitely up there with legends like Patrick Kane, despite being so young!
3. Leon Draisaitl for the Edmonton Oilers
Though Leon Draisaitl is known for having his emotions on display in overdrive, he’s a pretty great player (just an emotional one). The Oilers may be slipping in the rankings, but if they are going to get out of this funk, the only way to do it is through Leon. Whether he’s celebrating a big goal, shouting with frustration, or even talking in an after-game interview, Leon expresses his feelings more than anyone else, and though having an emotional leader can be a downside, we think it just shows that he is a fierce player who is pushing for the win over anything else. Last season, we saw him place second in the NHL with 128 points in total, coming from 52 goals and 76 assists. We’d call that impressive.
The 27-year-old has been in the top four scoring for the 5th season in a row, so although he comes with tumultuous behavior that hits new headlines everywhere, you can’t deny that he’s worth a bet or two when it comes to scoring. Let’s see how far he gets by the end of this season, and whether those who wager on him come up lucky!
