Best players in NHL 25: Top forwards, goalies, & defensemen

Chris Studley
Rasmus Dahlin NHL 25

Connor McDavid, Cale Makar, and Nathan MacKinnon highlighted the highest-rated players in NHL 25.

Early access for NHL 25 will start on September 27, just one week before the start of the 2024-25 campaign. But before then, EA Sports gave prospective players a look at the ratings for the NHL’s top athletes.

And to little shock, stars like former Hart Trophy winners Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Nikita Kucherov fill up the lists.

Here’s a look at the ratings for the best NHL players in NHL 25, sorted by position.

Best centers

We’ll start off with with the top centermen. Here are the best centers in NHL 25:

RankNameTeamOverall
1Connor McDavidOilers97
2Nathan MacKinnonAvalanche96
3Leon DraisaitlOilers95
4Auston MatthewsMaple Leafs95
5Sidney CrosbyPenguins94
6Aleksander BarkovPanthers94
7Jack HughesDevils93
8Brayden PointLightning92
9J.T. MillerCanucks92
10Jack EichelGolden Knights91

The Oilers’ dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl dominate this list, as the two are in the top three among centers. 2024 Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon is the second on the list, while Auston Matthews and Penguins centerman Sidney Crosby round out the top five.

Best left wingers

RankNameTeamOverall
1Artemi PanarinRangers95
2Kirill KaprizovWild93
3Matthew TkachukPanthers92
4Jason RobertsonStars91
5Kyle ConnorJets91
6Filip ForsbergPredators90
7Jake GuentzelLightning90
8Brady TkachukSenators89
9Jesper BrattDevils89
10Alex OvechkinCapitals89

Plenty of star power is present among the top ten. Artemi Panarin is the top left winger in NHL 25, with Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov not too far behind. Matthew Tkachuk, part of the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, rounds out the top three. Other notable names include new Lightning forward Jake Guentzel and former NHL cover athlete Alex Ovechkin.

Best right wingers

RankNameTeamOverall
1Nikita KucherovLightning95
2David PastrnakBruins95
3Mikko RantanenAvalanche93
4Sam ReinhartPanthers91
5Mitch MarnerMaple Leafs91
6William NylanderMaple Leafs91
7Clayton KellerUtah89
8Mark StoneGolden Knights89
9Lucas RaymondRed Wings88
10Andrei SvechnikovHurricanes88

Former Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov is the top right winger in NHL 25. Bruins forward David Pastrnak, who nearly set a career-high in points (110) last year, is tied with Kucherov among players at the position.

The Panthers are well-represented on these lists. Sam Reinhart is fourth among all right winters.

Best defensemen

RankNameTeamOverall
1Cale MakarAvalanche95
2Quinn HughesCanucks94
3Roman JosiPredators93
4Miro HeiskanenStars92
5Victor HedmanLightning92
6Charlie McAvoyBruins92
7Adam FoxRangers92
8Rasmus DahlinSabres91
9Devon ToewsAvalanche89
10Josh MorrisseyJets89

NHL 24 cover athlete Cale Makar is the top defenseman in NHL 25. Meanwhile, NHL 25 cover athlete Quinn Hughes is just behind him at 94 OVR.

Best goalies

RankNameTeamOverall
1Connor HellebuyckJets93
2Igor ShesterkinRangers92
3Andrei VasilevskiyLightning92
4Thatcher DemkoCanucks91
5Jake OettingerStars90
6Sergei BobrovskyPanthers90
7Ilya SorokinIslanders90
8Juuse SarosPredors89
9Jeremy SwaymanBruins89
10Linus UllmarkSenators89

The goaltender list is topped by Connor Hellebuyck, who won the 2024 Vezina Trophy for best netminder in the NHL. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who helped the Rangers make the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in three seasons, is the second, ahead of Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Top players

Here are the top 25 players in NHL 25, sorted by overall rating:

RankNameTeamOverall
1Connor McDavidOilers97
2Nathan MacKinnonAvalanche96
3Nikita KucherovLightning95
4Cale MakarAvalanche95
5Leon DraisaitlOilers95
6Auston MatthewsMaple Leafs95
7David PastrnakBruins95
8Artemi PanarinRangers95
9Sidney CrosbyPenguins94
10Quinn HughesCanucks94
11Aleksander BarkovPanthers94
12Jack HughesDevils93
13Connor HellebuyckJets93
14Mikko RantanenAvalanche93
15Roman JosiPredators93
16Kirill KaprizovWild93
17Miro HeiskanenStars92
18Matthew TkachukPanthers92
19Victor HedmanLightning92
20Charlie McAvoyBruins92
21Brayden PointLightning92
22Adam FoxRangers92
23J.T. MillerCanucks92
24Igor ShesterkinRangers92
25Andrei Vasilevskiy Lightning92

Be sure to check out how to pre-order NHL 25, plus what else is coming this year in the franchise.