The past few seasons have seen the National Hockey League change, and stars that were once dominating the league have started to fade away in favour of young talent.
This will be a five-part series, where I will give brief explanations to each player ranked. Each part will have 50 players, with this article covering players 151-200.
200. G Jack Campbell, TOR
Toronto’s newfound starting goalie of last season finds himself beginning the second part of this list. Since becoming a Maple Leaf, Campbell has a 5.9 goals saved above expected through 28 regular season games, as well as a 7.65 goals saved above average. His save percentage stands and .919 during his tenure with the team. He broke the record for the most wins to start a season in 2020-21, with 11. He’ll be splitting the crease with Petr Mrazek this season.
199. C Nico Hischier, NJD
The former 1st-overall pick has had his fair share of injuries recently, and has seemingly hindered his ability to play at his best level. He was limited to just 21 games last season, where he put up an underwhelming 11 points. He has slightly regressed in every season since his rookie season, but he has still been decent. He looks to be fully healthy for this season, where he will don the “C” for the second straight year.
198. LD Ryan Lindgren, NYR
While Adam Fox is obviously the star d-man in New York, Lindgren deserves some praise as well as a very good partner. He finished 12th in expected even strength defence with 4.7. Among d-men, he finished 18th in DRAW, 17th in DEF with 4.9, 19th in xDEF with 4.9, and 30th in goals above replacement, with 8.2. He’s fairly physical as well, with 98 hits last season. He should be in for a nice repeat season of last year.
197. RW Cam Atkinson, PHI
Many people forget about his explosion in the 2018-19 season, where he scored 41 goals. This might be due to Atkinson never really coming close to topping that career-high. While he has certainly not been that player since, he has been solid still, posting above three GAR in each of the past two seasons. He is also one of the better players in the league at not taking penalties with his 1.9 TAKE last season, which was 3rd among all forwards. Now a Flyer, he looks to get back to his 2018-19 form this upcoming season.
196. C Josh Norris, OTT
Another underrated rookie from the 2020-21 season, Norris had a very balanced season. It’s not often you see rookies do well defensively, but this is the case for the Senators’ young centreman. With a 0.6 EVD and DEF, he has proven it already. Among all forwards, he ranked 47th in xGAR with 9.5, which is much higher than his actual GAR, and shows that he was unlucky mostly on the offensive side. Nonetheless, he still scored 17 goals and 35 points in 56 games last season which is very solid.
195. G Carter Hart, PHI
The worst goalie in the NHL last season. Some could argue that he was at fault for the Flyers missing the playoffs last season, and he probably was. He posted a horrendous -24.34 GSAx and .877 Sv% which were both dead last in the NHL, in only 27 games. He was giving up nearly a goal more than he should’ve every start on average. The reason he is on this list is because he’s had good seasons in the past, like his 2019-20 season when he had a very solid 7.25 GSAx. It is expected that he bounces back this season with a newly revamped defensive core, at least we hope.
194. RD Jacob Trouba, NYR
His final season with the Jets saw him put up 50 points, which was probably a fluke. He was then traded to the Rangers where he’d get overpaid by a few million dollars. His first season as a Ranger did not go well at all, he had a -0.6 xGAR and an awful -8.5 GAR, which was the 5th-worst total in the league. However, he bounced back nicely last season with an xGAR of 3.5, and an xEVO of 2.6. He’s overpaid, but still decent.
193. LD Dmitry Orlov, WSH
A surprisingly underrated defender, Orlov has been one of the league’s best play-drivers. In xEVO, he ranked 12th in the league with 11, which was also 3rd among d-men. His xGAR was at 12.2 last season, which was 10th among all blueliners. He is no slouch in the defensive zone either, being above average in xDEF and xEVD. He ranked 7th in defencemen in xGF/60 at even strength. At over a hit per game, he has a physical flair as well. He deserves more respect around the league for sure.
192. RW Blake Coleman, CGY
He’s excellent at what he does. Tampa Bay traded for Coleman in 2020, looking for a world-class forechecker, and that’s what they got. Coleman had an insane 2019-20 season split with the Devils and Lightning, mainly in the defensive end. He ranked 3rd in xDEF among forwards with 6.6, 4th in xEVD with 5.3, and 23rd in xSHD. Last season, he was 53rd in xGAR among all forwards. Coleman is also one of the most physical players in the league, having the 17th-most hits over the past three seasons, with 525. His versatility at all three forward positions adds value to his game. With more of a role for this upcoming season, Coleman could be higher on this list as soon as next season.
191. LD Ryan McDonagh, TBL
There are many people who would have McDonagh higher on this list. This is solely due to the fact that he was borderline elite with the Rangers many years ago. The truth is, unfortunately, that McDonagh has never been the same since being traded to the Lightning. His xGAR through his three full seasons with the team have gone: 9.4, -0.8, 4.8. For comparison, he was consistently in the teens for that stat as a Ranger. While that isn’t terrible, there is better around the league. His PENS stat is pretty good, with 3.6 over the past three seasons which is 35th among d-men.
190. LD Matt Grzelcyk, BOS
A very underrated defenceman finds himself 190th on the list. Since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Grzelcyk has an xGAR of 15.5, which is 30th among d-men. He plays a very balanced game, both offensively and defensively. His 8.6 xEVD is good for 13th among d-men during the same timeframe, and he’s also top 50 in xEVO. Whether he’s up or down a man, he attacks as well: he’s top 50 in xPPO and top 40 in xSHD during that time as well. He was over half-a-point-per-game last season. So, why is he so low? Well, he’s only managed to play 105 games in the last two seasons. He will be surely become a top 30-40 defenceman if he can play a full season of his calibre.
189. C Nick Schmaltz, ARZ
After being acquired from the Blackhawks in the 2018-19 season, Schmaltz has enjoyed a solid two-plus years in the desert. He’s played 122 games over the past two seasons, with 77 points in them. In that same timeframe, Schmaltz had a 15.6 GAR which was the 88th-best in the league.
188. C Evgeny Kuznetsov, WSH
His heyday has passed. While the Russian centreman is wildly talented, he just hasn’t had the same affect on the ice as he once did. Between off-ice issues and injuries, Kuznetsov is an interesting case. Over the past three seasons, he’s scored 153 points over 180 games which is great. To be higher on this list however, you need to show that you can balance your game. Kuznetsov has a -11.6 xDEF in the same time, which is the 14th-worst in that span. While he was actually solid defensively last season, it is very unlikely he repeats it.
187. G Frederik Andersen, CAR
Once considered to arguably be a top-five goaltender in the NHL, the Dane has fallen off massively as of late. From 2016-19, he owned a 37.51 GSAx which was good for 4th in the entire NHL. After that, it was disappointing: -10.27 in 2019-20, and -11.14 in 2020-21. The thing that’s crazy about this, is that Andersen performed amazing when the defence in Toronto was terrible. Obviously, the Maple Leafs defence improved, but he just got worse. This might be due to injury and fatigue, but his stats were not good enough. Carolina’s defence is questionable, so that might bet they key for Andersen to get back on track.
186. LW Anthony Beauvillier, NYI
Playing in Long Island has no doubt benefitted many careers through Barry Trotz, and Beauvillier is a player like that. In the past two seasons, he has a top-50 xGAR among forwards, with 18.9. He is one of the league’s better penalty drawers and takers, with 3.2 PENS (32nd among forwards). His production is there as well, with 67 points in his last 115 games played.
185. RW Alex Tuch, VGK
One of the league’s premier net-front presences, Tuch has had quite the experience with the Golden Knights. He’s managed to play in just 97 games over the past two seasons, putting up 50 points. The truth to Tuch is that he has never truly had the opportunity to succeed, mostly being buried on the third line when the lineup is fully healthy. He averaged about 16 minutes of ice-time in that span, which is a big factor of his low production. He was 51st in GAR last season, with 9.7.
184. G Alex Nedeljkovic, DET
He recently placed 3rd in Calder Trophy voting despite playing just 23 games. Those 23 games he played last season were dominant, and he earned earned a starting role with the Hurricanes. He posted a lethal .931 Sv%, 13.25 GSAx (3rd-best in the NHL) and a 14.75 goals saved above average. He would be higher on this list with a larger sample size. Now a Red Wing, he will look to win the Calder Trophy this season (yes, he’s eligible again).
183. RW Tom Wilson, WSH
The biggest villain in the NHL is 183rd on this list. Notorious for his very aggressive style of hockey, Wilson is a good hockey player when he’s not wrestling opponents. His 56 goals and 117 points over the past three seasons proves it. He’s 13th in the NHL in hits over the past three seasons as well, with 558.
182. LW Jason Robertson, DAL
The 2020-21 Calder Trophy runner-up is just two spots ahead of the third-place player, and it’s a player that not many people though would break out like this. Playing on a line with Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz, that line dominated the whole season. For Robertson specifically, he was simply amazing: 11.4 OFF which was 15th in the league, 6th in EVO with 11.8, 11th in xEVO with 11.4, and 24th in xOFF with 11.7, and 4th in GF/60. He had 45 points in 51 games. A higher sample size will skyrocket him on this list.
181. RW Andrew Mangiapane, CGY
A very underrated Flame, he should be a regular Selke Trophy candidate. He was 23rd last season in xG±/60, and among forwards was 19th in xGA/60, and 35th in xDEF with 2.5. He had 32 points in 56 games last season, including 18 goals. He clearly also attacks offensively, as he ranked 13th for xEVO last season, and 19th in xOFF. Overall, his game is very balanced after looking at his very impressive xGAR of 14.6 last season, which was 14th in the NHL.
180. RW Craig Smith, BOS
Yet another underrated winger, the Bruins found a gem in Smith during the 2020 free agency period. While he might not be a massive points-producer, he has such a large impact on the ice. Over the past two seasons, Smith is 15th in the NHL in xG±/60, 6th in CF/60, and 10th in both C±/60 and xGF/60. In that same time period, he was 38th among forwards in GAR with 19.6, and 22nd in EVO with 17.6. He plays his role to an excellent degree, and is a near-perfect middle-six forward.
179. C Kevin Hayes, PHI
A down year has Hayes a little lower than what we’re used to. He has played on three different teams in the past three seasons for the Rangers, Jets, and Flyers. He ranked 40th among forwards in xGAR in the 2018-19 season split between the first two teams mentioned. He has still managed to put up a 50-point pace since then, but his on-ice impact has gone down. He still has plenty of upside, and the Flyers have to hope he bounces back.
178. G Anton Khudobin, DAL
From 2018-20, the Star was one of the most reliable goalies in the league, posting a 14.72 GSAx which was 5th during that span, and an astonishing .926 Sv%. Last season was a different story, however. Of the 98 goalies that played in the 2020-21 season, Khudobin had the 17th-worst GSAx, with -9.8. In what is easily the best goaltending depth chart in the NHL, the 35-year-old should be working hard to maintain a spot on the roster.
177. RW Kevin Labanc, SJS
There are many people who might be confused with the inclusion of this player on this list, and this high. Just two years removed from a 56-point season in the 2018-19 season, Labanc has regressed a tad. This has been massively due to his poor finishing, otherwise he is a phenomenal play-driver. Over the past two seasons, he is 23rd in xGF/60, and 30th in CF/60 (13th and 23rd in those stats in 2019-20, respectively). He could become a huge threat if he can improve his shot.
176. LD Alec Martinez, VGK
He experienced a bounce-back season with Vegas last season which earned him a hefty contract extension. The long-time King never had a season like he had at age 34. He was a premier play-driving d-man, as he ranked 5th in xGF/60 among all d-men, and was 4th in GF/60. He also ranked 4th in OFF, and 8th in xOFF. He had a very impressive 32 points in 53 games. On top of that, Martinez led the NHL in blocks by a wide margin with 168, which was 40 more than the next highest player. Let’s see if this is an outlier year or not.
175. LW Clayton Keller, ARZ
Currently trapped in Arizona, Keller is a diamond in the rough for the Coyotes at this point. He is easily their best forward, and for good reason. He was 43rd in GAR last season (32nd among forwards), and 34th among forwards in OFF. He has a very impressive skillset, with smooth hands and very decent speed. He uses that to his advantage, as among forwards, he ranked top 10 in DRAW over the past three seasons, with 5.6, and was 14th last season alone with 1.7. With the Coyotes selling like crazy, another team should put in a bid for Keller.
174. LW Tyler Bertuzzi, DET
A player that finally might be ready to break out is this guy. An injury-riddled 2020-21 season saw him play just nine games, but he scored five goals and seven points in them. In the previous two seasons, Bertuzzi put up 47 and 48 points, in 73 and 71 games. His OFF ranked 53rd among forwards with 18.6, and his EVO was 43rd with 16.6. His xEVO is 56th, so he is not getting lucky. His 73 games this upcoming season will surely be good.
173. C Brock Nelson, NYI
He’s a weird player for sure. In the 2019-20 season he was the best he’d ever been. 11.2, OFF, 1.4 xDEF, he was very good. His xOFF was only 7.5 however, so he exceeded what he was expected to do. Moving on to the 2020-21 season, Nelson was the opposite: only a 0.6 OFF, which was well under his 5.1 xOFF. He was very good on the power play at least, placing 44th in xPPO with 2.6.
172. LD Travis Sanheim, PHI
In a disastrous season that had the hyped up Flyers miss the playoffs, Sanheim was a bright spot. He was 14th in the league in xDEF with 4.6, in a defensive core that was lost the whole season. The season prior he was good offensively, posting a nine xOFF which was 15th in the NHL among d-men, and was 12th in xEVO with 8.5.
171. C Pierre-Luc Dubois, WPG
Part of the big trade that involved himself and a player higher than him on this list, Dubois did not mesh well with the Jets when he arrived. He had just a 2.8 GAR, which was the lowest total of his career. Only 21 points in 46 games. The reason he’s on the list is his two seasons prior, where he was more than solid. From 2018-20, Dubois was 49th in GAR with 22, 40th in OFF with 20.9, and 27th in EVO with 19.6. He had surpassed the 55-point pace threshold in both seasons. Hopefully Paul Maurice realizes his strengths and uses him properly.
170. RW Andre Burakovsky, COL
Being traded to the Avalanche was the best thing to happen to the Austrian-born Swede (other than his Stanley Cup win). He went from scoring 25 points in 76 games as a Capital to scoring 89 points in the 111 games over the past two seasons with his new team. He is most likely a product of his system, but that doesn’t take away from how good he is. Anytime Mikko Rantanen was out with an injury, Burakovsky showed that he could fill the hole well. His analytics are what steal the show over the past two seasons: 4th-best xEVO and xOFF with 28.2 and 30.4 respectively, and his xGAR is 13th with 30.5. Another Joe Sakic masterpiece. There is definitely an argument for him to be higher on this list.
169. RW Timo Meier, SJS
One of the best players on this list that are currently being ruined by coaching. It was not too long ago that Meier had 30 goals and 66 points in a season. In that very productive 2018-19 season, he also had a 13th-best xG±/60, and among forwards had the 47th-best xOFF with 12.2, and and 49th-best OFF with 11.6. Unfortunately for Meier, he was undeservingly demoted to the 4th line often last season. There was zero reason for this, and it unfairly negatively affected his stats.
168. RD Chris Tanev, CGY
There was no better defensive player than him in the 2020-21 season. While he was only above average defensively prior, his historic campaign shoots him up on this list. His first season with the Flames had him ranked 1st in the following statistics: EVD with 9.9, xEVD with 10.4, DEF with 11.9, xDEF with 11.7, and xGA/60. Tanev didn’t finish at the top every stat, but here are more that he did very well in: 12th in SHD with 12, 2nd in TAKE with 2.1, 15th in xGAR (3rd among d-men), 5th in xG±/60 (2nd among d-men), 2nd in GA/60 (1st among d-men), and 2nd in CA/60. Should he keep this up, he’ll be top 100 by next year.
167. G Ilya Sorokin, NYI
His transition from Russia to North America was a success last season, as he was solid in a 1B role with Semyon Varlamov last season. He was consistently posting above .930 Sv% in the KHL, and was extremely hyped up going into last season. He did not disappoint, putting up a .918 Sv% to go along with a 3.37 GSAx which was 19th in the NHL. It’s a very small sample size of 22 games, but he has proven he can goaltend on two different ice rinks.
166. LW Dominik Kubalik, CHI
He has just two seasons under his belt, but the 26-year-old has impressed in both. Through 124 games, Kubalik has 47 goals and 84 points, to go along with a Calder Trophy nomination in his first season. He has accumulated an xGAR of 24 in those two seasons, which was 41st in the league during that span. His 18.7 xGAR in his first season was the most among rookies, and 12th in the league. He also had an xEVO of 17.9 that year, which was 3rd in the league, as well as his 8th-best xOFF of 17.9.
165. LW Chris Kreider, NYR
A great physical player and net-front presence in his own right, he has evolved into a very reliable player who can play anywhere in the lineup. Over the past three seasons, Kreider has a 31.9 xOFF which is good for 37th in the NHL during that time. He has a 27th-best xPPO with 9.5, the 24th-best OFF with 34.1. He’s a coach’s dream.
164. RW Travis Konecny, PHI
He broke out to a near point-per-game pace in the 2019-20 season, with 61 points in 66 games. He has perennially been a 50-point player in each of the past four seasons. In that specific 2019-20 season though–he was so good: 14th in xOFF with 16.8, 12th in xEVO with 14.2, and 13th in xGAR with 18.6. A bit of a down year has him just a bit lower than usual, but should be back with a bang.
163. LD Hampus Lindholm, ANA
While he hasn’t been the same as he was three seasons ago (partially due to the Ducks not being good), he has still been solid. An above average defensive player, he ranked 73rd in xDEF over the past three seasons. A trade out of Anaheim should contribute to repeating his past success, because the team he’s on right now is an offensive black hole.
162. RD Brent Burns, SJS
His age has caught up to him, but Burns is still not bad. It was only a couple years ago in the 2018-19 season that he finished a season with 83 points, which led the NHL among all at his position. Also among blueliners, he finished 7th in EVO, 10th in PPO, and 4th in OFF with 11.1, 3.4, and 14.5 respectively. Since then, he’s fallen off as the Sharks got worse. However, he was still top 20 among defencemen in xOFF with 6.7.
161. RW Mats Zuccarello, MIN
He had a bounce-back campaign with the Wild last season after a few mediocre years. The only active Norwegian NHLer had 35 points in just 42 games last season, and was a factor to the Wild’s success. Stats suggest that Zuccarello was not close to reaching his expected offence, so he may be even more dangerous this season.
160. LD Ivan Provorov, PHI
If there was ever a player that matched his team’s performance, it would be this Russian defenceman. Provorov, much like the Flyers, is very inconsistent on a year-to-year basis. One year he might look like a fringe elite d-man like in the 2017-18 and 2019-20 seasons (11.5 and 11.9 xGAR, respectively), and another year he looks like no more than an overplayed bottom pair guy like in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons (2.8 and 0.8 xGAR, respectively). Provorov did not record a single primary assist at even strength last season, over 56 games. If the tale is true, we should be in for another great season from him.
159. G Jonathan Bernier, NJD
One of the most underrated goalies of the past decade, Bernier has been criticized because of bad goals he’s given up. While that did happen in the past, he has been a great goalie other than that. His save percentage over the past three seasons is .909, which isn’t very impressive. This is an reliable stat however, as goalies on better defensive teams will have higher save percentages than those not. As for Bernier, the Red Wings are not exactly a good defensive team. Bernier has managed to have a -3.58 GSAx over the same span as before, and his total last season was the 22ndbest in the NHL, with a 1.98.
158. RW Jakub Voracek, CBJ
Recently traded back to the team that drafted him in Columbus, Voracek has always been and still is a skilled player. His basic stats are pretty good, having reached a 66-point pace in each of the past three seasons. Not typically a goal-scorer, he relies on his exceptional playmaking skills to have an impact on the game. He is very similar to recently-listed Mats Zuccarello.
157. LW Jaden Schwartz, SEA
After spending the past 11 years in the Blues organization, he signed with the expansion team in Seattle. But with St. Louis, Schwartz was more than reliable. He has excelled in the defensive zone which is a premium asset for forwards: his 10.5 xDEF ranks 11th over the past three seasons among forwards. He has a scoring touch as well, as he had 57 points through 71 games in the 2019-20 season.
156. C Jonathan Toews, CHI
A player that used to be much, much higher on this list finds himself 156th. After missing all of last season, Toews is looking to come back with a bang. In the two seasons prior to the last one, he put up 141 points in just 152 games. His defence, however, is nowhere near where it used to be in his prime. In fact, it’s been among the league’s worst. He gets on here for his production which was mentioned before.
155. G Petr Mrazek, TOR
One of the best tandem goalies in the world, Mrazek shines best when he isn’t solely relied upon. From 2018-21, he had some of the best stats in the NHL: 18.87 GSAx which was 4th, along with a very impressive dFSv% of 0.55. The reason he’s this low is his durability and consistency, which are both very poor. In a tandem with Campbell this season, he should have another very good season if he’s healthy.
154. RW Joel Farabee, PHI
Reaching the top-six, he’s shown the hockey world what he’s capable of. He finished in the top 50 for GAR among forwards last season with 8.7, 32nd in OFF with 8.9, and 21st in EVO with 8.4. That, to go along with his 20 goals and 38 points in just 55 games, Farabee has found his calling. Fresh off a new contract extension in the summer, he should further develop his game as a 21-year-old and be higher on this list by next season.
153. LD Adam Pelech, NYI
A fan favourite on the Long Island, Pelech has a reason for that. For starters, he was 16th among d-men last season in xGAR with 10.6, and a majority of that was because of his defence. He ranked 4th among those at his position in xEVD with 7.6, and was 7th in xDEF with 5.4. His RAPM stats were even more impressive last season: he was 1st among all defencemen in xG±/60 (3rd overall), 3rd in xGA/60, and 9th in xGF/60. He was half of one of the best pairs in the NHL with Ryan Pulock last season, someone who has not been listed yet. He’s not extremely talented, but he plays the game well.
152. C Anthony Cirelli, TBL
He had a down year in 2020-21, but the two years before that were amazing for the Woodbridge, ON native. He’s not an extremely flashy player, but knows how to attack to give his team the best results. He accumulated 31.9 GAR during that period, which was 17th in the NHL. Among forwards, his defensive play was among the league’s best: 7th in DEF with 8.8, and top 20 in both EVD and SHD with 6.5 and 2.3, respectively. His expected stats were very similar as well. He also had 83 points in 150 games on top of that. After a poor 2020-21, he should be ready for a bounce-back this season.
151. RW Tyler Toffoli, MTL
Just a couple years ago, Toffoli was considered an afterthought: a shell of his former self. He then got traded to Vancouver near the 2019-20 trade deadline, and he was reborn. Although it was a small sample size, he put up 10 points in 10 games, and had a 4.5 OFF and 3.6 GAR. While those are some unsustainable analytics, they would trump the rest of the league over an 82-game pace. In the offseason, he signed with the bleu blanc et rouge, and it marked an official turn for the better. He scored 28 goals and 44 points in just 52 games last season. The scary part is that analytics suggest that he heavily underperformed shooting wise, as his OFF was 5.2 less than his xOFF. We could be in for a rude awakening with Toffoli this season, over a full 82-game season.
Part III of this series will be out soon, and it will rank players 101-150.