Top players
Sidney Crosby #87 | Pittsburgh Penguins
Crosby won the Stanley Cup for the third time, and for the second straight season, in 2016-17. He was also awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second season in a row. He won the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy in 2006-07, and again in 2013-14. He is a three-time winner of the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the outstanding player as voted on by members of the NHL Players Association. Crosby has helped the Penguins to become one of the NHL's most successful franchises on and off the ice, and has been one of the League's most visible players for more than a decade.
Alex Ovechkin #8 | Washington Capitals
Ovechkin was the first player taken in the 2004 NHL Draft and made an immediate impact in his first season by scoring 52 goals and 106 points in 2005-06, earning him the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. His 65 goals in 2007-08 are the most by any player in the 21st century, and he reached the 50-goal mark for the seventh time, the most among active players, when he scored 50 times in 2015-16. Ovechkin scored his 500th NHL goal on Jan. 10, 2016, becoming the 43rd player in NHL history to do so, got No. 600 on March 12, 2018, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after helping the Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup in 2018
Conor McDavid #87 | Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers took McDavid with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, and he wasted little time showing he belonged. McDavid scored his first NHL goal in his third game, against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 13, 2015, and had his first multigoal game against the Calgary Flames four nights later before an injury cut his rookie season short. McDavid took his game to another level in 2016-17, leading the NHL with 100 points (30 goals, 70 assists), winning the Hart Trophy as most valuable player and the Ted Lindsay Award for the most outstanding player, and helping the Oilers reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2006. On July 5, 2017, he signed an eight-year, $100 million contract with the Oilers. McDavid led the NHL in scoring again in 2017-18 with 108 points (41 goals, 67 assists), and won the Ted Lindsay Award for the second straight year.
Henrik Lundqvist #30 | New York Rangers
All Lundqvist has done since taking the No. 1 goaltending job as a rookie with the Rangers in 2005 is win. He surpassed Mike Richter's franchise career record for victories during the 2013-14 season, when he led the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years. Lundqvist holds team records for appearances, wins and shutouts, and he won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender in 2011-12. He won at last 30 games in each of his first 11 full NHL seasons, including an NHL career-high of 39 in 2011-12.