Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl listed as Top 3 players in NHL 24

Two players from the Edmonton Oilers have landed in EA Sports NHL’s Top 50 ratings list and to no one’s surprise it’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. EA Sports has rated McDavid as the best player in NHL 24 with a 97 rating and Draisaitl landed a 95 for third best in the game, tied with cover star Cale Makar.

Throughout the week and leading up to the launch of NHL 24, EA has been revealing top ratings and stats for each position in the game. Some fans are wondering if the developers are scared to give McDavid a 99 rating of any sort as they maxed out his speed at 98.

Last year, McDavid had one of the best seasons in modern history as the first player to score 150+ points since Mario Lemieux in 1995-1996. The Oilers captain took home multiple pieces of hardware including the Hart Memorial Trophy, Maurice Rocket Richard, the Art Ross, and the Ted Lindsay. We can’t forget an ESPY for the best NHL player.

Yet, none of that justified for Connor McDavid to join the 99 club. Now throughout the life cycle of an NHL title, they do give players upgrades in Hockey Ultimate Team and in roster updates periodically but at the start of a new season, EA has never given any player a 99 overall who’s currently active in the NHL.

Draisaitl on the other hand is shaping up to be a juggernaut in NHL 24. His acceleration comes in at 88, aggression at 90, agility at 89, balance at 94, speed at 88, and strength at 93. An absolute unit.

The German forward reached new heights as well with a 128-point year. The stat that stands out for Leon Draisaitl is that he’s listed as third in NHL history for points per game in the playoffs at 1.57, just behind Lemieux and Gretzky.

Nathan Mackinnon and David Pastrnak both have a 95 rating, however, EA has Draisaitl listed third in overall ratings on their website.

Other Oilers ratings who have been revealed are Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard. Hyman earned himself an 87 after a career year with 36 goals, 47 assists, and 83 points in 79 games. At the launch of NHL 23, he was rated 84.

Evan Bouchard got himself a spot in the Top 24 under 24 with a rating of 85, a nice little bump whereas in NHL 23 he was 82. That’s all EA has revealed for the Oilers so far.

Speaking of players under 24, Connor Bedard did not make the list. The highly anticipated prospect has yet to have his overall revealed. Seth Jarvis earned himself the lowest rating in the Top 24 Under 24 with an 83 so odds are Bedard will be slightly under that. McDavid in his rookie year was given an 82 overall.

A few ratings I’m looking forward to seeing are Stuart Skinner. How generous will EA be with him after his stellar rookie year and being nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy? Nugent-Hopkins is due for a nice upgrade as well after a 104-point campaign in 22/23.

For those interested, I’ll be reacting to the full overall ratings for the Edmonton Oilers on the Oilersnation YouTube page and will be streaming the game when the early access drops on October 3rd.