There’s a new king of hockey in town.
Leon Draisaitl is currently the top player in the National Hockey League, according to TSN’s Mid-Season Top 25 NHL Player Ranking, released Friday.
According to the network, the list is compiled “based on performance in 2024-25 and voted on by a panel of 12 TSN hockey experts.” It’s a three-place improvement for the German winger who was listed at no. 4 in the network’s pre-season ranking.
Draisaitl leads the NHL with a whopping 36 goals and is the only player on pace for 50 goals this season, now shooting for 57. He sits second in points with 76, three behind Colorado Avalanche centre and reigning Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon, who landed second in TSN’s ranking.
Currently in the final season of an eight-year, $68 million contract, Draisaitl is set to jump to $14 million annually starting next season after signing an eight-year extension worth $112 million back in September. As of right now, he is set to become the highest-paid player in the NHL come next October.
Unanimously selected as number one in the pre-season ranking, Connor McDavid now sits third as he continues to have an impressive season despite having dealt with an ankle injury and a three-game suspension.
McDavid has 67 points in 45 games played so far and is well on his way to an eighth 100-point season. Should he reach the milestone, he would climb to third all-time in the number of seasons achieving this feat, tying Marcel Dionne.
The Oilers sniper will take centre stage in the upcoming 4 Nations tournament as an assistant captain for Team Canada. It’s the first time he will appear in a best-on-best competition in a Canadian sweater, having played on Team North America in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Hailing from Germany, Draisaitl is ineligible to appear at the tournament, as it will exclusively feature players from Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Finland.
German hockey fans will have to wait until next year in Milan to see Draisaitl back in their country’s colours, as NHL players are set to take to the ice for an Olympics for the first time since Sochi in 2014.
