Best since Gretz: The top 5 NHL players from the last 25 years
A quarter century has passed since Wayne Gretzky retired as the NHL's all-time scoring leader and undisputed top talent. To mark the milestone, theScore set out to rank and discuss the 25 best players of the post-Gretzky era.
Stats and accolades compiled before the 1999-00 season weren't considered for this exercise. For example, Nicklas Lidstrom was evaluated as a 10-time (not a 12-time) All-Star.
Monday: Introductory essay and players 21-25
Tuesday: Players 16-20
Wednesday: Players 11-15
Thursday: Players 6-10
Era teams: Chicago Blackhawks 2007-23, New York Rangers 2023, Detroit Red Wings 2023-present
Signature performance: Kane produced one of the strangest moments in hockey history a few minutes into overtime of Game 6 in the 2010 Cup Final.
The Blackhawks superstar shimmied around a Flyers defender on the half-wall and bolted for the net. Everyone in the arena and watching on TV thought Kane, an electrifying playmaker, was gearing up for a pass attempt. Instead, he fired the puck toward the far side of the net from a terrible angle.
It went in, but for a second Kane was the only one on the planet who had a clear view of the puck, causing Chicago players, coaches, and managers to awkwardly begin celebrating the Cup victory with one eye on the videoboard.
Alas, the goal ended a 49-year drought for an Original Six franchise that was in dire straights prior to the arrival of Kane and running mate Jonathan Toews.
Why he's here: Kane, a three-time Cup winner with a Conn Smythe, Hart, Art Ross, and Calder, is arguably the greatest U.S.-born player of all time. Heading into the 2024-25 season, the soon-to-be 36-year-old winger sits 90 points shy of Mike Modano's record for most points by an American.
Kane earned his "Showtime" nickname. He's always had incredible vision and dizzying puck skills, and, in his prime, he brought fans out of their seats by dictating the pace of every shift, constantly manipulating defenders with dangles, speed changes, cutbacks, and spin-o-ramas. He's been the main character in countless high-stakes moments, often celebrating goals with flair.
Kane, who ranks fourth in adjusted points in the post-Gretzky era, was the best player on the dynastic Blackhawks teams, the perfect yin to Toews' yang. Those glory years in the rearview mirror, he moved on to the Rangers ahead of the 2023 trade deadline and has since found a new hockey home in Detroit.
Kane's offense-first style and winning pedigree inspired a generation of small-ish forwards. Young NHLers grew up on his YouTube highlights. - John Matisz
Era teams: Edmonton Oilers 2015-present
Signature performance: Late in his legendary 2024 postseason, McDavid put together back-to-back four-point takeovers that prevented a humiliating defeat in the Cup Final. The Oilers rallied from 3-0 down against the Panthers to force an unexpected, suspenseful Game 7, which they lost by a goal.
McDavid's 34 assists in the playoffs broke Gretzky's long-held record, and his 42 points rank fourth in league history. Over 25 games, Edmonton gained a plus-33 goal differential (54-21) during his shifts.
He was the first losing skater to win the Conn Smythe Trophy - in a landslide, no less - since Reggie Leach in 1976.
Why he's here: McDavid might be the most skilled player to ever lace up skates. The Oilers captain and franchise savior actualized his limitless potential by tallying historic stats and repeatedly winning major awards.
At 27 years old, McDavid owns three Hart Trophies and is a five-time scoring champion. His seven 100-point seasons in nine tries are the most by any player this century. He led the league with 64 goals and 100 assists in separate years. He'll become the NHL's third-fastest 1,000-point scorer, following Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, if he adds 18 in his next 10 appearances - a definite possibility.
McDavid's talent, grit, and killer instinct help him thrive under pressure. He ranks third in career playoff points per game (1.58, or 117 in 74) behind, naturally, Gretzky and Lemieux. He produced the only five-assist playoff game of the post-Gretzky era by rupturing the Kings' defense in Edmonton's 2024 first-round opener.
If Gretzky was a chess master on blades, McDavid resembles a basketball superstar who dominates possession, spins around dazed defenders, and bends games to his will. He's an artful, elusive skater who executes crossovers and dekes at blinding speed. Slick stickhandling and X-ray vision make him a weapon on the power play, where he dished 35 more primary assists over the past five seasons than Nikita Kucherov in second place.
Slumping to draft McDavid with the top pick in 2015 saved Edmonton from irrelevance. As his partnership with Leon Draisaitl blossomed, the 2021, '22, '23, and '24 Oilers posted four of the 10 best regular-season points percentages in franchise history, joining six Gretzky-led juggernauts.
McDavid yearns for a Cup. Team-released footage showed him sitting stone-faced and heartbroken in the losing dressing room in Florida as Gary Bettman announced he was the Conn Smythe recipient. Unfinished business will drive him as more milestones fall. - Nick Faris
Era teams: Detroit Red Wings 1999-2012
Signature performance: The high-level numbers don't fly off the page - 16 points, 41 shots on goal, and a plus-6 rating in 23 playoff games for Detroit.
Dig a little deeper and Lidstrom's 2002 Conn Smythe Trophy begins to make more sense - two game-winning goals, including one in the Cup Final; 31 minutes of ice a night, five ahead of his closest teammate; and only one penalty taken despite facing the other team's stars in four hard-fought series.
That year, Lidstrom became the first European to win playoff MVP. In 2008, he made history again as the first European to captain a Cup-winning team.
Why he's here: Lidstrom is Bobby Orr's biggest challenger for top defenseman of all time thanks to two decades of virtually mistake-free hockey.
The post-Gretzky era captures Lidstrom's final 952 games - 61% of his career. It captures two of Lidstrom's four Cups, all seven of his Norris Trophies, 10 of his 12 end-of-season All-Star selections, and his six-year reign as Wings captain. We discussed slotting McDavid ahead of Lidstrom on this list but ultimately gave Lidstrom the No. 3 ranking since the body of work from his final 12 seasons is more three-dimensional than McDavid's first nine.
Lidstrom, a native of Vasteras, Sweden, had an impeccable reputation. He was predictably excellent - never out of position, never missing a teammate's tape on a pass, never taking undisciplined penalties. His otherworldly hockey sense, effortless skating, 6-foot-1, 192-pound frame, and next-level hand-eye coordination allowed him to kill opposing attacks with a unique efficiency.
He was surgical on offense, too. He'd find a teammate back-door at even strength or wire a hard and accurate shot from the point on the power play. While he was the king of unsexy plays, Lidstrom was also money for 60-80 points a year, and he led or co-led blue-liners in points four times in the era.
There was a trickle-down effect to Lidstrom being elite for such a huge chunk of time. Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, and Rob Blake are all worthy members of the Hall of Fame, even though each won only one Norris.
Nicknamed "The Perfect Human" for his seemingly flawless game and classy personality, Lidstrom personified brilliance from the back end. - Matisz
Era teams: Washington Capitals 2005-present
Signature performance: There were hints of something special brewing in the first half of Ovechkin's 52-goal debut season. But one sequence in Game 44 of the Capitals' 2005-06 schedule converted any doubters into believers.
Rocking his patented tinted visor and yellow skate laces, Ovechkin galloped down the right wing and into the Coyotes' zone. He deked through the only defender in sight, lost his balance, and fell to the ground. Then, as he was rolling on the ice, he miraculously backhanded the puck into the gaping net.
The jaw-dropper had an impossibly high level of difficulty - to recap, he scored while sliding on his back, arms extended over his head. As the hockey world would come to learn over time, Ovechkin is simply of a different breed.
Why he's here: While 894 goals is supposed to be one of those records Gretzky holds for eternity, Ovechkin - who's 41 behind - will almost certainly break it this season or next. He is already the greatest goal-scorer in hockey history.
Most of Ovechkin's career has coincided with low scoring rates across the NHL. According to Hockey Reference, his 853 goals in 1,426 games grade out to a ludicrous 953 when adjusted for the salary-cap era. Gordie Howe ranks second with 925 era-adjusted goals, Jaromir Jagr's third at 841, and Gretzky, who skated in the high-flying 1980s and '90s, sits fourth - 758 in 1,487 games.
Ovechkin's led the NHL in goals in nine of his 19 seasons, bagging 60 once (65 in 2007-08), 50 eight times, and 40 four times. He has a comically large wheelhouse (there are no bad passes to "The Great 8") and an overpowering one-timer. The top half of the left circle has been unofficially renamed the "Ovi Office" since Ovechkin's scored so many of his record 312 power-play goals from the same spot on the ice - even with the opposition knowing the plan.
Young Ovechkin was a bull in a China shop who used his 6-foot-3, 238-pound frame to create car crashes all over the ice while chasing down pucks and firing shots on goal at a feverish pace. His swagger got on the nerves of old-school analysts like Don Cherry, and his willingness to put himself out there in zany TV commercials encouraged his uptight peers to loosen up publicly.
Ovechkin, 39, is extremely durable - "Russian machine never breaks," he famously quipped - having missed around 40 total regular-season games to injury over the years. It almost defies logic, considering how much stress he put on his body in his 20s and how long he's continued to log top-line minutes in Washington. We also can't forget his lengthy playoff experience, which includes a 2018 run that produced 15 goals in 24 games, MVP honors, and the Cup.
Only three players - Gretzky, Howe, and Eddie Shore - have won more Hart Trophies than Ovechkin's three (2007-08, '08-09, '12-13). It's not an exaggeration to say he and Sidney Crosby revived the sport following the 2004-05 lockout and continue to be faces of the league in the 2020s. - Matisz
Era teams: Pittsburgh Penguins 2005-present
Signature performance: Crosby's career includes a limitless supply of highlights. But the last play of the 2008 Winter Classic has a special resonance.
On New Year's Day, Crosby scored a shootout goal in picturesque pond hockey-like conditions to seal a 2-1 victory for Pittsburgh. He hooted in celebration after outsmarting Buffalo's Ryan Miller with a deke through snow. It was the first of what would come to be a tentpole event for the NHL.
Back then, there were no guarantees the Winter Classic (and outdoor games, in general) would take off. Crosby, just 20 in 2008, helped dramatize the nostalgia play. Nobody sells the sport of hockey quite like Crosby.
He was again front and center at the event three years later, when a blindside hit from Washington's David Steckel put his career in jeopardy. Luckily for Crosby and the sport, he battled through the dark times, returned, and in due time added happier chapters to what's become a marvelous story.
Why he's here: Crosby is a textbook example of a generational talent, and after living up to "The Next One" hype, No. 87 on the Penguins deserves a spot on hockey's Mount Rushmore alongside Gretzky, Orr, and Lemieux.
Crosby, who's set to enter his 20th NHL season, all with the Penguins, ranks 10th all time in points, with 1,596 in 1,272 games. Among the top 10 point-getters, only Gretzky, Lemieux, and Marcel Dionne have a higher per-game rate than Crosby's 1.3. The pride of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, owns three Cup rings, is one of six NHLers to claim playoff MVP multiple times, and has collected enough regular-season hardware to fill a wing at the Hall of Fame.
What makes Crosby a singular player is his perfect blend of intelligence, puck skills, physical traits, and intangibles. Arguably the best all-around player ever, "Sid The Kid" checks all the superstar boxes (skating, passing, shooting, etc.) while approaching the game with the hunger and grit of a fourth-line grinder.
His vision is so off the charts that it's as if he's playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. His edges and acceleration gear are elite, and he pairs that elusive skating with a low center of gravity to protect the puck better than anyone. His playmaking is as exceptional as his deflecting. And that backhand - Crosby boasts easily the finest backhand shot in hockey history.
Crosby has an aura around him, even at 37. He may no longer be at the peak of his powers, but he also hasn't undergone any meaningful decline. He's probably still a top-10 player in the league and certainly remains one of its top ambassadors. His reputation as a player and person is spotless. - Matisz
John Matisz and Nick Faris cover the NHL for theScore.