McDavid leads the TSN Core 4 U-24 Top 50 Until further notice, the best hockey player on the planet is Connor McDavid. He was first in the TSN preseason list of the top 50 players and he is first in the TSN Core 4 U-24 Top 50.

Craig Button TSN Director of Scouting Follow|Archive

Until further notice, the best hockey player on the planet is Connor McDavid.

While the gap between the 21-year-old Edmonton superstar and the rest of the league may rise and fall throughout the season, McDavid is undeniably No. 1. He was first in the TSN preseason list of the top 50 players and he is first in the TSN Core 4 U-24 Top 50.

The battle begins at No. 2, where Toronto’s 21-year-old Auston Matthews gets the nod over Colorado’s 23-year-old Nathan MacKinnon by the smallest of margins. Matthews had a history-making start to the season – earning at least two points per game for seven straight games – and MacKinnon has picked up where he left off last season, when he finished second to Taylor Hall in MVP voting.

Rounding out the top group are Boston’s David Pastrnak at No. 4 and Vancouver rookie sensation Elias Pettersson at No. 5.

With Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen and Florida’s Aleksander Barkov at No. 6 and 7, respectively, that means five nationalities are represented in the first seven: Canadians McDavid and MacKinnon, American Matthews, Czech Pastrnak, Swede Pettersson and Finns Rantanen and Barkov.

Completing the top 10 are No. 8 Mitch Marner of Toronto and a pair of Buffalo stars, No. 9 Rasmus Dahlin and No. 10 Jack Eichel.

Dahlin is the first defenceman on the list not because of what he has done so far in the NHL, but what he will do. The 18-year-old is a franchise-defining blueliner.

The list represents a blend of 50 players from the NHL, KHL, AHL, CHL and NCAA – all evaluated on the basis of performance to date and projected performance in the future.

The Top 50 Core 4 Under-24 Players

Nos. 1 - 5 Player 2018-19 Age GP G A PTS 1. Connor McDavid, C Edmonton 21 18 10 16 26 2. Auston Matthews, C Toronto 21 11 10 6 16 3. Nathan MacKinnon, C Colorado 23 18 12 14 26 4. David Pastrnak, LW Boston 22 18 17 8 25 5. Elias Pettersson, C Vancouver 20 14 10 7 17

Nos. 6 - 10 Player 2018-19 Age GP G A PTS 6. Mikko Rantanen, RW Colorado 22 18 7 22 29 7. Aleksander Barkov, C Florida 23 15 5 9 14 8. Mitch Marner, RW Toronto 21 18 5 17 22 9. Rasmus Dahlin, D Buffalo 18 18 1 6 7 10. Jack Eichel, C Buffalo 22 18 4 15 19

Nos. 11 - 15 Player 2018-19 Age GP G A PTS 11. Leon Draisaitl, C Edmonton 23 18 11 9 19 12. Patrik Laine, RW Winnipeg 20 17 8 2 10 13. Brayden Point, C Tampa Bay 22 18 9 10 19 14. Charlie McAvoy, D Boston 20 7 1 5 6 15. Clayton Keller, RW Arizona 20 17 5 7 12

Nos. 16 - 20 Player 2018-19 Age GP G A PTS 16. Matthew Tkachuk, LW Calgary 20 18 7 12 19 17. Igor Shestyorkin, G St. Petersburg (KHL) 22 13 11-2-0 1.30 .946 18. Thomas Chabot, D Ottawa 21 18 5 17 22 19. Sebastian Aho, C Carolina 21 18 5 17 22 20. Mathew Barzal, C NY Islanders 21 17 2 14 16

Nos. 21 - 25 Player 2018-19 Age GP G A PTS 21. Miro Heiskanen, D Dallas 19 18 2 6 8 22. Ilya Sorokin, G Moscow (KHL) 23 17 10-3-3 1.37 .920 23. Zach Werenski, D Columbus 21 18 3 8 11 24. Ivan Provorov, D Philadelphia 21 19 2 5 7 25. Kyle Connor, LW Winnipeg 21 17 8 7 15

Nos. 26 - 50 Player 2018-19 Age GP G A PTS 26. Brock Boeser, RW Vancouver 21 13 4 7 11 27. Bo Horvat, C Vancouver 23 20 9 8 17 28. William Nylander, LW Toronto 22 - - - - 29. Nico Hischier, C New Jersey 19 15 3 9 12 30. Pierre-Luc Dubois, C Columbus 20 18 8 5 13

Nos. 31 - 35 Player 2018-19 Age GP G A PTS 31. Josh Morrissey, D Winnipeg 23 17 1 7 8 32. Dylan Larkin, LW Detroit 22 18 7 11 18 33. Elias Lindholm, C Calgary 23 18 9 9 8 34. Timo Meier, LW San Jose 22 19 12 6 18 35. Mikhail Sergachev, D Tampa Bay 20 17 0 6 6

Nos. 36 - 40 Player 2018-19 Age GP G A PTS 36. Aaron Ekblad, D Florida 22 15 1 2 3 37. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW Winnipeg 22 17 4 4 8 38. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C Montreal 18 18 3 6 9 39. Alex DeBrincat, RW Chicago 20 19 9 7 16 40. Kirill Kaprizov, LW Moscow (KHL) 21 24 10 7 17

Nos. 41 - 45 Player 2018-19 Age GP G A PTS 41. Cale Makar, D UMass-Amherst (NCAA) 20 9 4 9 13 42. Max Domi, C Montreal 23 18 10 12 22 43. Brady Tkachuk, LW Ottawa 19 7 4 4 8 44. Shea Theodore, D Vegas 23 19 2 5 7 45. Jonathan Drouin, LW Montreal 23 18 9 5 14