Welcome to the top 25 under-25 list for 2016-17.

The criteria for being eligible for this list is remaining under the age of 25 as of Sept. 15, 2016 (Sept. 15 being the important draft cut-off birth date), and not being considered a prospect per my usual definition, which is 25 games played in any season or 50 games total. So, you won't see Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine or Matt Murray on this list, as they are still in the "prospect" category, by definition.

Bear in mind that this is not a list of which players I would want in a game tomorrow; rather, it's the players I would take for the rest of their NHL careers, without considerations of cap space or time to free agency.