Every NHL Team's Most Important Player in the Next 3 Years
Now that the days left in the season are whittled down to single digits and teams are clinching playoff berths or a place in the lottery, it offers us an opportunity to take a look around the league and wonder which one player on each team is the most important one to them for the immediate future.
Is it the player who piles up goals and points to such a degree that it feels like it would be hopeless without them? What about the defenseman who plays more than 20 minutes per game and silences the opposing attackers? And what's to say of the goaltender who can cover up any and all mistakes on the ice and win games on their own? Most teams don't have all three of those, and the ones that do probably would have an easier decision to make.
Think about all that when pondering your own favorite team. Do you know who your team needs to be the best for the next three years? Choices are hard, and fortunately, that's why we're here to do the messy work for you.
We'll take a look around the league and find that one player for each team. We'll take into consideration their age, previous production, roster depth and (likely) progression in their game. We know there will be disagreements, but the logic is sound to us. You could tell us why we're wrong in the comments, though. We'd like to know why you think so.
We'll shake down each of the 32 players and settle on the one to rule each of them for the next little while.
Atlantic Division
Boston Bruins: David Pastrnak
Don't look now, but the Bruins have a transition era coming upon them sooner than later. When Patrice Bergeron decides to call it a career, the onus will be on Pastrnak to lead them through what might be murky times. We've been anticipating the undoing of the Bruins for what seems like too long, but the team gets so much from Bergeron that they could be a little lost without him. Now that Pastrnak has a nice, long extension signed to stay in Boston, it'll be on him to lead the next wave of Bruins ahead.
Buffalo Sabres: Tage Thompson
It may seem like a surprise that Thompson gets the call here given the Sabres also have Rasmus Dahlin along the blue line. What gives Thompson the nod is not just his elite ability to score goals and generate points (1.24 points per game this season) but also, while Dylan Cozens has been superb as the No. 2 center, Dahlin has Owen Power lined up behind him on the depth chart. Although the Sabres weathered a recent short-term Thompson absence well, losing him for an extended period would be crushing for their attack and goal output. Losing Dahlin would be brutal, but with Power to step in his stead, they could get by.
Detroit Red Wings: Moritz Seider
While the Red Wings get their forward corps built back up (something helped by the recent call-up of Marco Kasper), it's the defense that will shape them, and Seider is going to be the leader from the back end for a long time. Seider has been a revelation since joining Detroit last season. He immediately became their No. 1 defenseman, and while the Red Wings start adding younger players to their blue line such as Simon Edvinsson, Seider is the rock and will continue to be for years to come. His performance helps both the forwards get up the ice to score and make the goalies' nights a bit easier.
Florida Panthers: Matthew Tkachuk
What a pickup Tkachuk has been for the Panthers. He's stepped into the spot left by Jonathan Huberdeau's departure in the same deal and not only replicated the point production but added the very necessary snarl they needed to the lineup. Tkachuk is over 100 points in a season for the second straight year and likely to set a new career high. Since he's just 25 years old, there's a lot more where that came from. Even with the likes of Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad around him, Tkachuk is the one who drives the energy and production on the roster, not to mention being a magnet for attention from opponents.
Montréal Canadiens: Nick Suzuki
The Canadiens are supremely young and promising, but if they're going to have a glow-up over the next few years, it'll be up to Suzuki to lead the way. He wears the captain's C already at 23 years old, and as the team's top centerman he's beyond vital to their success. He's their top scorer both in raw points and points per game, and while his teammates like Kirby Dach and Cole Caufield grow up alongside him, Suzuki will help make it all go. Whether it's even strength, power play or shorthanded, he's out there for the Habs, and for the next three years you couldn't ask for a more solid player to have in that situation.
Ottawa Senators: Tim Stützle
Bet you thought this was going to be Brady Tkachuk, didn't you? While that would also be a good pick, Stützle is the guy making everything happen for the Senators offensively. Not only does he lead them in goals, assists and points this season, but his growth year to year has also been incredible. He's gone from 29 points his rookie year (0.55 per game) to 58 last season (0.73 per game) and is north of 80 points this season (1.15 per game) with a few more games to play. Stützle pushes the Senators attack to another gear when he's on the ice, and he's capable of making high-skill plays at high speed. The Sens declared their rebuild was over a couple of years ago, which puts the pressure on their young players to get it done now. Fortunately, Stützle is doing that and only getting better.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Brayden Point
What does a team that's been to the Stanley Cup Final three straight seasons have to worry about over the next three years? Well, why stop at three, right? The shift for the Lightning is coming eventually, but it'll be Brayden Point who steadies it all out. At 26, he's second on the team in points this season (behind 29-year-old Nikita Kucherov) but first in goals and is close to netting 50 this season. The Lightning have excelled at getting supreme production from their older players as their careers roll on, and there's no reason to think that will be any different for Point. He's been as steady a scorer as you'd want (0.80 points per game or better for six straight seasons) and while Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman all get a little older, Point will carry them ahead.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews
No kidding, right? Matthews is the Leafs' best player, so this was a relatively easy call to make. He's battled some injuries this season and is still tied for the team lead in goals. For six straight seasons, he's also scored better than a point per game, and while Toronto has been getting excellent scoring from Mitch Marner and William Nylander this season, if Matthews is out of the lineup, it's a glaring omission. What else makes him the most important guy for the next three years is he's able to be an unrestricted free agent after next season. If the Leafs want to continue being a Cup contender as well as a playoff team, they'll need to get him extended. Not doing so would really highlight how vital he is to their future success.
Metropolitan Division
Carolina Hurricanes: Sebastian Aho
The Hurricanes have been a force in the Metropolitan Division for a few years now, and much of that is because of Aho. He's been their points and goal scoring leader since the 2017-2018 season, and Martin Necas this season is the only threat to that title he's had. Even then, it's taken Aho missing time with injury to give Necas a shot at beating him. Aho is 25 years old and has been the leader and focus of the team's attack while the 'Canes continue to be one of the league's best teams. They lost Andrei Svechnikov to injury this season and continued to win games with Aho at the helm. There's no reason why he won't be the most needed player the next three years.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Zach Werenski
We know it's been a bad season for the Blue Jackets, but a major contributor to how poorly it's gone has been the absence of No. 1 defenseman Zach Werenski. Columbus has a boatload of talent up front with Johnny Gaudreau, Patrik Laine and Kent Johnson among others, but they're paper-thin on defense, and Werenski's absence exposed that in a big way. They'll get help at the position with 2022 first-round pick David Jiricek likely inbound next season, but Werenski is ultimately vital to how the team is driven up and down the ice. With Werenski back in the lineup, he'll also be a guiding hand for Jiricek as he graduates to the NHL from the AHL. Columbus needs a ton of help, but the return of Werenski will go a long way to improving their defense and offense for seasons to come.
New Jersey Devils: Jack Hughes
The Devils are teeming with young talent, and that kind of situation requires either a veteran to be the guiding hand for the seasons down the road or one of those young players to ascend to the top. That's where Jack Hughes comes in. Hughes has been a monster scorer the past two seasons, and only injury was able to slow him down last year. He's cracked 40 goals and 90 points this season, and after scoring 1.14 points per game last season, he's up to 1.23 per game this season (t-13 in the NHL with Mikko Rantanen). Elite scorers have a funny way of being the most important players on a team, and with Hughes being 21 years old, he's got a lot more scoring ahead of him. The Devils have other players capable of filling up the net, but none as prolific as Hughes.
New York Islanders: Ilya Sorokin
Any team that has a defined lack of punch on offense needs either a superior defense or goaltender to help make them playoff contenders. That's precisely what Sorokin is. He's one of the best goalies in the NHL and has been more than capable of helping the goal-shy Islanders pick up wins. Since he took over as the No. 1 on Long Island last season, he's posted a .923 career save percentage and 12 shutouts. His 39 losses over that span are primarily down to his lack of goal support. Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson and Bo Horvat are really solid scorers, but the Islanders will need more depth there to be real contenders. Until then, Sorokin has it locked down in net.
New York Rangers: Adam Fox
Since Fox arrived in Manhattan, he's been a force on the blue line. The Rangers have so much firepower up front but it's on defense where they've been a bit thinner. K'Andre Miller has been stupendous back there, while Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba add physicality, but Fox is the one who makes it all go. He's already won a Norris Trophy, and if Erik Karlsson wasn't going off this season, he might be in line for another. At 25 years old, he'll lead the Rangers blue line for years and will be vital to their success.
Philadelphia Flyers: Carter Hart
The Flyers are a mess. They have needs everywhere, but they are set in goal with Carter Hart, and they'll need him to hold it down for a while. If Hart's regular stats this season don't impress you, his fancy stats should (he's 13th in the league in goals saved above expected). The Flyers are always torn between rebuilding fully or on the fly, but they'll be able to sneak back to the playoffs sooner than later with Hart minding the net. When you've got the goalie, you've got a big piece of the puzzle set.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby
The Penguins are in a very peculiar place in their history. They've committed years to their older players and have very little in the way of prospects on the way. That puts all the pressure on said older players to keep the team in playoff contention. Fortunately for the Pens, Sidney Crosby is still a great player. At 35, he's showing why he's been a generational player and an all-time great. At 38, he will still be crucial for the Penguins to maybe make one more run at a Cup and buy time to build up their prospect pool. Crosby's 470 points in 404 games since his age-30 season in 2017-18 give reason to hope that he can sustain his brilliance for that long.
Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin
Much like Crosby in Pittsburgh, Ovechkin and his older teammates are keeping the band together to make one more run at glory. Like the Penguins, the Capitals are lacking in prospects to be able to pull the chute for a full rebuild and will keep going for it while their superstar forward continues to play. That means they'll count on Ovechkin to pump in 30-40 goals per season and menace opponents on the power play for a few more years. The Caps are slowly adding some younger players like Dylan Strome and Rasmus Sandin, but older guys like Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie are still atop the depth chart. That means Ovechkin will need to keep on scoring goals.
Central Division
Arizona Coyotes: Logan Cooley
Is it weird that the most important player for the Coyotes is a guy that's not even on their roster yet? Cooley will play in the Frozen Four this weekend for Minnesota, but he's ultimately destined for the desert, where he'll be vital for the youth movement to come. Arizona has some really solid players in Clayton Keller and Logan Crouse, and they'll have more on the way with Dylan Guenther, Conor Geekie and whoever they take in the first round in June, but Cooley is on top of their prospect pyramid. He led the Gophers in scoring as a freshman and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
Chicago Blackhawks: Seth Jones
Chicago doesn't have a lot going for it right now apart from trying to secure the best odds to land Connor Bedard. Jonathan Toews' career is up in the air, they traded Patrick Kane and Max Domi and they're heavily into a rebuild that started in earnest last season. One player will survive it, however, and Jones is him. He's the one top player they can count on being there when current prospects like Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar and Lukas Reichel graduate.
Colorado Avalanche: Cale Makar
The tough part about picking the most important player from the defending Stanley Cup champions is you could justifiably pick three or four players. But how do you not pick Cale Makar here? He's won a Calder, a Norris, a Cup and a Conn Smythe and he's 24 years old. No offense to Nathan MacKinnon or Mikko Rantanen, but Makar has very few peers among fellow blueliners. He's an elite player who can run the game from the back end. That kind of ability is rare, and if the Avalanche are to win again in the coming years, Makar is vital to making that happen.
Dallas Stars: Jason Robertson
The Stars are on the rise, and the biggest, ahem, star among their group of outstanding young players is Robertson. Again, no slights intended to Roope Hintz, Jake Oettinger or Miro Heiskanen here, but Robertson's ability to pile up goals and points lets him pick the team up and carry them to wins. Robertson's explosive season last year put him on the map in a big way, and he's eclipsed 100 points for the first time this season and has more goals this season than last with 43. The Stars have some really good younger players in place right now, but Robertson is the elite among them. If the Stars are going to make a run at the Cup in the coming seasons, he'll be the one to lead the way.
Minnesota Wild: Kirill Kaprizov
Kirill the Thrill is the offense in Minnesota. Wherever he goes on the ice, goals follow, and the Wild haven't had a player remotely like that since Marián Gaborík. He's a dual threat at 5-on-5 and especially on the power play. Of his 39 goals this season, 16 were on the man advantage (tied for seventh-most in the league). In three seasons, he's scored more than a point per game (233 points in 201 games), and 113 of those are goals. As good as he is at scoring goals, he's equally great at being a playmaker. Teaming him up with Matthew Boldy for the foreseeable future sounds like a recipe for a lot of goals and wins.
Nashville Predators: Filip Forsberg
Injuries took their toll on the Predators this season, and while Juuse Saros has been phenomenal at getting Nashville back in the playoff race, they really miss Filip Forsberg. The 28-year-old Swede has been out of action since February with an upper-body injury, but he's been a goal-scoring maven for years in Nashville, and his eight-year, $68 million extension last July sealed him up as the guy to lead their attack. Goals are often at a premium with the Predators, and Forsberg is a consistent source of them. The Preds will need balance between the stellar goaltending of Saros and providing him with support, and Forsberg is vital to making sure they can get on the board to win games.
St. Louis Blues: Jordan Kyrou
The Blues are in a bit of an odd position. They've got a handful of outstanding younger players and are still rolling with some of the veterans from their Stanley Cup-winning season in 2019. So if you're looking for who is going to be vital to them getting back to the playoffs and challenging for a Cup again, look no further than the 24-year-old Kyrou. He's become a big-time goal scorer this season and has 147 points in 149 games over the last two seasons. He's also rolling along on a line more often than not with 23-year-old Robert Thomas. Those two are both pretty important to the Blues' future, but we're siding with Kyrou because of his better goal-scoring.
Winnipeg Jets: Connor Hellebuyck
This season has shown that Hellebuyck's play is what leads the way in Winnipeg, and it's impossible to think that's something that will change in the years to come. The Jets have some very talented skaters as well, but no one means more to their immediate future than Hellebuyck. It's not a coincidence that as his performance has come down in the second half, so have the Jets in the standings. The catch for Winnipeg is Hellebuyck can be an unrestricted free agent after next season. They may want to address that.
Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks: Jamie Drysdale
OK, first off, I hear you about Trevor Zegras, I truly do. Zegras and Troy Terry are the offensive hope and future for the Ducks, who are very suddenly very, very bad. Consider the Ducks' recent history, however. They've wound up in a spot like this by trading away high-end defensemen. Since 2016-2017, they've traded Brandon Montour, Shea Theodore, Marcus Pettersson, Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm. While they've kept Cam Fowler, that's an incredible amount of defensive talent they've traded away. It's what makes Jamie Drysdale the most important player to their future. Fowler is past 30 years old now, and the Ducks desperately need to rebuild their defense. Drysdale, the sixth pick in 2020, is that player for them. Don't get it twisted, the Ducks need a ton of help, but getting a cornerstone defenseman locked in will go a long way.
Calgary Flames: Jonathan Huberdeau
As easy as some teams are to pick out their most important players, the Flames present an entirely different kind of difficulty. They don't have an elite rookie or young prospect to carry them forward, and those that kind of 22-26 age range are very good players but not the most important. That's why this honor falls on Huberdeau. He was part of a monster trade with Florida in which Calgary (arguably) gave up the best player. But Huberdeau is an outstanding offensive weapon, and if the Flames are going to be an annual playoff team/Cup contender, they need him to score the way he did his final season with the Panthers. He's had a tough first season with the Flames (just over 50 points in 70-plus games), and it's a factor in their inconsistency. That has to change moving forward.
Edmonton Oilers: Connor McDavid
Like it was going to be anyone else. McDavid is the best player in the league by a long shot. He's skating laps around everyone in scoring and putting up the sorts of numbers that make you wonder if he's time-traveled from the 1980s and learned everything he knows from Wayne Gretzky. Everything runs through him, and the Oilers' best chances all rely on him. Heck, even when he's been near-perfect in the past, it hasn't quite gotten the Oilers over the hump, but the player he was then barely compares to the player he is now. Sure, you could argue guys like Leon Draisaitl or Darnell Nurse are important to the team for their chances at a Cup, but no one matters more than McDavid. Without him, they're not going anywhere.
Los Angeles Kings: Quinton Byfield
The Kings are in an odd spot in that their legacy players like Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty are getting older, but they've got some excellent support players with them now. GM Rob Blake has added some excellent scoring wingers and role-playing centers, but they don't have someone to ascend to Kopitar's position as the top center. This is the spot meant to belong to Byfield. The No. 2 pick in 2020 has played the wing with Kopitar this season, but he's a center naturally. He's been brought along slowly and dealt with some injury issues, but he appears to be rounding into form. The Kings will need him along with Gabe Vilardi to be the next generation of scorers in L.A., but when you're a No. 2 overall pick, the weight is on your shoulders. As Kopitar gets older and Kevin Fiala gets further along in his career, the need to get fresher legs in there will grow dramatically.
San Jose Sharks: William Eklund
The Sharks are among the teams closest to the dream spot of having the best lottery odds. They're missing is a young, big-time playmaker with finish, and they're hoping that's what Eklund can become once he's a full-time NHL player. Eklund was the No. 7 pick in 2021 and was an elite junior scorer in Sweden, something the Sharks want to see translate to North America. He's in his first season with San Jose's AHL team and producing well with 41 points in 57 games. He's gotten some tastes of the NHL the past two seasons, but all signs point to him being a full-timer next season. Yes, the Sharks will (likely) get another top-10 pick this year and might land Connor Bedard, but Eklund must still reach his potential in the next few seasons to give the Sharks hope of returning to the top of the standings.
Seattle Kraken: Matty Beniers
The Kraken have a lot of good things going for them. They're in control of their fate for a playoff spot and are getting goals all throughout their lineup to do it. One of the players at the top of that list is Beniers, and he's the key to their immediate future. Beniers leads all rookies in scoring this season, and his speed and skill are causing problems for everyone in the Western Conference. Although they have Shane Wright simmering in the OHL and awaiting his next shot at the NHL next season, Beniers has become a proven player. As a rookie, he centers the Kraken's top line, which firmly puts him in place as the guy they're building their franchise around. That alone is enough to make him their most important player the next three years, but his play is making it a no-brainer choice.
Vancouver Canucks: Quinn Hughes
The Canucks have had a messy season, but if there's something that's shown through this year it's that they have some nice forwards who can produce points. But when you look at their blue line, it's scary apart from one player: Quinn Hughes. He can run the show at 5-on-5 and on the power play, and while critics will harp on his defensive skill, he's got the Canucks' second-best shot-attempt percentage at 5-on-5. If your team is generating more attempts than the opponent gets when you're on the ice, you're doing things right. That's what Hughes does for the Canucks, and he'll be vital to them turning it around.
Vegas Golden Knights: Jack Eichel
Vegas spent a lot of capital to land Jack Eichel, and now that he's been (mostly) healthy this season, the Golden Knights are so much better for it. They've had to play without captain Mark Stone for a big chunk of the season due to another back injury, but when Eichel is in the Vegas lineup, everything runs through him. He's got 63 points in 64 games this season, and he's been heating up lately with points in six straight. He's their No. 1 center by leaps and bounds, and the way he's played this season is the reason why Vegas got him from Buffalo. With Vegas being tight to the salary cap, it means Eichel will have to play like this (and more) for them to continue being one of the best in the West.