NHL Top Players: Nos. 40-31

NHL Network is getting ready for this season by ranking the top 50 players in the League. Researchers, producers and on-air personalities compiled the list, and players 50-41 were revealed Sunday in the sixth of a nine-part series. Here is the list:

40. Ryan O'Reilly, C, St. Louis Blues
O'Reilly remains one of the best two-way players in the NHL. Last season, he had 58 points (21 goals, 37 assists) in 78 games and led Blues forwards in average ice time per game (19:05), including 2:36 on the power play and 1:52 on the penalty kill. The 31-year-old was also second in the NHL in face-off wins (900) and fourth in face-off attempts (1,585). Winner of the 2019 Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL, O'Reilly has had at least 54 points in nine straight seasons and has won at least 56 percent of his face-offs in each of the past seven.
"He is well liked, he is a great teammate," NHL Network analyst Scott Hartnell said. "… Face-offs, penalty killing, power play. He's got the hands, he's not the fastest guy in the world but he's had a great career."

39. Devon Toews, D Colorado Avalanche
Toews may not receive as much attention as his defense partner, Cale Makar, but he had a career-high 57 points (13 goals, 44 assists) in 66 games and has increased his goal and point total in each of the past three seasons. The 28-year-old also set career highs in shots on goal (158), power-play points (12) and game-winning goals (three), and he led NHL defensemen with a plus-52 rating and was second on the Avalanche in average ice time (25:22). Toews had 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help Colorado win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2001.
"He's trending upwards," Hartnell said. "This guy is so good defensively and he's got that upside that he brought this past season for the Avs. You look in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year just how solid he was every game."

38. Aaron Ekblad, D, Florida Panthers
The 26-year-old set NHL career highs in points (57) and assists (42) last season despite being limited to 61 games because of injury. Ekblad also set career highs in power-play points (20), shorthanded points (three), and plus/minus rating (plus-38). The No. 1 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Ekblad led Florida with an average ice time of 24:55 per game, and the Panthers had 58.2 percent of the shot attempts with him on the ice at 5-on-5. The winner of the 2015 Calder Trophy voted as NHL rookie of the year, Ekblad has scored at least 10 goals seven times.
"This guy logs a lot of minutes, he's obviously a right-handed shot defenseman, hard to find this caliber of D-man in the NHL so when you have that, you are so lucky. You have to lock those guys up," Hartnell said. "He makes the right play all the time. Very important piece for the Florida Panthers."

37. Jason Robertson, F, Dallas Stars
Robertson showed his rookie season was no fluke, leading the Stars in goals (41) and finishing second in points (79) in 74 games last season. The 23-year-old left wing also led them with 13 power-play goals, and his 11 game-winning goals were tied for the NHL lead. Robertson was a finalist for the Calder Trophy in 2020-21, when he had 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 51 games.
"He's got such good hockey sense. He's got the skills to stick handle in a phone booth," Hartnell said. "He scores goals in so many different ways. … 41 goals last year for his second, third year in the League is pretty incredible for a kid that young to be that poised and take this team kind of on his shoulders. … This guy checks all the boxes for a potential superstar."

36. Kris Letang, D, Pittsburgh Penguins
Letang was fourth in the NHL in average ice time per game (25:47) and set NHL career highs in assists (58) and points (68) in 78 games last season. The 35-year-old was second on the Penguins with a plus-20 rating, 122 blocked shots and 171 hits, tied for second with 22 power-play points, and third with 214 shots on goal. Letang has had at least 50 points six times in his 16 NHL seasons, and he is third among defensemen in points (650) since entering the NHL in 2006-07. He has made the NHL Second All-Star Team twice (2013, 2016), and is a three-time Stanley Cup champion (2009, 2016, 2017).
"What makes him so good, he does everything effortless," Hartnell said. "The smooth skating, the nice, beautiful shot when he releases it. … Everything that he does is just so smooth and so good, and he is ageless as well."

35. Nazem Kadri, C, Calgary Flames
Kadri played through a broken thumb in the playoffs last season, getting 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 16 games after the 31-year-old had NHL career highs in assists (59), points (87), power-play points (29) and average ice time (19:14) in 71 regular-season games. Kadri also led Colorado in face-off attempts (1,177) and face-off wins (585).
"Him going in this year and playing the way he did with a chip on his shoulder and doing what he did. … What he did all season long, he didn't hardly take a night off," Hartnell said.

34. Jake Guentzel, F, Pittsburgh Penguins
Guentzel set his NHL career highs in assists (44) and points (84) in 76 games last season, and his 40 goals led the Penguins and tied his career high he previously set in 2018-19. The 27-year-old also led Pittsburgh in shots on goal (264), was second in game-winning goals (seven), tied for second in power-play points (22), and was first among its forwards in average ice time (20:06). Guentzel has scored at least 20 goals in five straight seasons and has 34 goals in 58 playoff games, including leading the playoffs with 13 in 2017, when the Penguins won the Cup.
"Playing with Sidney Crosby, you can't not be good," Hartnell said. "For him coming in (to the NHL), he was a third-round pick, and doing what he's done right off the bat, there was no learning curve for Jake Guentzel in the NHL. He came in, he produced right away."

33. Elias Lindholm, C, Calgary Flames
Lindholm had an NHL career-high 82 points and tied Matthew Tkachuk for the Flames lead with 42 goals in 82 games last season. The 27-year-old was second in the NHL with a plus-61 rating, behind former teammate Johnny Gaudreau (plus-64), and tied for sixth in game-winning goals (nine). Among Calgary forwards, Lindholm was first in average ice time per game (19:57), shorthanded ice time per game (2:07), face-off attempts (1,592), face-off wins (842) and blocked shots (52), and tied with Mikael Backlund for first in takeaways (55).
"He is as good offensively as he is defensively," Hartnell said. "You want your best players to be involved in both aspects of the game. … One heck of a season."

32. J.T. Miller, C, Vancouver Canucks
Miller led the Canucks in assists (67), points (99) and power-play points (38) last season, each an NHL career high. The 29-year-old also led Vancouver forwards in average ice time per game (21:05), hits (172) and blocks (56), was tied with Elias Pettersson for first in takeaways (56), and won 54.1 percent of his face-offs.
"If you would have told me before the season last year he was going to get 99 points, I would have said you were trying to fool me," Hartnell said. "… He's really taken his game to the next level. … He is doing it all. He is getting the ice time, he's taking advantage of that ice time."

31. Brayden Point, C, Tampa Bay Lightning
The 26-year-old was fourth on the Lightning in points (58), third in power-play points (22) and second in goals (28) last season despite being limited to 66 games. A two-time Stanley Cup champion (2020, 2021), Point led the 2020 and 2021 playoffs in goals (14 each) and is third in postseason scoring since 2018 (38 goals, 40 assists in 76 games).
"This guy is incredible," Hartnell said. "He is one of the best players on the Tampa Bay Lightning because he shows up in the playoffs. This guy is an absolute warrior, a big reason why they won back-to-back Cups. If he was healthy last playoffs with the Tampa Bay Lightning, I don't think that the Colorado Avalanche would have beaten them."