Fantasy: 2025 year in review by the numbers

NHL.com's fantasy staff identifies five players who led the way in fantasy hockey in the 2025 calendar year.

Nathan MacKinnon, F, Colorado Avalanche

MacKinnon led the entire NHL in points (116), even-strength points (81) and shots on goal (334) in 77 games in 2025. MacKinnon provided fantasy managers with a League-best 4.38 shots per game and ranked first in fantasy points (974.6) during the calendar year, 109.2 more points than the next-closest skater (David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins with 865.4). MacKinnon also finished among the NHL leaders in goals (48; third), assists (68; third), power-play points (35; tied for eighth) and shot attempts percentage (58.3; seventh among forwards).

MacKinnon was tied with Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the most multipoint games (34) in 2025 and ranked highly in three-point games (14; tied for third), four-point games (four; tied for second) and five-point games (two; tied for most) as well. MacKinnon, who had points in 37 of his 39 home games in 2025, had four times as many three-point games (eight) as he had zero-point games (two) on home ice during the calendar year.

MacKinnon also led the NHL in points (143), even-strength points (100) and shots on goal (391) in 83 games during the 2024 calendar year.

Connor McDavid, F, Edmonton Oilers

McDavid, who ranked fourth in fantasy points (838.0) in 2025, finished second behind MacKinnon in points with 113 in 71 games during the calendar year, but led the League in points per game (1.59). McDavid also led the NHL in points per game at home (1.90) as he had 55 points (16 goals, 39 assists) in 29 home games. McDavid paced the NHL with 45 power-play points in 2025, one ahead of his Oilers teammate, Leon Draisaitl (44), who also ranked fifth in points (105) and sixth in fantasy points (830.7) in the calendar year.

McDavid had an assist on all five of the Oilers’ goals in their 5-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 23 to move into a tie with Kucherov for the most assists (79) in 2025. McDavid ranked second behind Kucherov (52) in primary assists (49) this year. Kucherov ranked third in both fantasy points (846.7) and points (112 in 78 games) in 2025.

McDavid, who has 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) during his current 11-game point streak, ranks first in the 2025-26 NHL season with 67 points (23 goals, 44 assists) in 38 games. His 67 points are the most points by Dec. 25 by any player since 1995-96; Mario Lemieux (76 points in 29 games) and Jaromir Jagr (68 points in 33 games).

Morgan Geekie, F, Boston Bruins

Geekie led the 2025 calendar year in goals (50) and even-strength goals (40) in 81 games for the Boston Bruins. Geekie, who went undrafted in most fantasy hockey leagues prior to the 2024-25 season, was the only player in 2025 to have at least 30 goals and a shooting percentage higher than 22.0 (28.7).

The 27-year-old was tied for 11th in even-strength points (63) in 2025 and found chemistry on a line with David Pastrnak, who ranked fourth in points (109), second in even-strength points (77) and second in fantasy points (865.4) in the calendar year. Geekie ranks second in goals (25) and even-strength goals (18) in 38 games in the 2025-26 season.

Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars, who had 93 more shots on goal than Geekie in 2025, ranked second with 49 goals in 84 games and finished fifth in fantasy points (835.5).

Cale Makar, D, Colorado Avalanche

Makar led defensemen in 2025 in points (89; tied for ninth in the entire NHL), goals (30) and plus-minus (plus-49) in 78 games. He finished tied for first at his position in power-play goals (eight) and ranked among the defenseman leaders in assists (59; third), even-strength points (58; second), even-strength goals (21; second), power-play points (29; third), game-winning goals (four; tied for second) and shots on goal (233; fourth).

Makar, who led defensemen in fantasy points (823.7; seventh among all players) in 2025, leads his position in points (43), assists (32), even-strength points (30) and plus-minus (plus-32) during the 2025-26 season.

It’s worth noting that Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets ranked second to Makar in points (82), goals (26) and fantasy points (791.5) among defensemen in 2025. Werenski led the position in the calendar year in even-strength goals (24), even-strength points (62) and shots on goal (285) and was tied for first in the entire NHL in ice time per game (26:56).

Darcy Kuemper, G, Los Angeles Kings

Among goalies with 15 games in 2025, Kuemper led his position in save percentage (.924) and goals-against average (1.96). He was tied for fourth in wins (32) and tied for second in shutouts (six) in 56 games. Kuemper returned value in fantasy leagues as he ranked third among goalies in fantasy points (648.4) and finished third in voting for the Vezina Trophy in the 2024-25 season.

Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, led all goalies in fantasy points (699.8) in 2025 as he finished tied for first with Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars in wins (35). Vasilevskiy also ranked highly at his position in save percentage (.922; second), goals-against average (2.14; third) and shutouts (five; tied for sixth) in 58 games.

On the scene

-- Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens ranked seventh in the NHL with 95 points (30 goals, 65 assists) in 82 games in 2025.

-- Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks finished eighth in the NHL with 91 points (32 goals, 59 assists) in 2025 and is fifth all-time for the most points in a calendar year by a teenager in NHL history.

-- Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens led all defensemen in assists (66; tied for fourth in NHL) and ranked third at his position in points (75) in 2025.

-- Dylan Guenther of the Utah Mammoth led all players in 2025 in game-winning goals (11), overtime goals (five) and slap shot goals (10).

-- Wyatt Johnston of the Dallas Stars led the NHL in power-play goals (23) and ranked third in power-play points (41) and was tied for fourth in goals (44) in 2025.

-- Karel Vejmelka of the Utah Mammoth, who is tied for first in wins (16) in the 2025-26 season, finished the 2025 calendar year with 34 wins (third) and 540.6 fantasy points (ninth at position).

-- Jesper Wallstedt of the Minnesota Wild led all goalies with a .933 save percentage and ranked third in goals-against average (2.10) and was tied for eighth in shutouts (four) among goalies with at least 14 games played.