Last month, some of Fear the Fin’s impeccable writing staff submitted a ballot of the NHL’s 25 best players under the age of 25, as part of SB Nation’s network-wide countdown. We, for one, welcome the final rankings as written by our SB Nation overlords, but wanted to be helpful and release the rankings as voted on by our writing staff.
In order to be eligible, players had to be no older than 24 on August 1, 2017. SB Nation’s writers and 21 of SB Nation’s NHL blogs (including ourselves) submitted ballots. Our ballot was determined by taking each individual writer’s ballot, and averaging the placement of each player. Players that appeared on all five ballots were given first priority, followed by players that appeared on all but one, all but two, etc. In the event of a tie, the player whose lowest position was higher was given priority.
So, without further adieu, here is Fear the Fin’s DEFINITIVE rankings of the top 25 players under 25 in the NHL. If your favorite player’s not in the list, it does, in fact, mean that we hate them.*
- Connor McDavid (C, Edmonton Oilers)
- Auston Matthews (C, Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Nikita Kucherov (RW, Tampa Bay Lightning)
- Matt Murray (G, Pittsburgh Penguins)
- Mark Scheifele (C, Winnipeg Jets)
- Patrik Laine (RW, Winnipeg Jets)
- David Pastrnak (RW, Boston Bruins)
- Johnny Gaudreau (LW, Calgary Flames)
- Jack Eichel (C, Buffalo Sabres)
- Leon Draisaitl (C, Edmonton Oilers)
- Aleksander Barkov (C, Florida Panthers)
- Mitch Marner (RW, Toronto Maple Leafs)
- William Nylander (RW, Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Filip Forsberg (LW, Nashville Predators)
- Zach Werenski (D, Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Jacob Trouba (D, Winnipeg Jets)
- Hampus Lindholm (D, Anaheim Ducks)
- Jonathan Drouin (LW, Montreal Canadiens)
- Nikolaj Ehlers (LW, Winnipeg Jets)
- Jonathan Huberdeau (LW, Florida Panthers)
- Alex Galchenyuk (C, Montreal Canadiens)
- Seth Jones (D, Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Aaron Ekblad (D, Florida Panthers)
- Brandon Saad (LW, Chicago Blackhawks)
- Sean Monahan (C, Calgary Flames)
Any big surprises? Share your list in the comments below, and be sure to check SB Nation’s coverage daily as the network-wide list is unveiled.
*It doesn’t.
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