10 Best NHL Players of All-Time (Ranked)

The biggest ice hockey league in the world, the NHL was founded in 1917, and has since developed into one of the biggest competitions in world sports right now. The fifth highest-grossing professional sports league by revenue, the NHL has seen some legendary players come and go.

Related

The 100 most valuable sports teams in the world

The most valuable teams on the planet, across all sports – including football (soccer), NFL, F1, and NBA.

The 2024/2025 season is almost reaching its conclusion, with the Stanley Cup finals taking place between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers – a rematch of last year’s showpiece finale when the Panthers eventually clinched their first title in franchise history. But as the NHL continues to develop and grow, the age-old debate about who the best player to ever play the game is still as hotly-contested as ever.

Below is a ranking of the 10 best NHL players of all-time, and there are some legendary names to miss out.

Ranking Factors

• MVP awards and All-Star selections
• Stanley Cups won
• Career points
• James Norris Memorial Trophy, Art Norris Trophy, Vezina Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award
• Importance to their team and impact on the league

10

Mark Messier

A six-time Stanley Cup champion, Mark Messier goes down in history as the only player to captain two different teams to the NHL title. It was his leadership during his time with the New York Rangers, that he earned his nickname ‘The Messiah’, after helping to steer the team to end their Stanley Cup drought of 54 years.

The man for the big occasion, Messier would twice win the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1990 and 1992, but would often reserve his absolute best performances for the playoffs. Second on the all-time list for most playoff points, Messier would lift the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1984 as well. A 25-year NHL career that goes down as one of the greatest of all-time.

9

Terry Sawchuk

One of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history, Terry Sawchuk played 21 seasons in the league for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and the New York Rangers. Awarded the Calder Trophy, Sawchuk would lift the award for the best goaltender in the NHL four times, while he also won the Stanley Cup on four separate occasions too.

Sawchuk was put into the Hockey Hall of Fame just a year after his final season, making him one of only ten players for whom the usual three-year waiting period was set aside. Before his passing in 1970, the legendary goaltender was the all-time leader for shutouts with 103.

8

Jean Beliveau

A one-club man, Jean Beliveau’s stint with the Montreal Canadiens from 1950 to 1971 has made him widely regarded as one of the greatest players in NHL history. ‘Le Gros Bill’ would win the MVP award on two occasions – one in 1956, and then the other eight years later in 1964. It was during his first MVP run that Beliveau would claim the scoring title, while in 1965 he would receive the inaugural Conn Smythe Trophy as play-off MVP.

Beliveau’s 11 Stanley Cup titles are the most of any player in history thus far, while in 1998, The Hockey News named him as the seventh greatest NHL player of all-time.

7

Sidney Crosby

Selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2005 draft, Sidney Crosby has enjoyed a stellar 20-year career in the NHL. Despite finishing as the runner-up in the race for the Rookie of the Year award, by his second season in the league, he would win the Art Ross Trophy by scoring 120 points – it would make him the youngest player and only teenager to win a scoring title in any major North American sports league.

Related

NHL: Ranking all 32 team logos from ‘Simply Gorgeous’ to ‘Utter Disaster’

GiveMeSport has looked at all the logos from the 32 teams around the NHL and ranked them from best to worst.

That same season would see ‘Sid the Kid’ win the MVP award, while in 2016 and 2017, he would lead the Penguins to back-to-back titles. A ten-time All-Star, Crosby has been voted to the NHL First All-Star Team on four separate occasions. Given he remains playing now, Crosby could still climb up this list, although that is also somewhat reliant on the Penguins enjoying a better season than the one they did in 2024/2025 where they finished second-from-last in the Metropolitan division.

6

Mario Lemieux

Another NHL legend who carved out his name and legacy with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux was drafted first overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Lemieux would help lead the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, and would be named the MVP on three separate occasions. He also commanded respect and admiration from his peers too, winning the Lester B. Pearson award four times.

Lemieux remains the only player to score a goal in each of the five possible situations in an NHL game – an accomplishment he achieved back in 1988. While he could never manage a full season – injuries and other ailments would put paid to that – Lemieux would seemingly return to playing at a high level even with long spells away from the game.

5

Maurice Richard

An 18-year career with the Montreal Canadiens, Maurice Richard established himself as one of the greatest ice hockey players to ever play the game. He was the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season, which he did so in the 1944/1945 campaign, while he was also the first man to score 500 career goals too.

Richard would retire in 1960 as the NHL’s all-time leading scorer at the time, while he would also win the Hart Trophy in 1947. The Montreal-born star would play in 13 All-Star games, while he would lift the Stanley Cup an astonishing eight times, including doing so five years in a row between 1956 and 1960.

4

Bobby Orr

One of the greatest defencemen of all-time, Bobby Orr arguably revolutionised how the position was played with his elite combination of speed, scoring and play-making skills. It is a testament to just how good Orr was, that he is the only defenceman to have won the scoring title (he would do so twice in total), while he also holds the record for most points and assists in a single season from someone in the position.

Orr would win the best defenceman award on eight successive occasions, while he would also win the MVP award three times in a row too. Such were his achievements, that in 1979, he would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame despite being aged just 31 – the youngest at the time.

3

Alexander Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin’s legacy continues to grow with each day, and in April 2025, would surpass Wayne Gretzky in top spot to become the NHL’s leader in career goals scored in regular season history.

Ovechkin has been a mainstay of the Washington Capitals since his debut for them back in 2005, and was a key part of them winning their one and only Stanley Cup in 2018. One of the all-time greats, the Russian-born star has passed the 40-goal mark in 14 of his 20 NHL seasons, and is certainly one of the most recognised figures in the game right now.

2

Wayne Gretzky

A name that arguably has transcended the world of ice hockey, Wayne Gretzky is perhaps the most well-known player in NHL history, becoming a recognisable figure around the world. While his claim to be the best player the game has ever seen might just see him narrowly miss out on top spot, there’s no questioning that his achievements put him down as one of the greatest athletes of all-time.

Nicknamed ‘The Great One’, Gretzky is the only player in NHL history to total over 200 points in a single season – something he miraculously did four times over the course of his career. When he retired in 1999, Gretzky could lay claim to holding an unbelievable 61 records – 40 of them being in the regular season, 15 in the playoffs, and another six All-Star records.

While Gretzky may not have had the kind of natural athletic gifts that some of his contemporaries had, he more than made up for it with an unmatched level of IQ and reading of the game.

1

Gordie Howe

When you earn the nickname of ‘Mr Hockey’, you know you could probably claim yourself to be the greatest player to ever play the game. A whopping 23-time All-Star, Gordie Howe shares the record for the most seasons played in the league alongside Chris Chelios (26). Over the course of his legendary career, he would lift the Hart Memorial Trophy six times, while he would also clinch the Art Ross trophy the same amount of times too.

A winner of the Stanley Cup four times with the Detroit Red Wings, Howe is widely regarded as one of the most complete players in NHL history. Indeed, at the time of his retirement, he would lay claim to having the most goals, most assists and most total points – although all three of those major records would be taken over by Wayne Gretzky. Indeed, Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux would all come to agreement when it came to naming the game’s greatest ever player back in January 2017. Gretzky said: