The Islanders' Matthew Schaefer, Sabres' Tage Thompson and Golden Knights' Mitch Marner are listed between 31st and 40th on The Hockey News' top 100 NHL players ranking following the regular season.
To say Matthew Schaefer had an incredible rookie NHL season is an understatement.
In just five games at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, 17 OHL games and two World Junior Championship games, Schaefer did enough to go first overall in the 2025 NHL draft and jump straight to The Show.
The New York Islanders rookie then became the youngest defenseman in NHL history to record 50 points and 20 goals, and he recorded the most points by an 18-year-old D-man ever as well.
Not only did Schaefer become the youngest player to win the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, but he was the first to win it unanimously since Teemu Selanne in 1992-93.
Schaefer has already ended up ranked between 31st and 40th among the top 100 NHL players right now.
The Hockey News' top 100 NHLers 2026 print edition was published right before the playoffs. We're rolling out the list that appeared in the magazine online.
Catch up on the players ranked 41st to 50th, 51st to 60th, 61st to 70th, 71st to 80th, 81st to 90th and 91st to 100th, and keep reading to learn the criteria for the list.
Check out the entire list now with bios on each and every player by subscribing to The Hockey News. The bios were written by Ryan Kennedy, Ken Campbell, Jared Clinton and Carol Schram.
Top 100 NHL Players: 31 To 40
40. Sebastian Aho, C, Carolina Hurricanes
Age: 28
Last Year: 29
Among forward regulars, Aho had the NHL's best even-strength possession numbers, with a Corsi rating of 61.57 percent. Heck, even counting guys who played just a handful of games, he was 10th overall. Aho is a two-way master, the distillation of Carolina hockey, and he also led the Canes in scoring by nine points.
39. Mitch Marner, RW, Vegas Golden Knights
Age: 29
Last Year: 20
38. Jason Robertson, LW, Dallas Stars
Age: 26
Last Year: 41
37. Thomas Harley, D, Dallas Stars
Age: 24
Last Year: 80
Whether he's roaming the blueline internationally or in the NHL, the Dallas D-man has become an undeniable force. Read more
36. Filip Gustavsson, G, Minnesota Wild
Age: 27
Last Year: 74
35. Cole Caufield, LW, Montreal Canadiens
Age: 25
Last Year: 66
34. Josh Morrissey, D, Winnipeg Jets
Age: 31
Last Year: 23
Morrissey doesn't have next-level flash or dominant physical attributes, but his smarts separate him from the pack. His presence is metronomic in Winnipeg; he makes the entire Jets on-ice operation truly tick. He passed Dustin Byfuglien to become the highest-scoring D-man in franchise history with an OT-winner in March.
33. Matthew Schaefer, D, New York Islanders
Age: 18
Last Year: N/A
Every superlative has already been used on the rookie defenseman, who won the Calder thanks to an exceptional two-way game and incredible skating. So how about this? With eight games in hand, Schaefer passed fellow Islanders No. 1 pick John Tavares – a center – on New York's rookie-points leaderboard.
32. Tage Thompson, C, Buffalo Sabres
Age: 28
Last Year: 65
Criteria
- The greatest emphasis was put on how they're playing this season, with a smaller emphasis placed on how they played the previous year (2024-25). There was also slight consideration for how they played two or three seasons prior to that. We structured it this way because we didn't want any one-year wonders making the list. Moreover, sometimes star players can have a down year.
- We attempted to construct the top 100 to reflect a 20-man lineup, where 12 players are forwards, six are defensemen and two are goalies. So an evenly distributed top 100 should have 60 forwards, 30 D-men and 10 goalies. We aimed to keep that structure consistent within every group of 10 or 20.
- We don't forecast a young player's bright future. If they were excellent this year, they made the list. If they were just very good but showed exceptional promise for the future, they likely didn't make this year's list.
- At the other end of the age spectrum, we're not concerned if a player is nearing the end of his career. If they were a standout this year, they made the list. See Sidney Crosby.
- We don't consider a player's career achievements for a list about the here and now. Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are top 10 players in the history of the game. But they're not top 10 players this season.
- A player's salary was not taken into account, and we made no attempt to include at least one player from each of the NHL's 32 teams.
We count down the very best the NHL has to offer in our 2026 edition of the top 100 players, available to purchase as a single issue or for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News today.
Also in the issue: we examine the effectiveness of unusual training methods, look back at the Americans' win at the Paralympics, explore the Extreme Ice Hockey League and learn more about inline hockey being played outside of the White House.
Plus, you'll find features on Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini, Martin Necas, Thomas Harley, Tim Stutzle, Tom Wilson, Travis Konecny, Nick Schmaltz, Darren Raddysh and much more.