The Red Wings' Lucas Raymond, Canucks' Filip Hronek and Rangers' Mika Zibanejad are some of the players ranked between 71st and 80th on The Hockey News' top 100 NHL players ranking.
Lucas Raymond is one of the NHL's top 100 players right now.
The Detroit Red Wings left winger had a breakout season in 2023-24 with 31 goals and 72 points in 82 games. After recording a career-high 80 points in 82 games last season, his scoring totals fell slightly to 76 points in 80 games in 2025-26.
At 24, Raymond likely has not reached his prime yet. If he can take his scoring to yet another level, he will be much higher on this list next season.
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 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: 71 To 80
80. John Gibson, G, Detroit Red Wings
Age: 32
Last Year: Not Ranked
79. Ryan O'Reilly, C, Nashville Predators
Age: 35
Last Year: Not Ranked
78. Lucas Raymond, LW, Detroit Red Wings
Age: 24
Last Year: 42
Raymond can score when he needs to, but he has made his mark at the NHL level with elite playmaking skills. Those who would like to see him play a little more selfishly – in a good way – are not alone. But with his finesse game, skating ability and reliability in the defensive zone, there aren't many complaints.
77. Mika Zibanejad, C, New York Rangers
Age: 33
Last Year: Not Ranked
Based on his diminishing offensive returns from the past three seasons, you'd be forgiven if you thought 'Z-Bad' was cooked. But even on an awful Rangers team, he's actually played well this season and upped his stats for the first time in his 30s. Zibanejad also hit 30 goals for the fourth time in his career.
76. Spencer Knight, G, Chicago Blackhawks
Age: 25
Last Year: Not Ranked
75. Jaccob Slavin, D, Carolina Hurricanes
Age: 32
Last Year: 43
74. Esa Lindell, D, Dallas Stars
Age: 31
Last Year: Not Ranked
73. Filip Hronek, D, Vancouver Canucks
Age: 28
Last Year: Not Ranked
An all-situations defender, Hronek is a fearsome hitter with a blistering one-timer. After ducking the media for years, he's now demonstrating his leadership by bravely stepping in front of the cameras as the Canucks' season circled the drain. He's a culture carrier showing the way to Vancouver's next wave of rearguards.
72. Travis Sanheim, D, Philadelphia Flyers
Age: 30
Last Year: 86
71. Morgan Geekie, LW, Boston Bruins
Age: 27
Last Year: Not Ranked
A huge drop-off in production after the Olympic break prevented Geekie from improving on what was already his best season as an NHLer. There is a real concern about regression, but Geekie still has one of the league's hardest shots. And when he uses his size to gain space in the scoring areas, he's not afraid to use it.
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.