Goaltender: Andrei Vasilevski (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Drafted 19th overall by the Lightning in 2012, the 6'4" netminder has anchored his team through one of the most dominant eras in modern hockey history.
Serving as the team's absolute backbone, Vasilevskiy carried a heavy workload and a high standard to keep Tampa Bay among the elite in the Eastern Conference last season, where he went on to win his second career Vezina and his first since 2018-19 in his sixth season as a finalist.
Highlighted by an 18-game point streak from Dec. 20 – Feb. 25, Vasilevskiy topped the NHL with 39 wins in 58 starts to guide the Lightning to their ninth consecutive postseason appearance
Defenseman: Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)
Cale Makar is considered one of the best defensemen ever to grace the NHL since Bobby Orr. At age 23, his skating, vision, passing, and shooting are beyond elite. They are supernatural. As one of the few defensemen in NHL history to score 20 goals in three consecutive seasons, his vision lets him thread east-to-west passes through traffic and set up high-danger scoring chances off the rush.
Makar became the NHL's first $20 million man when he signed an eight-year, $163.2 million contract with the Colorado Avalanche on Aug. 28, 2026, worth $20.4 million annually and, currently, the richest contract in NHL history.
Left Wing: Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild)
Thanks to his low center of gravity, which makes it nearly impossible for defenders to strip him of the puck along the boards or in tight spaces, Kaprizov is widely regarded as possibly the best left winger in the NHL because of his unmatched point-per-game consistency, generational goal-scoring, and game-breaking individual playmaking.
Averaging a heavy 22 minutes and 9 seconds of ice time per game, Kaprizov was a premier sniper in the league last season, finishing tied for 4th in total goals (45) across the NHL. In addition, he remained a lethal force with the man advantage, pocketing 19 power-play goals
Right wing: Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning)
As a multiple-time Hart Trophy winner as the league's most valuable player and a multi-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the leading goal scorer in the NHL, Nikita Kucherov is widely considered to be the best right wing in the NHL thanks to his creative passing and offensive awareness, which makes him one of the most dangerous playmakers in the world.
Kucherov recorded 130 total points, consisting of 44 goals and 86 assists across 76 games played last season. His exceptional offensive performance for the Tampa Bay Lightning earned him the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career.
Center: Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Skating faster than almost anyone else in hockey, reaching speeds over 24 mph while handling the puck with amazing precision, Connor McDavid is recognized as the best center in the NHL. He processes the game at an extraordinary speed, using visual scanning and anticipation to read opposing players and exploit defensive gaps.
Connor McDavid finished the 2025–26 NHL regular season leading the league with 138 points, capturing another Art Ross Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award. His 54 power-play points were 11 more than anyone else. McDavid finished second in voting for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, barely getting edged out by Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov.