NHL Top Players: Nos. 20-11

NHL Network is getting ready for this season by ranking the top 50 players in the League right now. Researchers, producers and on-air personalities compiled their list, and players 20-11 were revealed on Sunday in the eighth of a nine-part series. Here is the list:

20. Jack Hughes, C, New Jersey Devils

Hughes had 74 points (27 goals, 47 assists) despite missing 20 games with an injury and is back healthy coming off shoulder surgery April 10. The No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft led the Devils with 1.19 points per game and 31 power-play points, and New Jersey forwards in average ice time (20:58). The 23-year-old had career highs in goals (43), assists (56) and points (99) playing in 78 games in the 2022-23 season.

19. Miro Heiskanen, D, Dallas Stars

Heiskanen had 54 points (nine goals, 45 assists) in 71 games, one season after he had 73 points (11 goals, 62 assists) in 79 games. Last season, the 25-year-old led Dallas with 24:32 of ice time per game and his 21 power-play points tied for third. Heiskanen had 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 19 playoff games last season, and had 26 points in 27 games in the 2020 playoffs, the fifth-highest total by a defenseman in a single postseason.

18. Roman Josi, D, Nashville Predators

Josi led the Predators in assists (62), power-play points (33), blocked shots (151) and time on ice (24:38) last season. His 23 goals led all defensemen and his 85 points ranked third. The 34-year-old won the Norris Trophy in 2019-20 and has been a finalist three of the past five seasons. Over the past three seasons, he ranks second in goals (64) and points (240), tied for third in assists (176) and first in shots on goal (818) among all defensemen.

17. Jack Eichel, C, Vegas Golden Knights

Eichel had 68 points (31 goals, 37 assists) in 63 games last season and seven points (three goals, four assists) in seven playoff games. The 27-year-old became a Stanley Cup champion in 2023 when he led the playoffs in scoring with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists), the third-highest total in NHL history by a player making his first trip to the postseason.

16. Brayden Point, C, Tampa Bay Lightning

Point enjoyed another productive season with 90 points (46 goals, 44 assists) in 81 games, one season after his 51 goals led Tampa Bay and ranked fifth in the NHL. The 28-year-old has scored 20 or more goals in seven straight seasons, including more than 40 three times. He has 87 points (42 goals, 45 assists) in 87 playoff games and has won the Cup twice with the Lightning (2020, 2021).

15. Artemi Panarin, F, New York Rangers

Panarin has long been noted for his passing, but last season he took his goal-scoring to another level. His 49 goals were 17 more than his previous career high of 32 (set in 2019-20) and his 120 points were a career high and ranked fourth in the NHL. The 32-year-old left wing's 44 power-play points ranked tied for third in the NHL and his 303 shots were ninth. Panarin skated 20:07 per game, second among Rangers forwards behind Vincent Trocheck (21:27). In his five seasons with the Rangers, he has led them in scoring each time, including four times with at least 92 points.

14. David Pastrnak, F, Boston Bruins

Pastrnak was seventh in the NHL with 47 goals last season and fifth with 110 points in 82 games, one year after he ranked second in the NHL with 61 goals and tied for third with 113 points. It was the seventh time in the past eight seasons he's scored at least 34 goals, something accomplished by one other active NHL player (Auston Matthews, eight). He finished eighth in voting for the Hart Trophy and was the right wing on the NHL Second All-Star Team. The 28-year-old averaged 19:56 of ice time per game and led Boston in power-play goals (12), power-play points (35), shots on goal (382) and was second with a plus-23 rating (behind Brandon Carlo, plus-23).

13. Mikko Rantanen, F, Colorado Avalanche

Rantanen had 42 goals and 104 points in 80 games last season, his fourth-straight season with at least 30 goals and third straight with at least 92 points. The 27-year-old averaged an NHL-career high 22:54 of ice time. He had 40 power-play points and nine game-winning goals and was among the Avalanche's top scorers in the playoffs with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 11 games.

12. Victor Hedman, D, Tampa Bay Lightning

Recently named captain of the Lightning, Hedman quietly had 76 points (13 goals, 63 assists) in 78 games last season while finishing eighth in the NHL in ice time per game (24:48), proving that he is still one of the game's elite at age 33. This came one season after he had 49 points in 76 games. Hedman won the Norris Trophy in 2017-18 and was a finalist six straight seasons from 2016-22. During that stretch, he was named to the NHL First All-Star team once and the Second All-Star team five times. He is the Lightning's all-time leader among defensemen in games (1,052), goals (156), assists (572) and points (728), and was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP in 2020 when he helped them win the Stanley Cup for the second straight season.

11. Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins

The 37-year-old Penguins captain led Pittsburgh with 94 points (42 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games last season, including 30 (10 goals, 20 assists) in the final 18 games. He is tied with Wayne Gretzky for the most seasons (19) with at least one point per game in NHL history. The three-time Stanley Cup winner (2009, 2016, 2017) and two-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner (2016, 2017) has also won the Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy and "Rocket" Richard Trophy twice, the Ted Lindsay Award three times and was voted one of the 100 greatest players in the NHL at the League's Centennial celebration in 2017.