No surprise as Connor McDavid comes first in NHL top 50 player list

When it comes to picking the best player in the game today, we can appreciate some people making arguments for the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov and Auston Matthews. However, if you're being objectively ... truly objective ... then the correct answer is Connor McDavid.

However, don't just take our word for it. TSN has announced their top 50 NHL player list, and none other than McDavid has been ranked at number one.

For some context, as per Steve Dryden, TSN asked voters to project their top 50 players for the 2024-25 NHL season. Making McDavid's achievement even more impressive, is that he was the number one choice on 20 of 20 ballots in the tabulations.

Number one yet again

Not that McDavid coming number one on TSN's list, is anything new. They started this project in 2010, and this is the eighth consecutive time the three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner has been voted first.

This is truly impressive, when you consider McDavid has played nine seasons in the NHL. In other words, he's been seen as the best player in the game since early on in his career.

Yes there's been times when challengers have come along, and certainly the likes of the aforementioned MacKinnon, Kucherov and Matthews all deserve their standing as among the very best in the game. However, number 97 is still number one.

This much was reinforced last season, when McDavid became just the fourth player in NHL history to reach 100 assists in a regular season. (Kucherov joined him not long after.) However, this only proved to be precursor for what was to come.

McDavid's play transcends to another level

During the playoffs, the five-time Art Ross Trophy winner took his game to new heights, as he set an NHL record with 34 assists in a single playoff campaign. His magical play took the Edmoton Oilers all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, with his 42 total points being the fourth-most in postseason history.

When it was all said and done, the Oilers came up short and lost in seven games to the Florida Panthers. However, while of scant consolation, McDavid took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs.

With the ultimate glory so close to McDavid, you can bet he will be even more motivated -- if that's even possible -- to succeed and finally win the Holy Grail of hockey. As such, it makes perfect sense for TSN's voters to pick him to be the best player in the NHL this coming season.

N.B. There were three other Oilers accompanying McDavid in TSN's top 50. Leon Draisaitl was at number four (down from number two last year), while Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman were new entries at number 30 and 35 respectively.

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