Although the National Hockey League’s (NHL) 32 teams are in the United States and Canada, the league attracts some of the best players in the world. Players from 18 countries were on NHL rosters in the 2022-23 season and each of the league’s top four scorers were from different countries.
1. Connor McDavid (Canada)
Canadians accounted for 42.1 percent of all players in the NHL in 2022-23. None were better than Connor McDavid, who won the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer for the third consecutive season and fifth time in his career. McDavid led all players in goals (64), assists (89), and points (153) and, unsurprisingly, won the Hart Memorial Trophy. He recorded 25 more points than Leon Draisaitl, his Edmonton Oilers teammate who finished second in NHL scoring, and was the first player to record more than 130 points since Mario Lemieux had 161 points in the 1995-96 season.
Yahoo! Sports writer Nick Ashbourne wrote that “there’s a subjective case that McDavid’s [2022-23] season is the best we’ve ever seen based on the continually improving quality of NHL hockey—and it has shattered the ceiling of the current era.”
Selected first overall by the Oilers in the 2015 NHL Draft, McDavid had 850 career points through 569 career regular season games prior to the start of the 2023-24 season. He has recorded at least 100 points in six of the last seven seasons. McDavid also has 75 points in 49 playoff games.
2. Leon Draisaitl (Germany)
Draisaitl, who finished second in league scoring with 128 points (52 goals and 76 assists), is a 27-year-old forward from Cologne, Germany. He led all players in power-play goals (32), was tied with McDavid for the second-most game-winning goals (11) and finished seventh in Hart Trophy voting. Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy in 2019-20 and had 744 points in 638 career regular season games before the 2023-24 season. He was one of just eight German players in the NHL last year.
Draisaitl played most of his junior hockey in Germany and recorded a whopping 192 points in 29 games with Mannheimer ERC U16 in 2010-11. He played one season with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in Canada in 2012-13. The Oilers drafted him third overall in 2014.
3. Nikita Kucherov (Russia)
Russia was the fourth-most represented nation in the NHL last season with 62 players, accounting for 5.9 percent of all players in the league. Nikita Kucherov was the country’s most prolific scorer, finishing the season with 113 points in 82 games. This was the third time that he had exceeded 100 points and the first since he led all players with 128 points in the 2018-19 season.
Like Draisaitl, Kucherov played one season of junior hockey in Canada before making his NHL debut. He recorded 63 points in 33 games with the Quebec Remparts and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the QMJHL in 2012-13.
4. David Pastrnak (Czechia)
Czechia forward David Pastrnak finished fourth in scoring in the 2022-23 NHL season with a career-best 61 goals and 52 assists for 113 points. He led the league in even-strength goals (43), game-winning goals (13), and shots (407). Selected by the Boston Bruins 25th overall in the 2014 NHL Draft, Pastrnak had 617 points in 592 games through his first nine seasons in the league. He won the Maurice Richard Trophy for scoring a league-best 48 goals in the 2019-20 season. He was one of 41 players from Czechia in the NHL last season.
5. Matthew Tkachuk and Jason Robertson (United States)
American forward Matthew Tkachuk had a great first season with the Florida Panthers. Acquired in an offseason trade with the Calgary Flames, Tkachuk recorded a career-best 109 points (40 goals and 49 assists) in 79 regular season games and led the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final with 24 points in 20 playoff games. He finished third in Hart Trophy voting.
Born in Scottsdale, Arizona, Tkachuk was one of 297 Americans to play in the NHL last season. He was drafted sixth overall by the Flames in the 2016 NHL Draft and had 491 points in 510 career regular season games through his first seven seasons in the league.
Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson tied Tkachuk with 109 points. A 24-year-old forward from Arcadia, California, Robertson had a breakout campaign last year, scoring 46 goals and adding 63 assists. He had 79 points in 2021-22 and 45 points the prior season.
6. Mikko Rantanen (Finland)
Finland was the fifth-most represented nation in the NHL last season with 55 players. Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen was the most accomplished of those players, finishing the year with a career-best 105 points (55 goals and 50 assists) in 82 games, good enough for eighth in league scoring behind Tkachuk and Robertson.
Born in Nousiainen, Finland, Rantanen was drafted 10th overall in 2015 and had 513 points in 490 games through his first eight seasons in the NHL. He finished sixth in Hart Trophy voting in 2022-23.