The 2024-25 NHL regular season is winding down and teams are starting to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. So BetCanada.com decided it’s time to roll out our All-NHL Team for the last five seasons.
To do this, we relied on Hockey-Reference.com for its point shares statistic, which is similar to win shares in baseball and basketball. We used this metric to determine the top four forwards at each position, the top six defencemen and the top two goalies. In essence, we’re creating our own gameday roster, except every line could be considered a top line.
Player | Current NHL Team | Half Decade PS |
Connor McDavid | Edmonton Oilers | 71.2 |
Leon Draisaitl | Edmonton Oilers | 66.7 |
Nathan MacKinnon | Colorado Avalanche | 61.3 |
Auston Matthews | Toronto Maple Leafs | 58.3 |
There are no real surprises here as each of these players have been dominant over the past five seasons. Connor McDavid has missed some time this season with injuries and that might keep him from reaching 100 points. He has 90 (26 goals, 64 assists) in 63 games this season, but he’s expected to be ready for the playoffs to help boost the Edmonton Oilers betting odds in their quest to return to the Stanley Cup final.
Over the past five seasons, McDavid has recorded 603 points (199 goals, 404 assists) in just 357 games. No wonder he has been a two-time Hart Trophy winner in the last five seasons.
Leon Draisaitl leads the league with 51 goals this season, as of March 31. Nathan MacKinnon leads with 79 assists and is tied for the lead with Nikita Kucherov in points (109). Auston Matthews has led the NHL in goals in three of the last five seasons.
Canada sportsbooks have Draisaitl at odds between +100 and +135 to win his second Hart Trophy this season, among the top favorites.
Player | Current NHL Team | Half Decade PS |
Artemi Panarin | New York Rangers | 50.7 |
Kirill Kaprizov | Minnesota Wild | 48.6 |
Jason Robertson | Dallas Stars | 48.3 |
Matthew Tkachuk | Florida Panthers | 48.1 |
This is a tightly bunched group. Kirill Kaprizov might have been the top left wing if not for a lower-body injury that has limited him to 37 games this season. He scored 52 points (23 goals, 29 assists) in those contests and was considered a serious Hart Trophy candidate before the injury.
Instead, Artemi Panarin gets the top line, mainly for his consistent play over the past five seasons. He scored a personal best 49 goals and 120 points last season, and the Bread Man has backed it up this season with 33 goals in 72 games.
Jason Robertson is on this list based on the strength of his first five full seasons in the league, quite an accomplishment. He’s also one of the league’s hottest players now, with eight points in his past three games. Matthew Tkachuk, meanwhile, has not played since being injured during February’s 4 Nations Face-Off. Theres is hope he could return for the postseason to help the Florida Panthers defend the Stanley Cup; even without him they’re one of the NHL betting favorites.
Player | Current NHL Team | Half Decade PS |
David Pastrnak | Boston Bruins | 56.8 |
Mikko Rantanen | Dallas Stars | 54.6 |
Mitch Marner | Toronto Maple Leafs | 48.3 |
Nikita Kucherov | Tampa Bay Lightning | 47.3 |
David Pastrnak has been one of the NHL’s top goal scorers the past five seasons, lighting the lamp 203 times in 358 games. He’s having a down year this season with 35 goals through 74 games, after scoring 61 in 2022-23 and 47 last season.
Mikko Rantanen has had an up-and-down season too and has been traded twice. He seems to have found his footing with the Dallas Stars, who acquired him from the Carolina Hurricanes at the March 7 trade deadline. His production there is close to matching what it was when he was lined with MacKinnon in Colorado.
Mitch Marner has been the definition of consistency for the Maple Leafs. He hasn’t hit 100 points in a season, but he has 97 in 2021-22, 99 the following season and has 91 in 73 games this season, an encouraging trend for folks wagering on Toronto Maple Leafs odds. Meanwhile, Nikita Kucherov has picked up where he was before missing the entire 2020-21 regular season with a hip injury, which likely kept him lower on this list. He led the NHL with 100 assists and 144 points last season and is tied with MacKinnon in points this season.
Player | Current NHL Team | Half Decade PS |
Cale Makar | Colorado Avalanche | 66.5 |
Adam Fox | New York Rangers | 56.4 |
Quinn Hughes | Vancouver Canucks | 55.4 |
Victor Hedman | Tampa Bay Lightning | 53.5 |
Roman Josi | Nashville Predators | 51.3 |
Devon Toews | Colorado Avalanche | 51.0 |
In the NHL, good defending can lead to great offense. All six of the players listed here currently rank in the top five of their teams in scoring this season. Cale Makar is on pace to match his 90-point season from last year and Devon Toews has posted 30 assists for the fourth straight season, providing a potent 1-2 punch from the blueline for Colorado.
Adam Fox has 47 helpers this season and 268 in 353 games since the beginning of the 2020-21 campaign. Quinn Hughes, who leads the Canucks in points with 70 (16 goals, 54 assists) is a goal away from tying his career high set last year; he's a primary reason Vancouver Canucks betting odds are still viable even as the team has fallen behind in the West playoff race.
Victor Hedman, like his Lightning teammate Kucherov, has been a highly consistent player over his 16-year career and is enjoying another solid season in 2024-25 with 46 assists and 59 points. Roman Josi has seen his production decline amid Nashville’s surprising dropoff this season, but he has scored 23 goals twice in the past five seasons and registered as many as 96 points, which he did in 2021-22.
Player | Current NHL Team | Half Decade PS |
Juuse Saros | Nashville Predators | 74.7 |
Connor Hellebuyck | Winnipeg Jets | 62.1 |
Juuse Saros’ name might not come up as high in the list of top netminders, but he has been a workhorse for the Predators over the past five seasons. He has appeared in 284 games since the 2020-21 season and led the league in games played by goalies in 2021-22 (67), 2022-23 (64) and 2023-24 (64). With all that work, he has posted a 145-111-22 record with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Even as the Preds have slumped this season, it isn’t because of their 29-year-old goalie who has a 2.89 GAA this season in 53 games.
Connor Hellebuyck has been another workhorse, leading the league this season with 57 games played. He also leads with 43 wins, a 2.01 GAA and a .925 save percentage this season. His performance is a main reason Winnipeg Jets betting odds are a bargain as they contend for the Presidents Trophy. If Winnipeg wins that, he could not only win the NHL’s Vezina Award for the second straight season and third time in his career, but he could be the rare goalie in recent years to capture the Hart Trophy as MVP.
He’s a top Hart contender at Canada sports betting apps and he appears to be a lock for the Vezina.
USA Today photo by Perry Nelson
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Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters. He shares his expertise on BetCanada, among other sites.
