Oilers, Maple Leafs captains among 6 in latest group of top 25 unveiled
The next group of players in the NHL Quarter-Century Team was unveiled Saturday. The latest group is made up of the six players voted onto the team who made their NHL debuts after 2010.
The list includes three players who were taken No. 1 in the NHL Draft, a total of two Stanley Cup titles, six Hart Trophies voted as the most valuable player in the NHL, two Conn Smythe Trophies given to the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, six Art Ross Trophies as the regular-season scoring leader, five Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies as leading goal-scorer, one Norris Trophy voted as best defenseman two Lady Byng Trophies, given to the most gentlemanly player in the NHL, and seven Ted Linsay Awards, which goes to the most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHL Players’ Association.
The Quarter-Century Team was selected via the NHL Quarter-Century Team Fan Vote presented by SAP from Feb. 12 to April 1. The fan vote followed the reveal of all 32 NHL clubs’ first and second teams, which were announced earlier this year. The six players named to each team’s First Team were eligible for selection in the Fan Vote.
Here is a look at the six players on the NHL All Quarter-Century Team who made their debuts after the 2010 season. (Listed in alphabetical order; statistics are through Dec. 31, 2024.)
Regular-season stats: 374 goals, 532 assists, 906 points, 756 games.
Postseason stats: 41 goals, 67 assists, 108 points, 74 games
Awards: Won the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Trophy in 2019-20, when he had 110 points (71 goals, 43 assists) in 71 games. He won the Richard Trophy this season (52 goals) and is a Hart finalist.
Bio: Selected by the Oilers with the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, the Germany-born forward has formed the NHL’s best 1-2 punch with teammate Connor McDavid. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, the 29-year-old has exceeded 100 points in six times and had 84 points in the 56-game 2020-21 season. His 956 points from the start of 2014-15 rank third in the League during that span behind McDavid (1,082) and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning (976).
Quote: “He’s pretty much irreplaceable, really. And he’s a difference-maker every night that we’ve had him in the lineup, and you’re just seeing that game after game. He always steps it up even to another level in the playoffs.” — Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak
CGY@EDM: Draisaitl records his 50th goal of the season
Regular-season stats: 243 goals, 500 assists, 743 points, 763 games
Postseason stats: 11 goals, 22 assists, 33 points, 42 games
Awards: Won the Lady Byng Trophy in 2016-17.
Bio: Selected by the Flames in the fourth round (No. 104) of the 2011 NHL Draft, the 5-foot-9, 157-pound left wing quickly became one of the League’s most exciting players while proving that smaller players could succeed in the NHL. He helped the Flames reach the playoffs five times, his biggest moment coming when he scored in overtime of Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars. Nicknamed “Johnny Hockey,” Gaudreau played his first eight seasons in Calgary before stunning the hockey world by signing as an unrestricted free agent with the Blue Jackets on July 13, 2022. Signing there to be close to his family, which lived in the south part of New Jersey, he also showed that Columbus could be a destination for big-time players. He played two seasons in Columbus before he was killed, along with his brother, Matthew, on Aug. 29, 2024, when they were struck by an alleged drunk driver who was charged with two counts of death by auto, while riding bicycles near their home in Salem County, New Jersey. Johnny was 31 years old. Matthew was 29.
Quotes: “I’m grateful I had the chance to play against him, played playoff series against him, played many heated battles in the Battle of Alberta against him, and got to know him a little bit. I’ll miss him a lot. He was a great player and great person and obviously was taken away way too soon.” — Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid
Check out Johnny Gaudreau’s top 10 highlights
Regular-season stats: 349 goals, 611 assists, 960 points, 829 games
Postseason stats: 48 goals, 66 assists, 114 points, 88 games
Awards: Calder Trophy in 2013-14, when he had 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) in 82 games; Hart Trophy and Lindsay Award in 2023-24 with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) in 82 games; Lady Byng Trophy in 2019-20; 2022 Stanley Cup champion.
Bio: Selected No. 1 by the Avalanche in the 2013 NHL Draft, MacKinnon has become one of the best, if not the best, two-way centers in the NHL. He has at least 111 points the past three seasons and in 12 NHL seasons has scored at least 30 goals seven times, at least 40 three times and an NHL career-high 51 last season. He had 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in the 2021-22 postseason when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, his 13 goals tied for most in the playoffs. Since MacKinnon entered the League in 2013-14, he’s third in points behind McDavid (1,082) and another Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, native: Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (1,022).
Quote: “He’s a fantastic player. His drive and his competitiveness, you can see it. He never takes shifts off, and he plays 25 minutes, and you wonder how he does it. He’s a special player. You watch McDavid in the playoffs and all the records he’s breaking, and then also you’ve got a guy like MacKinnon in the League too, so the League’s in a good spot.” — Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes
CHI@COL: Lehkonen deflects it in and MacKinnon earns 1,000th career point
Regular-season stats: 97 goals, 285 assists, 382 points, 353 games
Postseason stats: 21 goals, 59 assists, 80 points, 72 games
Awards: Calder Trophy in 2019-20, when he had 50 points (12 goals, 38 assists) in 57 games; Norris Trophy in 2021-22 with 86 points (28 goals, 58 assists) in 77 games; Conn Smythe Trophy in 2022, when he had 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in 20 games; 2022 Stanley Cup champion.
Bio: How’s this for an entry into the NHL? Three days after Makar won the Hobey Baker Award voted as the men’s top player in NCAA men’s hockey, he joined the Avalanche for Game 3 of the 2019 Western Conference First Round against the Calgary Flames and scored, becoming the seventh player and first defenseman in NHL history with a playoff goal in his NHL debut. From there, Makar, the No. 4 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, has only gone up. He is a Norris Trophy finalist for the fifth straight season.
Quote: “He’s the closest to Bobby Orr I’ve seen, and I never put anybody there. I used to watch a lot of Bobby Orr because I loved him as an 8-year-old, 7-year-old. He changed the game, revolutionized the game, Bobby Orr did. Nobody greater. And Cale Makar is the closest thing to that.” — retired New Jersey Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko
COL@CBJ: Makar one-times MacKinnon’s feed on the power play and finds twine
Regular-season stats: 379 goals, 293 assists, 672 points, 586 games
Postseason stats: 23 goals, 25 assists, 48 points, 55 games
Awards: Calder Trophy in 2016-17, when he had 69 points (40 goals, 29 assists) in 82 games; Hart and Ted Linsday Trophy in 2021-22 with 106 points (60 goals, 46 assists) in 73 games; Richard Trophy in 2020-21 (41 goals), 2021-22 and 2023-24 (69).
Bio: The No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft announced his arrival with a bang, scoring four goals in his first NHL game at the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 12, 2016. From there, Matthews has been a goal-scoring machine, leading all players since the start of that season with 401 goals, 23 more than Draisaitl. He’s scored at least 40 goals in six of his nine seasons. In 2021-22, he became the first United States-born player to score 60 goals in a season. Matthews and Keith Tkachuk, who scored 52 goals for the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996-97, are the only U.S.-born players to lead the League in goals. He was named Maple Leafs captain before the start of this season and is 19 goals away from tying Mats Sundin for the most in team history.
Quote: “I mean, Toronto Maple Leafs is the biggest hockey franchise in the world, and so many great players have been captains, and it is a huge honor. Comes with the responsibility, but Auston is the top guy on the team.” — Sundin, a former Maple Leafs captain
TOR@PHI: Matthews snaps it home in his 200th multipoint game
Regular-season stats: 350 goals, 686 assists, 1,036 points, 679 games
Postseason stats: 37 goals, 80 assists, 118 points, 74 games
Awards: Hart Trophy and Lindsay Award in 2016-17, when he had 100 points (30 goals, 70 assists) in 82 games, 2020-21 (105 points; 33 goals, 72 assists in 56 games), and 2022-23 (153 points: 64 goals, 89 assists in 82 games); Lindsay Award in 2017-18 (108 points; 41 goals, 67 assists in 82 games); Art Ross Trophy in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23; Richard Trophy in 2022-23; Conn Smythe Trophy in 2024 (42 points; eight goals, 34 assists in 25 games).
Bio: Unquestionably one of the most exciting and talented players in NHL history, the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft has put up ridiculous numbers in his first 10 seasons. Since coming into the League for the 2014-15 season, he leads the NHL with 1,082 points and 721 assists in 712 games, an average of 1.52 points per game. He has at least 100 points in eight of his 10 seasons, falling short in his rookie year (48 points in 45 games) because of an injury, and the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season (97 points; 34 goals, 63 assists in 64 games). His 153 points in 2022-23 were the highest total in the NHL since Mario Lemieux had 161 in the 1995-96 season. Flashing unbelievable speed, vision and hands, McDavid has turned the Oilers into a perennial Stanley Cup contender and helped them reach Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, yet was voted the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, the first from the losing team since Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Anaheim Ducks in 2003.
Quote: “I think the most impressive thing is the work off the ice. You see the work on the ice, it’s second to none and I think for him, there is no stone unturned to find a bit of an edge. The longer I’ve played the more impressive it’s become to me how the superstars do it every single year. Their down years are amazing years, still.” — Oilers forward Adam Henrique
Coming Sunday: 6 goalies voted by fans
