The Torch: Naming the best player for every year in NHL history

Jul 29, 2026, 09:00 EDT

Credit: Jan 9, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) checks Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The title of best player in a sport has always been an irresistible debate.

At times, the honor is clear to everyone. No one was challenging Bobby Orr, Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods in their primes. But often the question is murky, with several candidates having credible cases. Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin? Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? Marie-Philip Poulin or Hilary Knight?

The initial inspiration for today’s feature came more than a decade ago from Grantland through The Pitching Championship Belt series. Sean McIndoe then brought it to hockey with The Heavyweight Belt of NHL Rivalries. But I’ve long been fascinated by the singular label ‘Best Player in the NHL.’

It’s been branded here as The Torch — a nod to the literal and spiritual torches passed across generations by the Montreal Canadiens franchise. Which players have carried The Torch as the best player in the NHL throughout history?

👑 The Approach

This kind of crown extends beyond numbers. In my blogging days, I used a data-driven approach to chart the title’s succession. While my annual High Noon player rankings served as a resource, The Torch won’t anchor to numbers.
This isn’t a title that passes loosely based on a hot stretch or MVP year. With all due respect to Hart Trophy winners like Jose Theodore or Taylor Hall, at no point was either the NHL’s consensus best player. If the debate is borderline, The Torch shall not pass.
Players at any position are eligible. Spoiler alert: the best players in hockey have leaned toward forwards reputationally, their feats being flashier and easier to measure versus defensemen and goalies. But not always…
Yes, it’s subjective, so let’s have some fun with it. Consider The Torch to be the individual that would have scored highest in offseason polling of informed fans asked: ‘Who is the best player in the NHL?’

For the sake of time, we’re going to start in 1969 — shortly after NHL expansion and with the oldest living Torch holder. For history buffs, I’ll blast through the league’s first 50 years at the end of the article.

🔥 1969-76: Bobby Orr

Even in a helmetless, old school NHL, it didn’t take long for everyone to realize Orr was playing — and creating — a different game. If anyone openly doubted his ceiling, they were left breathless by Orr’s third season. In 1968-69, Orr first broke the single-season defensemen records with 21 goals and 64 points, earning his second of eight consecutive Norris Trophies. By 1974-75, those records exploded to 46 goals and 135 points. Only catastrophe could end Orr’s reign. And it did. Limited to 18 points in 10 games in 1975-76 from debilitating knee pain, Orr left both Boston and The Torch behind. He played only 36 NHL games after his age-26 season — the single biggest what-if in sports history.

Stick Taps: Phil Esposito (1969-75): Unfairly considered a product of Orr, Phil won six straight goal-scoring crowns, five Art Ross Trophies and set single-season NHL records for goals, assists, and points; Bobby Clarke (1973-77): Three MVPs and captain of back-to-back Cups as the relentless, gap-toothed face of The Broad Street Bullies.

🔥 1977-79: Guy Lafleur

Once it was clear Orr would never be the same, The Torch had a superstar ready and waiting. After some early career frustration in hockey’s most historic city and locker room, few players ever bloomed as brightly as The Flower. Lafleur erupted in 1974-75, which began a six-season stretch scoring at a 136-point pace. In 1977, Le Demond Blond (how cool were nicknames back then?) won the Smythe in Year 2 of the Habs’ four-year run of Stanley Cups. He was a cultural icon on perhaps the most dominant dynasty in NHL history. Lafleur’s flame extinguished quickly, earning his last serious Hart consideration at just 28 in 1979-80.

Stick Tap: Bryan Trottier and Marcel Dionne (1979-1980): Wedged between Lafleur’s final Cup (1979) and our next Torchbearer’s debut, neither Trottier (1978-79 Hart/Ross, 1980 Smythe) nor Dionne (1978-79 Pearson, 1979-80 Ross/Pearson) secured the lantern.

🔥 1980-88: Wayne Gretzky

There’s little unique ground to cover on Gretzky’s peak. While many wanted the skinny teenager to fail initially, Gretzky’s MVP win at age 19 revealed how respected his skills were as a rookie. The phenom’s standing in the league in his first eight seasons (1979-80 to 1986-87) is unimpeachable: eight MVPs, seven scoring titles, three Cups. Mario Lemieux went off in 1987-88 with the Hart and Ross, but Gretzky won the Smythe and his fourth and final Cup that spring. Both Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers were still atop the hockey world that summer when he was shockingly dealt to the Los Angeles Kings.

Stick Taps: None. While there were a lot of incredible performances in the 1980s (Mike Bossy, Paul Coffey, to name a few), when the same player wins eight MVPs in a row, there is no debate.

🔥 1989-94: Mario Lemieux

First fueled by the “Gretzky-to-Lemieux!” call in the 1987 Canada Cup, The Torch passed from Number 99 to Number 66 gradually over many years. We’re calling it 1989. Gretzky famously stole the Hart Trophy from Lemieux despite a 31-point gap in 1988-89. But Lemieux’s 85-goal, 199-point masterpiece that year revealed the next stage of hockey evolution. Over the next five seasons, Lemieux endured cancer and chronic back pain, averaging only 46 games per season. But he scored at a 176-point pace, delivered Pittsburgh its first two Cups and authored the most iconic comeback in sports history. Diagnosed with lymphoma at 27 in January 1993, Lemieux underwent two months of radiation, returned the night of his final treatment, and led the Penguins on a 17-game winning streak to seal the scoring title.

Stick Taps: With Lemieux’s future a constant source of uncertainty, others jockeyed for the title during his absences. Gretzky (1989-94): won another three scoring titles; Mark Messier (1990-94): won two Hart and Pearson Trophies and captained both the post-Gretzky Oilers and the New York Rangers to Cups; Ray Bourque (1987-94): finished first or second in Norris voting seven times in eight seasons; Patrick Roy (1989-94): three Vezinas, one Smythe, plus 218 goals saved above average in six seasons.

🔥 1995: Eric Lindros

As Lemieux sat out the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, The Torch was temporarily available. Lindros, a third-year forward and prodigious talent, won the Hart and Pearson Trophies, ushering an unprecedent pairing of skill and brute force to the NHL.

Stick Taps: Sergei Fedorov (1994-95): The first and only player to pair the Hart and the Selke in one season; Jaromir Jagr (1995): The Czech sensation thrived without Lemieux, winning the scoring title.

🔥 1996: Mario Lemieux

Once Lemieux announced his plans to return for the 1995-96 season, The Torch returned to his silky mitts. It proved to be attached with Gorilla Glue, only chiseled away during retirements. For two seasons, Super Mario scored at a 159-point pace, winning two more scoring crowns. He then retired for good* in April 1997, again vacating The Torch.

* He did not retire for good…

Stick Taps: None.

🔥 1997-99: Dominik Hasek

After he arrived as an unknown, unorthodox, European goalie, it took some time for the NHL to appreciate Hasek’s brilliance. The Dominator won his first Vezina in 1993-94 at age 29 and began a supersonic run through 2001: two Harts, six Vezinas, six save percentage titles, two Jennings, two Pearsons, 340 goals saved above average, Olympic Gold. With Lemieux out of the picture in Summer 1997, it was finally Hasek’s time for The Torch — the only goalie to ever hold it. He’d fuel the flame through the 1999 playoffs, where he posted a .939 playoff save percentage as his Buffalo Sabres fell two wins short of a Cup.

Stick Tap: Jagr (1998-99): While his countryman Hasek controlled the increasingly defensive NHL, Jagr won his second and third scoring titles in 1997-98 and 1998-99.

🔥 2000: Jaromir Jagr

What’s a guy gotta do to get a Torch around here? It took Lemieux’s retirement, an injury to Hasek, and a fourth (of five) scoring crowns for Jagr to reach the top. Despite missing 19 games in the 1999-2000 season, the 28-year-old snagged both the Ross and Pearson Trophies.

Stick Taps: Chris Pronger (2000): Pronger’s plus-52, Norris-winning, signature season in 1999-2000 remains the only Hart Trophy win by a defenseman since Orr.

🔥 2001: Mario Lemieux

Returning at 35 after three-and-a-half years away, Lemieux immediately dominated. It still feels impossible. He led the NHL with 1.77 points per game and finished second in Hart Trophy balloting despite missing 39 games in 2000-01.

Stick Taps: Joe Sakic (2001): Had Lemieux not returned, The Torch was Sakic’s — Hart, Pearson and Byng wins, second-place in Selke voting, and captain of the Colorado Avalanche‘s second Cup.

🔥 2002-03: Nicklas Lidstrom
🔥 2004: Martin St. Louis
🔒 2005: Lockout
🔥 2006: Joe Thornton

With Lemieux having a hard time staying in the lineup, the NHL was without a generational talent in his prime for the first time in decades. As the league sunk into The Dead Puck Era, offense continued to crater. From 1997-98 through 2007-08, the NHL had a different Hart Trophy winner every season. The Torch had no heir apparent. Enter The Perfect Human. Lidstrom won the Norris six times in seven seasons, scooping The Torch after his Conn Smythe win in 2002. While he had his skeptics based on size, St. Louis combined a Hart Trophy season with 24 points in the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s first Cup-winning run in 2003-04. Post-lockout, Thornton briefly took over the league before running into the Crosby/Ovechkin buzzsaw.

Stick Taps: Jarome Iginla (2002-04): Two Rockets, two Hart runner-up finishes, Olympic Gold, and one goal shy of a Cup in a three-year span; Martin Brodeur (2003-08): Four Vezinas and three Hart finalist nods in a five-season stretch; Peter Forsberg (2003-04): MVP and scoring champion known for elite all-around game.

🔥 2007: Sidney Crosby

After finishing runner-up to Ovechkin for the 2005-06 Calder Trophy, Sid the Kid went nuclear on the NHL in his age-19 season, winning the points race and gobbling up 86% of Hart Trophy votes. But his battle with Ovechkin had only just begun…

Stick Tap: Scott Niedermayer (2004-07): In a three-season span around the lost season, Niedermayer finished top-two for the Norris three times and won the Smythe in Anaheim — his fourth and final ring.

🔥 2008: Alex Ovechkin

After it looked like Crosby might have left Ovechkin in the dust, The Great Eight countered in a big way. He swept the Hart, Ross, and Pearson Trophies, scoring 65 goals for his first of nine Rocket Richard Trophies.

Stick Taps: Crosby (2008): Two years Ovechkin’s junior and having missed 29 games, Crosby remained 1A. Evgeni Malkin (2008-09): Hockey’s most underappreciated superstar, Geno finished second to Ovechkin in Hart voting in consecutive seasons and won the 2009 Smythe.

🔥 2009-17: Sidney Crosby

Despite career-threatening head injuries, the permanent Ovechkin threat, and many worthy challengers, Crosby consistently did just enough to hold The Torch for nine years. In 2009, Sid fulfilled his destiny by captaining the Penguins to a Stanley Cup at just 21. In 2010, he scored The Golden Goal and won his first Rocket. From 2010-2013, despite playing just 99 games in three seasons, he scored at an untouchable 132-point pace. A dominant, full-time return in 2013-14 reaffirmed his place atop the NHL. While Crosby’s numbers dipped to merely elite, a 16-month stretch that featured the 2016 Stanley Cup/Smythe, 2016 World Cup/MVP, and 2017 Stanley Cup/Smythe repeat extended his stranglehold on The Torch. No GM would have traded Crosby straight up for anyone during this Torch run.

Stick Taps: Ovechkin (2009-10, 2013-16): Ovi remained a constant scoring machine, an inevitable threat for 50 goals spanning two decades; Malkin (2012): With Crosby’s future on thin ice, Malkin swept the major awards and scored 50 goals; Jonathan Toews (2013-15): Toews was a media darling after he captained the 2013 & 2015 Cup teams, scored game-winner at Olympics, and grabbed Selke in a three-season run; Carey Price (2014-17): The 2026 Hall of Famer was unbeatable for three years, earning a Hart and going 10-0 at two best-on-best international events; Patrick Kane (2016): After three Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks, Kane leveled up with Hart and Ross Trophies in 2015-16, briefly entering the conversation.

🔥 2018-present: Connor McDavid

Occasionally pushed but still unsurpassed, the Oilers’ captain holds The Torch for the ninth year in a row. He first made his case as a sophomore, winning the 2016-17 Hart Trophy. But Crosby’s back-to-back Cups held off the inevitable. The 2017-18 season began McDavid’s Torch run after his second Art Ross Trophy. The hardware totals are now: Ross (x6); Lindsay (x5); Hart (x3); Richard (x1); plus a Smythe and Olympic MVP in losing causes. But it’s more how McDavid has played. He’s a cheat code, an evolutionary marvel of speed, touch, and vision. Crosby’s last Torch was the summer he turned 30. McDavid turns 30 in January 2027. Is Macklin Celebrini (or someone else) ready to steal The Torch in 2027? McDavid’s nine-year run is tied with Gretzky and Crosby for longest consecutive Torch streak.

Stick Taps: Nikita Kucherov (2019, 2024-26): Two MVPs, three scoring titles, and two Cups, yet Kuch has never quite passed McDavid reputationally; Auston Matthews (2022): The Toronto Maple Leafs‘ captain’s first 60-goal season and MVP caused a minor ripple; Nathan MacKinnon (2024-26): Like Kucherov, it’s been close at times but never definitive long-term.

🔥 Pre-1969

Here are the Torch holders from the end of the NHL’s first season (1918) through 1968:

Year(s)	Player	Notes
1967-68	Stan Mikita	Skilled playmaker won back-to-back Hart and Ross Trophies
1965-66	Bobby Hull	Feared sniper won back-to-back Hart Trophies
1957-64	Gordie Howe	10 straight top-four Hart finishes in a row
1956	Jean Beliveau	MVP led season and playoffs in points in rare down year by Howe
1951-55	Gordie Howe	Won four consecutive scoring titles
1945-50	Maurice Richard	NHL’s biggest superstar, fiery goal scorer dominated post-WWII era
1942-44	Bill Cowley	Won two Hart Trophies in three seasons during WWII
1939-41	Dit Clapper	Led Boston to two Cups with three first All-Star nods in three years
1933-38	Eddie Shore	Nasty defenseman won four Harts in six seasons
1925-32	Howie Morenz	Famous and dazzling icon won three Harts, advanced the sport
1922-24	Frank Nighbor	Two-way star won the first Hart as key cog of Senators dynasty
1921	Newsy Lalonde	Led NHL in points for second time
1920	Joe Malone	Returned with league-best 39 goals
1919	Newsy Lalonde	Led league in goals, assists, points in Malone’s absence
1918	Joe Malone	NHL’s first superstar scored 44 goals in inaugural season

🔥 The Torch Summary

All-Time Torches: Howe (13); Crosby (10); McDavid (9); Gretzky (9); Lemieux (8); Orr (8); Morenz (8); Defensemen Torches: Orr (8); Shore (6); Clapper (3); Lidstrom (2); Goalie Torches: Hasek (3)

Data from Hockey-Reference.com

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