NHL’s best players under age 25 for 2017: Connor McDavid is in a class of his own at No. 1

Note: This is SB Nation NHL’s top 25 players under age 25 series! We’ll be covering each player from No. 25 to No. 1 over the next few weeks leading up to training camp time. See the complete list and information on how the rankings were compiled.

The No. 1 player on our list of the NHL’s top players under 25 was never not going to be Connor McDavid. Despite Auston Matthews’ incredible rookie campaign or Nikita Kucherov’s star-studded resume, McDavid is far and away the best young player the NHL has.

And he will be for years to come. There’s a reason people herald McDavid as the next Sidney Crosby or Wayne Gretzky, and he may already be one of the league’s best under-20 players in history. Since joining the league, McDavid has put up 148 points in 127 games for a 1.17 point-per-game pace. It could have been higher too, had McDavid not played just 45 games in his first season due to injury.

Last season, McDavid led the NHL in points (100) and assists (70), and he helped the Oilers to their first playoff berth since 2005-06. That’s the kind of power McDavid holds on a team: the ability to lift a roster to the second round of the postseason by his sheer talent alone. Hockey isn’t really a sport like basketball where one superstar can carry a team to greatness, but McDavid is quickly proving to be the exception to the rule.

The Oilers named McDavid the youngest captain in NHL history before last season, and he flourished in the role as the team’s leader. McDavid topped the Oilers in all the major stats in his sophomore season, and he led Edmonton’s forward corps with the highest average time on ice. He was also the team’s best possession player over a full season of work, putting together a 53.8 CF% according to Hockey-Reference.

There seemingly isn’t anything McDavid can’t do. Though he’s not going to kill penalties very often and his faceoffs need work, McDavid is by far the NHL’s best all-around skater. His explosiveness and precision with the puck is something that really needs to be seen to be understood, and even then it’s quite a marvel to behold.

Hockey fans have really only seen just a small fraction of what McDavid is capable of, even after he put up 100 points in a season. Though it should scare opponents on the ice, hockey fans have a lot to look forward to with McDavid in the league.

Even before being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, McDavid was already making waves at the junior hockey level. Hockey Canada granted McDavid “Exceptional Player” status to enter the OHL draft at age 15, a year before his normal eligibility, joining Aaron Ekblad and John Tavares on the short list.

With the Erie Otters in the OHL, McDavid posted 285 points in 166 games across three seasons. During that time, McDavid became the most decorated player in OHL history with awards that ranged from the league’s rookie of the year to the league’s most sportsmanlike player. McDavid also won CHL Player of the Year in 2015 as the best player across the entire Canadian Hockey League.

Entering the NHL, McDavid was a three-time rookie of the month winner before injury derailed part of his freshman season. McDavid did post 48 points in 45 games and was third in voting for the 2016 Calder Trophy behind Artemi Panarin and Shayne Gostisbehere.

In his sophomore season, McDavid became the 10th player in NHL history to win the Hart, Art Ross, and Ted Lindsay awards in one year. McDavid also became the youngest player since Crosby to win the Hart Trophy as the league MVP.

For his incredible second year, McDavid was named the cover athlete for NHL 18 and also was chosen for the most recent All-Star Game. Quite the impressive resume for a 20 year old.

It’s hard to say just how historic of a career McDavid is going to have with the Oilers. We’ve seen one type of superstardom path from Crosby, but his career is still far from over after three Stanley Cups. A player like McDavid is almost a magnet for championships, and the Oilers already have the second-best odds to win it all next season.

As a captain and superstar, McDavid already has reached most valuable player status on his team. The Oilers know that McDavid is a key to their future success, and giving him anything less to work with than last season is unacceptable. McDavid no doubt will be the Oilers No. 1 center for years to come. Edmonton just has to wind him up and let him go.

If anything, the only thing McDavid really needs to improve upon is his faceoff numbers, which have averaged out to 42.3 percent through his first two seasons. Crosby himself took years to master the art of the faceoff, and there’s no reason to doubt McDavid can do the same with his dedication to the sport.

Anything less than a No. 1 overall ranking is wrong. We all have our biases, but McDavid is without a doubt the NHL’s top player under the age of 25. He may be challenged in the future by Matthews or Laine on the year-by-year stat sheets, but McDavid is by far and away in a class of his own.

Highest rank: No. 1
Lowest rank: No. 1