The NHL's top 25 forwards for the 2019-20 season

McDavid is the most dominant offensive player in the league. He is working on his fourth consecutive 100-point season, he is a two-time scoring champion, and as long as he stays healthy he is a good bet to add to that total this season. If the Oilers end up making the playoffs, it will almost certainly be because McDavid carried them there. If he played on a better team with more support, he probably wins the MVP every year. 

Just when you think his offense is starting to slow down, he comes back with his first 100-point season in five years. He may not be the most dominant offensive player in the world anymore, but he is still among the top five, and when you add in his defensive game and the way he can dominate all three zones, he is still one of the two best players in the world. 

He is coming off back-to-back 100-point seasons (an incredible accomplishment in this era) including a 128-point season a year ago. That was the best offensive season in the NHL in more than two decades and drove him to his first-ever MVP Award. The only thing his career is missing at this point is a championship. 

It took him a few years to get there, but MacKinnon has become one of the most dominant players in the league and is the foundation of the Avalanche organization. It has assembled a Stanley Cup-caliber team in Denver, and MacKinnon is going to be the engine that makes the whole thing go. He is also signed for three more full seasons at one of the biggest bargain contracts in the league, something that is a huge advantage for the Colorado front office when it comes to building around him. 

This might seem a little high, but have you seen the guy play lately? He is one of the top goal scorers in the league and a key ingredient on one of the league's best lines alongside Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. He has three consecutive 30-goal seasons and was on track for close to 50 goals a year ago until an injury sidelined him for 20 games. He is going to challenge for the goal scoring crown this season. 

Detractors will point out that he spends a lot of time playing alongside Connor McDavid, but that doesn't necessarily mean you are automatically going to put up huge numbers like Draisaitl did during the 2018-19 season, scoring 50 goals and tallying 100 points. He was in the top four in both categories and is picking right up where he left this season. He is an incredible talent and looks like a lock to be one of the most productive players in the league for the foreseeable future. 

If you are not a Bruins fan you probably hate him, but you have to respect the ability. He has been one of the league's top offensive players for several years and has the defensive game to back it up. His sideshow antics and borderline dirty play will sometimes overshadow the player he is, but make no mistake: He is one of the league's elites. 

Still almost universally regarded as one of the NHL's best defensive forwards — if not the best — Bergeron has somehow become more productive offensively as he has gotten older. Playing alongside Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak certainly helps that. Their line is one league's best and the biggest reason the Bruins are a Stanley Cup contender every season. 

He is not slowing down. He has still been able to maintain a stranglehold on the NHL's goal-scoring crown and still has a legitimate shot to break Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. The truest sign of dominance in sports is when the other team knows what you are going to do and still can't stop you. That is what happens almost every time Ovechkin and the Capitals power play takes the ice. 

If a winger is ever going to win the Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward anytime soon, it is going to be Stone. He is an outstanding defensive player while also bringing top-line offense to the Golden Knights lineup. He was a huge addition before last year's trade deadline and Vegas was smart to get him signed long term. He is going to be the Knights' best player for the next five years. 

The Avalanche have an embarrassment of riches at forward, and Rantanen is at the top of the list. Along with MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, they form the NHL's most offensively dominant line and one that carried the Avalanche to the playoffs a year ago. He has back-to-back 84-point seasons and is just now entering his peak years in the league. It would not be a shock to see him hit the century mark at some point in the next couple of years. 

He may be off to a slow start this season, but Barkov is one of the league's elite two-way players, especially now that he has been able to play a full season. Injuries always held him back early in his career, but when he is on the ice he can carry the game offensively and defensively. If he played on a better team in a market that got more attention he would be as highly regarded as he deserves to be. 

Stamkos is closing in on 400 goals for his career, and it's crazy to think that with a little better luck he might already be nearing 500. Remember that between the ages of 23 and 26 he missed significant time to two major injuries in two different seasons as well as half of a season to a lockout. All of that happened at a time when he was scoring at a 50-60 goal pace every year. He is still only 29 years old and still possesses one of the NHL's best shots. Like his teammate Nikita Kucherov, the only thing his otherwise great career is missing is a championship. 

The only thing that has slowed down Matthews through the first three years of his career is injuries. He has scored at a 40-goal pace per 82 games every year he has been in the league and is already on track to score at the same pace this season. Will he be the one to top Alex Ovechkin at the top of the goal scoring leaderboard? 

The overlooked star on the Lightning roster, just three years into his career, Point already has a pair of 30-goal seasons and is a top-line offensive player while also showing an advanced defensive game for his age. He is a two-way force and did the Lightning a huge favor on his most recent contract by signing a bargain bridge deal as a restricted free agent. His next contract in three years could be massive if he continues on his current path. 

The 2019 Conn Smythe Trophy winner for the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues, O'Reilly is as good as it gets defensively in the NHL and can still put up huge numbers offensively. What makes him so impressive is that he plays huge minutes against top players, can play a physical game and still almost never takes penalties. The latter point is one of those underrated traits that can make a huge difference. 

One of the biggest reasons the Islanders were able to remain so competitive in the wake of John Tavares leaving in free agency is they already had another franchise player on the roster in Barzal. He is the team's biggest difference-maker and is already off to a better start through his first two years than the likes of Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen and Brayden Point. He is one of the league's fastest players, an outstanding playmaker who makes the players around him better and a rapidly improving defensive player. 

The big free agent on the move this summer, Panarin is one of the league's best offensive players and a dominant play driver. He is going to be the franchise player the Rangers can build around and even though they may not be good this season, he is still young enough to make an impact when they are ready to contend. 

There was already a ton of pressure on Tavares in Toronto after signing a huge free agent contract with his hometown team. The expectation for this core is a championship, and Tavares is going to have to be one of the players to help bring it home. If he is feeling the pressure, he did not show it in Year 1 with the Leafs, putting together one of the best seasons of his career. At 29 he may be toward the latter half of his prime years, but he is still a dominant offensive player. 

He is not the best player away from the puck and is not going to drive play like a lot of other players on this list will, but he still scores at an elite rate. He is coming off a 110-point season for the Blackhawks and is still capable of carrying the offense. The biggest question is whether the Blackhawks have enough around him and Jonathan Toews to return to contention before they retire. 

Did the Maple Leafs overpay him in restricted free agency this year? They probably did, especially when looking at the other contracts signed by similar players. But Marner is still a tremendous player who is probably going to be worth the money for the Maple Leafs. With his playmaking ability and the forward talent around him, he might be a 75-80 assist player at some point in his career. 

The 2018 NHL MVP, Hall missed most of the 2018-19 season and it was a huge loss for a Devils team that stumbled through the season. He is back healthy and in a contract year and should be on track for a massive season. He has always been one of the most impactful wingers in the league and should once again be a difference maker this season. The big thing to watch will be whether the Devils can get him to re-sign. 

Gaudreau should be high on your "much-watch" list of players. What he lacks in size, he more than makes up for with talent and speed. He has shown fairly consistent improvement across the board every year he has been in the league, but if you wanted to look for a knock it would be that his regular-season success has not carried over to the playoffs in his past two postseason appearances (though that was probably due more to bad luck than anything else). 

He had a down year in 2018-19, and it is a testament to Malkin's greatness that a down year for him is still averaging almost a point-per-game offensively. Sometimes he can try to do too much and forget about the defensive end of the ice, but he came into camp determined and motivated to show he is still one of the league's best players. An early-season injury has him sidelined for now, but once back, a motivated Malkin can be an unstoppable force. 

The Connor McDavid of the Eastern Conference, Eichel is an elite center, one of the game's best young players and one who has been stuck on a team that has not put much talent around him. The Sabres might finally have a decent team to help get him to the playoffs where he can finally get the recognition he deserves.