One must-watch player from each NHL team in the Stanley Cup playoffs

12. Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins

Crosby somehow is still putting together brilliant play in his 21st season, scoring 74 points in 68 games for the surprising Penguins.

11. Sebastian Aho, C, Carolina Hurricanes

The Canes' top center wrapped up his fourth 80-point campaign and has 85 points in 89 career playoff games.

10. Rasmus Dahlin, D, Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo's captain is the fourth-leading scorer among NHL defensemen at five-on-five. He ranks 21st among 250 defensemen who played at least 200 minutes this season in goals-for percentage (59.54 percent). 

9. Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa Senators

The Senators were dominant by basically every possession metric with Sanderson on the ice. Of the 48 defense pairings to finish with 500 minutes this season, Sanderson's pairing with Artem Zub finished third in MoneyPuck's expected goals percentage metric (58.1 percent). Sanderson finished in the top 20 in scoring among defensemen (54 points in 67 games) despite missing 15 games. 

8. Quinn Hughes, D, Minnesota Wild

Hughes finished fifth in scoring (76 points) among defensemen despite missing eight games and joining a new team in December via trade. 

7. Jeremy Swayman, G, Boston Bruins

Swayman was second in the league by MoneyPuck's goals saved above expected metric behind only Washington's Logan Thompson. He faced one of the most difficult workloads in the league.

6. Clayton Keller, W, Utah Mammoth

This is a moment long overdue for one of the best set-up men in the NHL. Keller is one of just eight players over the past two seasons to finish with back-to-back 60-assist seasons.

5. Jack Eichel, C, Vegas Golden Knights

Eichel finished with 90 points while anchoring Vegas' top line. He finished top 10 in the NHL by GameScore and Net Rating, metrics popularized by HockeyStatCards that combine traditional statistics with advanced possession metrics while measuring the quality of the competition the player faced. Eichel didn't just score at an elite level — he did it against the very best in the league. 

4. Nick Suzuki, C, Montreal Canadiens

The team's No. 1 center just concluded his first 100-point campaign. He also rated in HockeyStatCards 95th percentile in Defensive Net Rating while facing among the most difficult competition in the league for a Montreal team that has some issues defensively down the lineup.

3. Nikita Kucherov, W, Tampa Bay Lightning

His 130-point campaign stands out, especially for one of the top defensive teams in the NHL. What's more shocking: Kucherov had more games this season with three points or more (19) than he did games with zero points (15). 

2. Connor McDavid, C, Edmonton Oilers

There's almost nothing left to say about the greatest player of his generation, other than to note his 54 power-play points this season led the next-closest skater (Montreal's Nick Suzuki) by 11 points.

1. Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado Avalanche

MacKinnon has been on a mission for the league's best regular-season team, scoring a league-high 53 goals and leading the league in five-on-five points with 75 for the best five-on-five team in the NHL. 

The Stanley Cup playoffs begin Saturday.