Nations in the NHL
NHL players by country 2026–27
812 players from 16 countries have played in the NHL in 2026–27. Canada has the most with 334, ahead of USA with 229 and Sweden with 82.
The nations
In raw numbers the big hockey countries always win, so the nations league compares the 11 countries with at least five skaters instead. They are ranked on points per game, their three best scorers' points, points per game from defencemen, goalie save percentage and NHL players per million inhabitants. Winning a category is worth the most, and the table is the total. How the nations league works
Canada
1st in the nations league
334
players
1 516
points
41.1 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Connor McDavid · 37 pts
159 played last night: 23 goals, 50 assists
Russia
2nd in the nations league
57
players
288
points
7.0 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Kirill Kaprizov · 24 pts
26 played last night: 2 goals, 6 assists
USA
3rd in the nations league
229
players
1 096
points
28.2 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Auston Matthews · 24 pts
105 played last night: 19 goals, 28 assists
Germany
4th in the nations league
8
players
68
points
1.0 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Leon Draisaitl · 26 pts
4 played last night: 1 goal, 6 assists
Sweden
5th in the nations league
82
players
417
points
10.1 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: William Nylander · 21 pts
45 played last night: 10 goals, 15 assists
Finland
6th in the nations league
40
players
179
points
4.9 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Sebastian Aho · 19 pts
17 played last night: 6 goals, 5 assists
Czechia
7th in the nations league
19
players
85
points
2.3 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: David Pastrnak · 19 pts
7 played last night: 2 goals, 3 assists
Switzerland
8th in the nations league
10
players
50
points
1.2 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Roman Josi · 15 pts
5 played last night: 0 goals, 1 assist
Latvia
9th in the nations league
6
players
9
points
0.7 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Teddy Blueger · 4 pts
1 played last night: 1 goal, 1 assist
Slovakia
10th in the nations league
8
players
28
points
1.0 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Juraj Slafkovský · 9 pts
5 played last night: 2 goals, 0 assists
Belarus
11th in the nations league
6
players
18
points
0.7 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Aliaksei Protas · 5 pts
2 played last night: 0 goals, 0 assists
