Skip to content

NHL battle of the nations 2026–27

Canada leads the 2026–27 nations league ahead of Russia, when every country is weighed by how good its players are rather than how many there are. Sweden sits fifth. Counted in raw points Canada wins, as always.

The nations league ranks the 11 countries with at least five NHL skaters in five disciplines and adds up the placings.

Back to the full top-lists page
2026–27Active season19/84 games
11 countries with at least five skaters. First in a category gets 11 points, second 10 and so on down to 1 for last. The table is the total.
1
CanadaCanada351 players
EDMConnor McDavid49 ptsCOLMackenzie Blackwood10 W
Rate8thTop trio1stBlue line5thGoalies4thPer million1st
41pts
2
RussiaRussia58 players
MINKirill Kaprizov35 ptsCARPyotr Kochetkov11 W
Rate2ndTop trio3rdBlue line4thGoalies2ndPer million10th
39pts
3
USAUSA240 players
TORAuston Matthews29 ptsBOSJeremy Swayman9 W
Rate6thTop trio2ndBlue line1stGoalies3rdPer million9th
39pts
4
GermanyGermany8 players
EDMLeon Draisaitl37 ptsSEAPhilipp Grubauer5 W
Rate1stTop trio4thBlue line2ndGoalies5thPer million11th
37pts
5
SwedenSweden83 players
ANALeo Carlsson26 ptsMINJesper Wallstedt13 W
Rate5thTop trio6thBlue line11thGoalies1stPer million2nd
35pts
6
FinlandFinland42 players
CARSebastian Aho29 ptsNSHJuuse Saros7 W
Rate3rdTop trio5thBlue line9thGoalies8thPer million3rd
32pts
7
SwitzerlandSwitzerland11 players
NSHRoman Josi23 ptsFLAAkira Schmid6 W
Rate7thTop trio8thBlue line3rdGoalies6thPer million7th
29pts
8
CzechiaCzechia19 players
COLMartin Necas24 ptsUTAKarel Vejmelka6 W
Rate4thTop trio7thBlue line7thGoalies9thPer million5th
28pts
9
SlovakiaSlovakia8 players
MTLJuraj Slafkovský12 pts
Rate10thTop trio9thBlue line6thGoalies10thPer million6th
19pts
10
LatviaLatvia6 players
FLASandis Vilmanis7 ptsPITArturs Silovs5 W
Rate11thTop trio11thBlue line10thGoalies7thPer million4th
17pts
11
BelarusBelarus7 players
WSHAliaksei Protas9 pts
Rate9thTop trio10thBlue line8thGoalies10thPer million8th
15pts
How the nations league is counted

Every country with at least five NHL skaters is ranked in five disciplines. First in a discipline is worth 11 points, second 10 and so on down to 1 for last. The league table is the sum. A shared placing gives the same points.

  • Points per gameAll the nation's skaters' points divided by their games, evened out toward the NHL average.
  • Best trioThe three best scorers' points combined.
  • Defencemen's points per gameThe defencemen's points per game, evened out the same way.
  • Goalies' save percentageThe goalies' save percentage, evened out toward the NHL average. A country without a goalie comes last.
  • NHL players per million inhabitantsHow many NHL players the country has per million inhabitants.

The rate disciplines are evened out so that a small country cannot win on one hot player: we add 400 games (300 for defencemen, 1,500 shots for goalies) at the NHL's own average before dividing. This season the NHL average is 0.47 points per game and player. A country with many games is barely affected; one with few is pulled toward the middle.

A player counts for his birth country, except Swedes, who count as Swedish wherever they were born. Players born in Sweden who represent another country count for no country. Regular season only, and only players with at least one game.

846 players and 5 260 points in the NHL this season.

Canada accounts for 39.7% of all NHL points with 41.5% of the players. Sweden has 9.8% of the players and 10.7% of the points, and sits third in raw points.

Total points

CanadaCanada
2 086
USAUSA
1 533
SwedenSweden
562
RussiaRussia
395
FinlandFinland
249
CzechiaCzechia
118
GermanyGermany
91
SwitzerlandSwitzerland
71
SlovakiaSlovakia
41
BelarusBelarus
29
LatviaLatvia
17

Goalie wins

CanadaCanada
102
USAUSA
72
RussiaRussia
43
SwedenSweden
34
FinlandFinland
22
CzechiaCzechia
17
GermanyGermany
8
SwitzerlandSwitzerland
6
LatviaLatvia
5
SlovakiaSlovakia
0
BelarusBelarus
0
The nations league's five categories plus raw points and player count. The higher value takes the round.
Sweden
Sweden
5th in the league
4–3
Russia
Russia
2nd in the league

Sweden wins 4–3 against Russia.

0.48Points per game0.52
70Best trio83
0.32Defencemen's points per game0.35
.897Goalies' save percentage.896
7.8NHL players per million inhabitants0.4
562Total points395
83Players in the NHL58
Sweden against Russia season by season
The winner's flag above Sweden's placing. Sweden has won 5 of the last 30 seasons.
RussiaRussia7 titlesCzechiaCzechia7 titlesSwedenSweden5 titlesCanadaCanada4 titlesFinlandFinland3 titlesSlovakiaSlovakia2 titlesUSAUSA1 titleGermanyGermany1 title
Share

Continue reading