Nations in the NHL
NHL players by country 2026–27
793 players from 16 countries have played in the NHL in 2026–27. Canada has the most with 325, ahead of USA with 227 and Sweden with 81.
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
Russia
1st in the nations league
54
players
241
points
6.8 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Kirill Kaprizov · 19 pts
4 played last night: 1 goal, 0 assists
Canada
2nd in the nations league
325
players
1 206
points
41.0 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Connor McDavid · 33 pts
66 played last night: 9 goals, 17 assists
USA
3rd in the nations league
227
players
861
points
28.6 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Auston Matthews · 19 pts
44 played last night: 5 goals, 6 assists
Germany
4th in the nations league
8
players
55
points
1.0 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Leon Draisaitl · 23 pts
Nobody played last night
Sweden
5th in the nations league
81
players
324
points
10.2 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: William Nylander · 18 pts
14 played last night: 1 goal, 3 assists
Finland
6th in the nations league
38
players
144
points
4.8 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Sebastian Aho · 18 pts
12 played last night: 1 goal, 3 assists
Czechia
7th in the nations league
19
players
71
points
2.4 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: David Pastrnak · 17 pts
3 played last night: 0 goals, 0 assists
Switzerland
8th in the nations league
10
players
41
points
1.3 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Roman Josi · 11 pts
4 played last night: 0 goals, 3 assists
Latvia
9th in the nations league
6
players
7
points
0.8 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Zemgus Girgensons · 2 pts
1 played last night: 1 goal, 0 assists
Belarus
10th in the nations league
6
players
15
points
0.8 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Ilya Protas · 5 pts
1 played last night: 0 goals, 0 assists
Slovakia
11th in the nations league
7
players
19
points
0.9 %
of the NHL
Top scorer: Juraj Slafkovský · 8 pts
1 played last night: 0 goals, 1 assist
