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NHL battle of the nations 2026–27

Russia leads the 2026–27 nations league ahead of Canada, 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.

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2026–27Active season11/84 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
RussiaRussia54 players
MINKirill Kaprizov20 ptsCARPyotr Kochetkov7 W
Rate2ndTop trio3rdBlue line1stGoalies1stPer million10th
43pts
2
CanadaCanada325 players
EDMConnor McDavid33 ptsEDMDevon Levi6 W
Rate8thTop trio1stBlue line3rdGoalies6thPer million1st
41pts
3
USAUSA227 players
TORAuston Matthews19 ptsBOSJeremy Swayman7 W
Rate7thTop trio2ndBlue line2ndGoalies3rdPer million8th
38pts
4
GermanyGermany8 players
EDMLeon Draisaitl23 ptsSEAPhilipp Grubauer4 W
Rate1stTop trio3rdBlue line4thGoalies4thPer million11th
37pts
5
SwedenSweden81 players
TORWilliam Nylander18 ptsMINJesper Wallstedt7 W
Rate5thTop trio6thBlue line10thGoalies2ndPer million2nd
35pts
6
FinlandFinland38 players
CARSebastian Aho18 ptsNSHJuuse Saros3 W
Rate3rdTop trio5thBlue line7thGoalies9thPer million3rd
33pts
7
CzechiaCzechia19 players
BOSDavid Pastrnak17 ptsUTAKarel Vejmelka6 W
Rate4thTop trio7thBlue line8thGoalies8thPer million5th
28pts
8
SwitzerlandSwitzerland10 players
NSHRoman Josi12 ptsFLAAkira Schmid3 W
Rate6thTop trio8thBlue line5thGoalies7thPer million7th
27pts
9
LatviaLatvia6 players
FLASandis Vilmanis2 ptsPITArturs Silovs5 W
Rate11thTop trio11thBlue line11thGoalies5thPer million4th
18pts
10
BelarusBelarus6 players
WSHIlya Protas5 pts
Rate9thTop trio10thBlue line6thGoalies10thPer million9th
16pts
11
SlovakiaSlovakia7 players
MTLJuraj Slafkovský8 pts
Rate10thTop trio9thBlue line9thGoalies10thPer million6th
16pts
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 0.46 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.

793 players and 3 054 points in the NHL this season.

Russia accounts for 8.0% of all NHL points with 6.8% of the players. Sweden has 10.2% of the players and 10.7% of the points, and sits third in raw points.

Total points

CanadaCanada
1 214
USAUSA
869
SwedenSweden
327
RussiaRussia
244
FinlandFinland
145
CzechiaCzechia
73
GermanyGermany
55
SwitzerlandSwitzerland
42
SlovakiaSlovakia
19
BelarusBelarus
15
LatviaLatvia
7

Goalie wins

CanadaCanada
55
USAUSA
44
RussiaRussia
27
SwedenSweden
20
CzechiaCzechia
13
FinlandFinland
10
GermanyGermany
6
LatviaLatvia
5
SwitzerlandSwitzerland
3
BelarusBelarus
0
SlovakiaSlovakia
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
Finland
Finland
6th in the league

Sweden wins 4–3 against Finland.

0.46Points per game0.48
43Best trio46
0.31Defencemen's points per game0.32
.895Goalies' save percentage.885
7.6NHL players per million inhabitants6.8
327Total points145
81Players in the NHL38
Sweden against Finland 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
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