Overview
- EA Sports announced on Monday that Connor McDavid is the inaugural 99 overall player in the NHL video game series, a move the NHL amplified on its official social account.
- McDavid earned the bump after a 2025–26 season in which he scored 48 goals and 138 points across 82 games, figures prominently cited as the basis for the new rating.
- Across his 11‑season career McDavid has 409 goals and 811 assists for 1,220 points in 794 games, totals the coverage uses to justify his rise from a 97 rating in NHL 26.
- The announcement arrives as McDavid begins the first year of a two‑year contract with the Oilers and follows Edmonton’s first‑round playoff loss to the Anaheim Ducks, heightening expectations for the coming season.
- NHL 27 ships Sept. 11 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, with a 10‑hour EA Play trial on Sept. 4, and EA says the 99 rating is reserved for players who show near‑mastery in core skills such as speed and puck control.