Ranking the Best EA NHL Cover Athletes in the Last 10 Years

It's almost time, everyone...time for hockey to return.

There are certain times in the offseason when it hits us that the season is coming, and EA Sports announcing the cover athlete for the latest instalment of its NHL game is one of them.

NHL 24 is on the way and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar will be the face of the long-running game franchise this year. He has won the Norris Trophy, a Stanley Cup and now gets the modern-day version of the glory of landing on a box of Wheaties.

Video games aren't the real thing, but the way they are made now sure scratch a lot of separate and distinct itches. It gets us back on the ice without having to skate or get hit in the mouth with a puck. It lets us trash-talk our friends during a heated game. We can even be a general manager and build a team in the image we wanted.

It's the kind of therapy we sports fans need.

Since 2014, though, we've seen multiple gaming systems and various cover athletes for EA's NHL series, so let's rank them, shall we?

We're going to base these rankings on how those players performed in the season that led to them adorning the cover. And while we'd love to also factor in our enjoyment of the game, the players didn't make it so it would be mean to judge them on that.

Anyway, let's crack our knuckles, dust off the controllers and get to ranking.

10. Jonathan Toews, NHL 16

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - APRIL 13: Jonathan Toews #19 of the Chicago Blackhawks controls the puck during a game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the United Center on April 13, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. The Flyers defeated the Blackhawks 5-4 in overtime. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Jonathan Toews might be known as "Captain Serious," but it's hard to argue with his leadership style.

Fresh off winning his third Stanley Cup, Toews was given the honor of being the cover athlete for NHL 16. The points don't necessarily jump off the page from the 2014-15 season—28 goals and 38 assists for 66 points—but it's his leadership and two-way play that earned Toews the accolade.

His appearance was also the last time anyone from the Blackhawks team was on the cover of the game, although Connor Bedard appears to be a lock to be the next.

NHL 16 was supposed to have long-time teammate Patrick Kane joining Toews on the cover. But EA Sports used just Toews on the cover after Kane was under investigation for an accused rape in his hometown of Buffalo. Charges were never pursued and the NHL found the case to be unfounded.

9. Vladimir Tarasenko, NHL 17

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LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 22: Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues poses after being put on the cover of "EA Sports NHL 17" at the 2016 NHL Awards at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on June 22, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Confession: We completely forgot about Vladimir Tarasenko being on the cover of NHL 17.

In reality, it should've stuck in our heads very clearly because his 2015-2016 season was beastly.

The Russian scored 40 goals that year, the first and only time he's done that in his career to this point. It was the second in a run of five consecutive seasons in which he scored 30 or more goals. That's as impressive a run as a player can have these days in the NHL and perhaps it's because he was in St. Louis that it was so easily forgotten.

Tarasenko was fourth in the NHL in goals behind Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Kane and Jamie Benn, but it's the way he scores that made him a great pick. Packing a blistering slap shot and the ability to beat any goalie with his wrister, he played like a real-life video game character.

His selection for the game also seems unique because it felt like EA was getting out ahead of it by picking him. He was established in the NHL, but he hadn't broken out as a big star yet. That the company got him just as he exploded seemed like great timing.

Tarasenko was 24 years old that season, putting him in the prime age range for millennials who played the game.

8. P.K. Subban, NHL 19

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 20: (L-R) P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators is revealed as the cover athlete for EA Sports' "NHL 19" by Steve Campbell and Ryan Russell, known as Olly Postanin and Jacob Ardown from "On the Bench," during the 2018 NHL Awards presented by Hulu at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on June 20, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

It's kind of wild P.K. Subban only made it to the cover of EA's NHL series once and it was late in his career. By the time he landed on the front of NHL 19, he'd already won the Norris Trophy in 2013 and finished third in voting two other times, including 2018.

His personality was enough to put him on the cover of just about anything. The guy was electric both on and off the ice. He played fast and could hammer it on shots as well.

Subban showed that throughout his time with the Canadiens and upon landing in Nashville, he helped get the Predators to their first Stanley Cup Final in 2017.

But when you want a player who's exciting to watch and exciting to hear from off the ice and who embraces the spotlight, Subban is one of the few NHL stars to check all those boxes. If they weren't able to get Sidney Crosby on there after winning another Stanley Cup, you go for someone who has the social media profile to hit everyone.

Subban was (and still is) that guy.

7. Martin Brodeur, NHL 14

When Martin Brodeur landed the cover for NHL 14, he was the first goalie since John Vanbiesbrouck in 1997 to grace the front of the game.

It was beyond overdue for another netminder to receive the honor, and Brodeur was the perfect pick. He had just played in the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 for New Jersey against the Los Angeles Kings.

Sure, he was beyond his Cup and Vezina-winning years, but the 2013-2014 season for which the game was released was his last with the New Jersey Devils.

We'll forget for a moment that Sidney Crosby has not been the cover player for any game in the series before or since then, but there's still time for him to get a Brodeur-like sendoff.

6. Patrice Bergeron, NHL 15

Landing on the cover of any sports video game is an honor meant for the best of the best and who would argue with Patrice Bergeron being on the cover for NHL 15?

When Bergeron was named as EA's cover guy, he was coming off his second 30-goal season and after he won his second of six Selke Trophies. The Bruins had won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and lost to Chicago in 2013 and their dominance in the Eastern Conference was clear, particularly after they won the Presidents' Trophy in 2014.

In short, Bergeron was arguably the best player on the best team in the NHL, though they didn't win the Cup in 2014 because they lost to the Canadiens in seven games in the second round of the playoffs.

For Bergeron, though, that 2013-2014 season was the unofficial start of the career of the player we've grown accustomed to watching over the past decade. He was a big scorer in his first couple of seasons in the NHL, but after he overcame various injuries and took to the defensive side of the puck like a fish to water.

The 13-14 season was the awakening of the player who'd eventually become captain of the Bruins and one of the most respected players in the league.

He had all that and his face on a video game. Decent.

5. Auston Matthews, NHL 20 and 22

Auston Matthews finding his way to the cover of EA's game twice in three years is strange for a few reasons, but it isn't because he was a bad choice.

He's an all-world talented young American player who just happens to play for one of the league's biggest teams in Canada's biggest market. It's a no-brainer pick, but twice in three years?

Matthews graced the cover for the first time for NHL 20 before the season that ultimately got disrupted because of the pandemic, but his track record was already elite. He won the Calder Trophy in 2017 fresh off being the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft.

He put up 40, 34, and 37 goals in his first three seasons, which led to him being the EA cover choice, and he led the Maple Leafs to the playoffs in each of those years. That he got Toronto back to the postseason for the first time since 2013 and just the second time since 2004 only helped strengthen his case.

When he was named to the cover for NHL 22, though, it helped only highlight other players who had a case to be made for them to be there instead. We're thinking of Sidney Crosby in particular but also Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Leon Draisaitl, Mitch Marner and Johnny Gaudreau to name just a few.

Ultimately, Matthews for NHL 20 was a prime choice and Matthews for NHL 22 seemed underwhelming. Not because he is an unimpressive player (he won the Rocket Richard in 2021), but rather because there were so many other worthier candidates.

4. Cale Makar, NHL 24

It's really hard to argue about putting Cale Makar on the cover of NHL 24.

He has been a game-changing defenseman since even before he entered the NHL, but especially since he began patrolling the ice for the Colorado Avalanche.

Makar won the Calder in 2020, the Norris in 2022 along with the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy. He did all of that before he turned 24 . He scores points like he's a top-six forward except he's a No. 1 defenseman. He's the perfect cover star for this year's game.

Sure, he had a down year in 2022-2023, but he was injured and missed 22 games. But if a "down" year means putting up 66 points in 60 games I know a few teams that would gladly accept that.

More importantly, everyone who plays NHL 24 will want to play just like Makar. They'll want to handle the puck with skill, make precise passes and score goals at will.

We realize we've said this a couple of times, but Makar is a video-game character who comes to life on the ice and those are the kinds of players who should be on the cover.

3. Alex Ovechkin, NHL 21

One time long ago, Alex Ovechkin graced the cover of EA's NHL game. The game was NHL 07 and he was coming off winning the Calder Trophy (over Sidney Crosby, Henrik Lundqvist, and NHL 09 cover boy Dion Phaneuf) after scoring 51 goals in his first season.

Fast forward to 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, but Ovechkin scored 48 goals in the shortened 2019-2020 season on the way to winning his ninth Rocket Richard trophy. He won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018 and was a three-time league MVP.

We don't really need to list his accomplishments to justify him as the NHL 21 cover guy but if ever there was a player who was built and played like a video game create-a-player, it's Alex Ovechkin.

He's big, he hits guys hard, he hits pucks even harder, scores tons of goals and celebrates all of them like it was his first. He's almost the same exact player he was when he graced the cover the first time.

2. Trevor Zegras and Sarah Nurse, NHL 23

Seeing EA's NHL game incorporate women's international teams as well World Junior Championship rosters on top of all NHL, AHL, ECHL and legend teams was something else.

That's what made seeing Anaheim Ducks star Trevor Zegras and Canada women's star Sarah Nurse on the cover really cool.

Going with Zegras might seem a bit odd, but did you see his highlights from the 2021-22 season? He was doing things in real games that players wished they could do in the EA game, so it made total sense to not only put him on the cover but also implement some of those moves as well.

A kid from New York playing in Southern California and making magic almost nightly is a great recipe to get noticed, and it's apparently the same formula for being the co-star of the video game cover. As cool as Zegras' accolades were, though, Nurse's were even better.

She helped Canada win gold at the 2022 Olympics and the 2022 World Championships. She also made the Olympic All-Star team as one of the best players in the tournament. Having five goals and 18 points in seven games will do that.

Now, if we can get the new women's professional league in a future edition of the game, that would be excellent.

1. Connor McDavid, NHL 18

When Connor McDavid landed the cover of NHL 18, it felt like it was way overdue but also the exact right time.

He was coming off his first MVP season in which he had 30 goals and 100 points. He got the Edmonton Oilers back to the playoffs for the first time since they went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006.

McDavid was the player everyone wanted in the 2015 NHL draft, but injury shortened his rookie season in 2015-2016. When he exploded to win MVP in 2017, EA may have already had the press release announcing his cover-boy status well before then.

If there's a complaint to be made, it's that McDavid wasn't put on the cover immediately after he was drafted. We all knew he was going to be an outstanding player, and the only reason he didn't have a monster rookie season was because of a shoulder injury. Sure, you want players to earn the honor to be on the cover, but some things are virtually automatic.

You could apply this logic to Connor Bedard, but McDavid is also the best player in the NHL by far and even he had to wait. And he's only been on the cover once.