Who will be on the cover of NHL 21?

EA Sports has not announced any delay in the release date of NHL 21. It will still be released in the fall of 2020, despite the pause of NHL league play. There have been a number of players who could be on the game cover, but who will it be?


Here's our list of potential players who could be on the cover of NHL 21. Let us know of any you think we missed!

1. Leon Draisaitl / Edmonton Oilers

43 goals, 67 assists: 110 points in 71 games.
Enough said? Draisaitl is not only a candidate for the Hart Trophy, but he also became the first ever German born player to win the Art Ross Trophy for the highest point scorer in a season. He lso showed complete dominance while teammate, Connor McDavid was out of the line-up with injuries.

2. Nathan MacKinnon / Colorodo Avalanche

35 goals, 58 assists: 93 points in 69 games.
MacKinnon was ranked 5th in point production and is in the Hart Trophy race. He carried the Avalanche on his back while Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog missed a significant amount of games due to injury.

3. David Pastrnak / Boston Bruins

48 goals, 47 assists: 95 points in 70 games.
Pastrnak shared the Maurice Richard trophy with Alexander Ovechkin for the most goals scored in a season. He tied for 3rd place in point totals and completely dominated with 29 multi-point nights. He is on one of the NHL's best lines and helped the Bruins secure the Presidents' Trophy.

4. Artemi Panarin

32 goals, 63 assists; 95 points in 69 games.
Many people feel that Panarin was snubbed for Hart Trophy consideration. He tied Pastrnak for 3rd place in point production, despite the Rangers finishing 16th in league standings. He was arguably the most valuable player to his team as the Ranger's 2nd most point scorer trailed by 20 points.

5. John Carlson / Washington Capitals

15 goals, 60 assists; 75 points in 69 games.

Carlson put up 75 points as a defenceman! He scored over a point per game and completely dominated on the power-play. How do you think Alexander Ovechkin scores all of those goals? Norris Trophy finalists have not been named, but Vegas odds highly favor Carlson to win as the league's best defenceman.

6. Andrei Vasilevskiy / Tampa Bay Lightning

0.917 SV%, 2.56 GAA, 35 Wins
Vasilevskiy is ranked 16th in save percentage and 12th in goals against average. However, he won 35 games over 52 starts. There are arguments that he benefited from a superb Lightning team, but he made well over 1400 saves. Even if this were true, winning is the most important part of the game and he lead all goaltenders by a significant margin.

7. Tuukka Rask / Boston Bruins

0.929 SV%, 2.12 GAA, 26 wins.
Rask finished 2nd in save percentage, 1st in goals against average, and 7th in wins. He played a significant role in securing the Presidents' Trophy for the Bruins. He was ranked 19th for shots against with 1189, but he only allowed 85 to get passed him. Although Jaroslav Halak had a great season as back-up, Rask was truly a dominant force between the pipes.

Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews could have made the list, but they were on the covers of NHL 18 and NHL 20, respectively. Are there any other players we left out? Let us know!