Projecting Every NHL Team’s Assist Leader for the 2024-25 Season

The word “underrated” gets thrown around way too easily in the NHL, but Thomas might be a player who is legitimately in the “underrated” category. The consistent mediocrity of the Blues in recent years, combined with the lack of a high-scoring offense as a team, has kind of hidden just how productive Thomas is, especially as a playmaker.

Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, Thomas has been one of the league’s best and most efficient playmakers in hockey.

His 2.19 assists per 60 minutes are 13th in the NHL during that span, while his 1.35 primary assists per 60 minutes are also 13th in the league. That is out of nearly 900 players with at least 500 minutes of ice time. He seems to be a lock for at least 50 assists and could probably be capable of 60 or more with some better finishing talent around him.

Like McDavid in Edmonton this is one you do not need to overthink.

Kucherov has topped the 80-assist mark three times in the past six years, including each of the past two seasons. He hit triple-digits during the 2023-24 season with 100 of them and is one of the great offensive players of his era.

Expecting 100 assists for a second year in a row is setting an unrealistic bar. But 60 or 70 seems well within reach, and perhaps even 80 again. Whatever number he ends up reaching it is hard to imagine somebody else on Tampa Bay topping it this season. He is that good.

There might not be a player in the NHL under more pressure this season than Mitch Marner.

He is playing for a new contract, he has the pressure that everybody in Toronto has when it comes to winning in the playoffs, and everything that goes wrong in the biggest games for the Maple Leafs always seems to be thrown back on him.

Maybe Toronto’s core needs a shakeup. Maybe the Maple Leafs do not have “it” when it comes to winning a Stanley Cup. Maybe Marner needs to go somewhere else with less pressure.

Maybe all of that is true.

But do you know what else is also true?

Marner is still a good player, and a productive player, and he is going to set up a lot of goals. He already has with nine assists in the Maple Leafs’ first nine games. He will do what he always does and finish with 60-70 assists in the regular season, and then face the pressure that is the playoffs. That is all anybody will care about.

Utah has cooled off a little after that fast start, and injuries to the defense have not helped. There is still a lot of intriguing talent here, and Cooley is at the top of that list.

He really started to come on strong in the second half of the 2023-24 season, and is off to a very strong start this season with six assists in his first nine games through Saturday’s actions.

Aside from the numbers, Cooley just seems to pass the eye test every time you watch him play. He has the confidence, the vision and the skill to be a true top-line player in the NHL, and he is still only 20 years old.

Between Cooley and Dyaln Guenther Utah has two potential cornerstone forwards to build around long-term.

With all due respect to Cale Makar, Adam Fox and Roman Josi, Hughes has become the best playmaking defenseman in the NHL. He has gone from 60, to 69, to 75 assists over the past three seasons, and during that time he is the only defensemen in the NHL that has averaged at least two assists per 60 minutes.

He has great talent around him, he plays in a fun system that is geared toward offense, and he could absolutely see another jump forward this season and potentially reach the 80-assist mark.

He is the reigning Norris Trophy winner, is still only 25 years old, and might have another Norris Trophy in his future.

Eichel has pretty much been a point-per-game player since arriving in Vegas and helped produce a Stanley Cup. His overall numbers have not always been on a superstar level, but he has missed a lot of games and dealt with a lot of injuries in his career. Even so, he produces and he is a top-line center for a contender.

He is also off to a great start with 12 assists in his first nine games and is on an early pace to shatter his previous career high.

Mark Stone would be a good candidate for Vegas to lead them in assists, especially given his start, but you have to assume at some point he is going to miss 20-30 games because that is just what happens here. With that in mind, Eichel is our pick.

The Capitals snuck into the playoffs a year ago with a lot of smoke and mirrors and unsustainable luck, but they really re-tooled their roster this offseason and so far look like a significantly better and improved team.

Their core players are starting to get a little older, but some of them can still play. Carlson is one of them.

He had 42 assists from the blue line a year ago in 82 games, and given the improved talent on the roster and what should be a better power play I like his chances to have at least one more big year.

The Jets are off to an incredible start and already exceeding expectations in the Western Conference. The roster still has some flaws, especially on defense, but their top-line players can match up with almost any team in the league. That will always give them a chance to compete in most games. Morrissey is becoming one of those players on defense, especially as it relates to his offensive game and point production.

He has led Winnipeg in assists two years in a row, and is off to another fast start this season with seven assists in the first eight games of the season through Saturday.

Whether or not Winnipeg sustains this play for an entire season remains to be seen, but Morrissey has more than proven he can produce at this level on a consistent basis.