EA’s NHL 27 ratings rollout puts Connor McDavid alone in the new 99 Club while Cale Makar, Zach Werenski, and Quinn Hughes lead the blue line at launch.
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McDavid owns the new ceiling, but the blue line tells the team-building story
The biggest confirmed development in NHL 27 ratings week is that Connor McDavid is the only 99 overall player revealed so far, with EA Sports presenting him as the first member of its new NHL 99 Club. That creates the headline, but the sharper roster question for early online play sits on defense: the launch ratings shown through EA’s ratings hub and reported by Operation Sports make left defense far deeper at the elite end than right defense.
According to EA’s Ratings Week blog, the publisher is using the week of August 17, 2026, to roll out NHL 27 player ratings by category, beginning with the 99 Club, then forwards, then defensemen and goalies, followed by the top 10 overall and ratings updates. EA frames these numbers as functional, saying ratings affect the speed, precision, and physical dominance players feel on the ice in modes including Franchise Mode and Hockey Ultimate Team.
That matters because the first defensive reveal is uneven by side. Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche is the top right defenseman at 95 overall, while Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild are both 95 overall on the left side, according to Operation Sports’ breakdown of EA’s listed ratings. The top of the position is packed with familiar franchise anchors, but the distribution changes how players should think about early roster construction.
NHL 27 top defensemen are led by three 95 overall blue-liners
Operation Sports lists Makar as NHL 27’s highest-rated right defenseman at 95 overall. He is followed by Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard at 91 overall, then a cluster of high-end right-shot options at 89 overall: Adam Fox of the New York Rangers, Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins, Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings, and Noah Dobson of the Montreal Canadiens. Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild, Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Ryan Pulock of the New York Islanders are listed at 88 overall, with Brett Pesce of the New Jersey Devils at 87 overall.
The left-defense list has a higher floor. Operation Sports reports Werenski and Hughes at 95 overall, Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres and Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars at 93 overall, then Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders, Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes, Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning at 91 overall. Josh Morrissey of the Winnipeg Jets and Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens round out that side at 90 overall.
The confirmed takeaway is simple: NHL 27 top defensemen are not balanced evenly across handedness and side. The right side has one 95, one 91, and then a drop into the high 80s. The left side has two 95s, two 93s, four 91s, and no player below 90 in its top 10. Operation Sports also notes that Makar is tied for the highest-rated defenseman in the game, while identifying the left-defense group as stronger overall.
The 99 Club is McDavid alone, with some history attached
EA’s NHL 27 99 Club reveal centers on McDavid, and USA Today reports that the Edmonton Oilers star received the game’s first 99 rating after being the highest-rated NHL 26 player at 97. USA Today also notes McDavid finished the 2025-26 season with a league-best 90 assists and 138 points, marking the sixth time he led the league in scoring, and that he was runner-up for the Hart Trophy after winning it three times previously.
Below McDavid, USA Today lists Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov at 97 overall, with Leon Draisaitl at 96. The same report lists David Pastrnak, Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini, and Aleksander Barkov at 95 among forwards rated 95 or higher. That puts McDavid two points clear of the next-best confirmed players in the forward reveal, and four points clear of every defenseman revealed through the defense lists.
There is some tension in how the 99 Club has been described. Console Creatures reports that EA announced the 99 Club as a first for EA Sports NHL, but also points out that older series history complicates the message, citing Ray Bourque’s 99 rating in NHL 94. Gino Hard’s write-up presents McDavid as the first 99 overall in EA Sports NHL history, while Console Creatures frames the cleaner interpretation as the first 99 overall in the modern era and under EA’s newly branded 99 Club. The confirmed current fact is narrower and safer: in NHL 27’s ratings rollout, McDavid is the only announced 99 Club member.
Early online builds should start with handedness, not name value alone
For early online team building, the defense reveal points to a practical constraint. If a mode such as HUT makes these launch ratings relevant to item strength, the strongest left-defense pool gives players more viable elite paths than the right side. A team that misses out on Hughes or Werenski still has Dahlin, Heiskanen, Schaefer, Slavin, Josi, Hedman, Morrissey, and Hutson inside the 90-plus range. On right defense, the gap from Makar to Bouchard is four overall points, and the list reaches 87 by the tenth spot.
That does not mean every player should chase the highest overall card blindly. EA says attributes influence how speed, precision, and physical play feel, which leaves room for role fit once full attribute pages are available. A player who defends aggressively at the blue line may value reach, strength, body checking, and defensive awareness differently from someone who activates defensemen into the rush and needs skating, puck control, and shot quality. The overall number is the entry point, not the full scouting report.
The safer early strategy is to treat right defense as the premium slot. Makar’s 95 overall makes him the clean top target on that side, while Bouchard is the only other right defenseman above 90 in Operation Sports’ list. On the left, the rating spread gives more flexibility, especially for players willing to trade a point or two of overall for a preferred play style. Until EA’s full ratings hub is complete and live-service item details are clear, that is interpretation based on the confirmed ratings rather than a confirmed HUT market forecast.
Franchise and roster players get a different set of signals
The NHL 27 player ratings reveal is also useful outside HUT. EA specifically calls out Franchise Mode in its Ratings Week blog, and defense depth can shape how a team feels before trades, development, or roster tuning enter the picture. A club with a high-end left defenseman may begin with a bigger margin for error than a club depending on a thinner right-defense pool, especially if pairing balance and special teams usage matter to a player’s preferred setup.
The Dallas Stars are a good example of how the ratings ripple beyond top-10 lists. The Hockey News reports that Miro Heiskanen is fourth among left-shot defensemen at 93 overall, tying Rasmus Dahlin, while Thomas Harley is 88 and Esa Lindell is 87. The same outlet reports Dallas has four players at 90 overall or higher, with Jason Robertson at 92, Mikko Rantanen at 94, Wyatt Johnston at 90, and Heiskanen at 93. That makes Dallas one of the more interesting confirmed roster builds in the rollout, because the team’s strength is spread across forward talent and a true elite defenseman.
There are also notable roster-list details readers should verify inside EA’s own hub before starting long saves. Operation Sports’ defense list places Quinn Hughes on the Minnesota Wild and Noah Dobson on the Montreal Canadiens, while USA Today’s broader ratings article includes several player movement notes in its page text. The sources provided do not give the full transaction context for each listed team, so the responsible read is that these are the teams shown in the ratings coverage, not a full explanation of how every roster move occurred.
Wait for the full ratings picture before locking in preorder assumptions
EA’s Ratings Week schedule still leaves important context pending. The publisher’s own blog says the top 10 overall reveal is scheduled for August 20, with ratings updates set for August 21. That means the best NHL 27 players list is not complete based only on the 99 Club, forward ratings, and defensemen already covered here. Goalies were part of the August 19 category in EA’s schedule, but the provided source material for this assignment centers on defensemen and McDavid’s 99 Club placement rather than a full goalie analysis.
For availability, EA’s Ratings Week blog says NHL 27 is available for preorder on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. USA Today reports the NHL 27 release date as September 11. Gino Hard’s quoted EA social post says Deluxe Edition players can play seven days early on September 4, though buyers should confirm edition details through EA’s store page before purchasing.
For players focused on early online competition, the practical read is to follow the final ratings update before committing mentally to a launch build. McDavid is confirmed as the only 99 Club player in the current rollout, and Makar, Werenski, and Hughes are confirmed as the 95 overall leaders among defensemen covered by Operation Sports. The unresolved part is how those ratings translate into launch item availability, card progression, and any early live-service tuning EA applies after the full reveal. The NHL 27 ratings already show where the elite names sit. The next question is how expensive, accessible, and mode-defining those names become once players can build around them.