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Wild Stat Shows Just How Dominant NHL's Western Conference Is

This season has been chaos and brilliance, but the quietest twist might be the most telling: the Art Ross race has tilted almost entirely westward, with 14 of the top 15 scorers coming from one conference.
Samuel Len|
Dec 11, 2025; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque (22) and Minnesota Wild defenseman Daemon Hunt (48) collide in the second period at Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
Dec 11, 2025; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque (22) and Minnesota Wild defenseman Daemon Hunt (48) collide in the second period at Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images | Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

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The 2025-26 NHL season has already given fans the kind of chaos, scoring surges, and jaw-dropping talent that make every night feel like a mini playoff round. The scoring race has been just as dramatic as the standings, with young stars ascending and finally scratching the surface of what they might become.

At the center of it all are Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard, sitting tied with each other inside the top five in scoring at just 20 and 19 years old. Along with Leo Carlsson, the league hasn’t seen this many teenagers and early-20s players producing at this level in years.

San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini
Dec 7, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (71) watches the play against the Carolina Hurricanes during the third period at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images | James Guillory-Imagn Images

And they’re not padding stats in quiet corners of the league — they’re going toe-to-toe with two already all-time greats still in their prime. Nathan MacKinnon leads the league with 53 points, with Connor McDavid five behind in second place, making this year’s chase feel like a heavyweight bout.

But if you look a little closer at the scoring standings — specifically the top 15 — you’ll notice something wild. Something that many will miss and havent noticed yet.

14 of the NHL’s Top 15 Scorers Play in the West

Yes, you read that correctly.

Fourteen of the 15 highest-scoring players in the entire NHL are from the Western Conference. The only one from the East? The defending back-to-back Art Ross winner, Nikita Kucherov.

Here’s the full list (with goals, assists, points):

1 — Nathan MacKinnon (COL): 31G, 25A, 53P
2 — Connor McDavid (EDM): 16G, 32A, 48P
T-3 — Connor Bedard (CHI): 19G, 25A, 44P
T-3 — Macklin Celebrini (SJS): 15G, 29A, 44P
5 — Martin Necas (COL): 14G, 29A, 43P
6 — Mikko Rantanen (DAL): 13G, 29A, 42P
T-7 — Jason Robertson (DAL): 20G, 20A, 40P
T-7 — Leon Draisaitl (EDM): 17G, 23A, 40P
T-7 — Nikita Kucherov (TBL): 13G, 27A, 40P
T-7 — Jack Eichel (VGK): 12G, 28A, 40P
11 — Leo Carlsson (ANA): 17G, 22A, 39P
T-12 — Mark Scheifele (WPG): 16G, 22A, 38P
T-12 — Kyle Connor (WPG): 15G, 23A, 38P
T-14 — Wyatt Johnston (DAL): 16G, 21A, 37P
T-14 — Cale Makar (COL): 10G, 27A, 37P

It’s no coincidence that three of the league’s top five teams come from the Central Division: the league-leading Avalanche, the versatile second-place Stars, and the red-hot Minnesota Wild, who are tied for fifth. The Wild don’t have a player in the top 15, but with Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov hovering in the top 20, they’re getting star-level production from their best players.

Is There a Pattern Emerging?

This trend mirrors something I wrote recently about Tampa Bay being the only team in the Atlantic Division with a positive goal differential — and now they’re the only Eastern Conference team with a top-15 scorer. Strange how that works, but it raises a real question: is there a correlation between high-end elites and division performance?

The Western Conference appears to have more of the league’s true superstar firepower this season, while the Eastern Conference is more tightly packed, more competitive, and more chaotic. In the East, no team is running away with anything, and every point has felt like it’s earned in overtime.

Whether it’s a fluke, a developing trend, or the start of a multi-year shift in NHL power, the numbers are impossible to ignore. The West is loaded with top-end talent pacing the league. The East is grinding out one-goal games night after night. And somewhere in the middle, the scoring race might end up revealing more than just who wins the Art Ross.

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Sam Len
SAMUEL LEN

Sam Len is a content editor, writer, and digital strategist with a lifelong passion for hockey. Growing up just north of Toronto, the game was never just background noise—it was part of everyday life. The Pittsburgh Penguins were the first team that captured his imagination, and he still remembers watching Sidney Crosby’s Golden Goal at the 2010 Olympics like it was yesterday. Over time, his love for the sport expanded to include the Tampa Bay Lightning, blending his appreciation for classic grit with modern speed and skill. Between 2024 and 2025, Sam worked as a content editor at Covers, where he helped shape sports and gaming content for top-tier brands including DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Bet99. He’s also written for Bolts by the Bay and Pro Football Network, covering everything from Tampa Bay Lightning analysis to trending stories across the NHL, NFL, and NBA.

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