Lyons' Look: Who are the top 10 American NHL Players all-time?

As America gets ready to celebrate her 250th year since declaring independence, now is as good of a time as any to take a look at the greatest American NHLers ever.

To this point, the league has seen around 1,000 Americans take NHL ice. With over 1,000 American players all time you have to wonder, who are the top 10 greatest ever?

Before I start, I want to note that I only considered retired players, with one exception. There are several current players that you could argue are already top 10 but, since these players are all in their primes, I figured it would be best to leave them off.

Honorable mentions

Quickly, let's take a look at the two players who were the hardest to keep off the list.

Jeremy Roenick and Jonathan Quick were the toughest to not include.

Despite being fifth in American scoring, Roenick doesn't have any awards, or a Stanley Cup to get me to put him above anyone else on the list. If he had awards, or a Cup, he probably finds himself close to number one.

For Quick, I can admit, it probably comes down to bias. Quick has the cups, the Conn Smythe, the stats but, he got to play on some of the best teams of the 2010s and even so, he never won a Vezina and only posted 40 wins once.

Of course, at the end of the day, winning the Cup is the only thing that matters. But, when looking all time, I think if you can't even win the Vezina, you can't pass other guys who did.

The Top 10

With the honorable mentions out of the way, it's time for the top 10.

In the 10th spot is Penguins and Sabres legend, Tom Barrasso.

Barrasso came into the league firing on all cylinders. In his rookie season he went 26-12-3 with a .893 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.85 goals against average (GAA). These stats (which were great by the standards of the 1980s) earned him the Calder, the Vezina, an All-Star nod and an All-Rookie Team nod. At the time, only three goalies ever had won the Calder and the Vezina in the same season (Ed Belfour is the most recent to achieve this feat).

Barrasso was consistently an elite goalie, earning four Vezina nominations and three top 10 Hart finishes. But, Barrasso was never a heavy-duty starter, whether it was because of injuries, or tandem duties etc.

Barrasso only started more than 55 games four times in his 19-year career. Because of this, he surpassed 30 wins only twice, with once being 1992-93, when he led the league with 43 wins.

The highlight of Barrasso's career was helping Pittsburgh take home back-to-back cups in 1991 and 1992. Barrasso was key in the Penguins success posting a .919SV% and a 2.60GAA in 1991, while posting a .907SV% and a 2.82GAA in 1992.

Barrasso ended his career second (at the time) on the American all-time wins list with 374 wins.

A lot of people (especially in my generation) seem to sleep on Barrasso and goalies in general, when making these lists. While it is hard to compare a goalie to a skater, they definitely deserve the recognition.

Barrasso was one of the greatest goalies of his era and deserves to be recognized for what he did.

In the No. 9 spot I have the only other goalie on this list, Ryan Miller.

I talked extensively about Miller in my column last week so, I won't say much here.

Miller had a stellar beginning to his career, helping the Sabres to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals and having one of the greatest goalie seasons ever in 2010, winning his only Vezina.

After that, Miller got stuck on middling Sabres, Canucks and Ducks teams, where his wins dropped, but his stats didn't.

He finished his career first (at the time) on the American all-time wins list with 391 wins.

Miller doesn't have the cups, or a plethora of awards, but he did so much with the bad teams he was surrounded with. Outside of 2005-06 and 2006-07, Miller never had a stellar team around him and still, he won a Veznia, became the winningest American goalie ever, almost hit 400 wins, with three shortened/lockout seasons, making him worthy of his spot.

At No. 8 I have someone who has a real case to be first on this list, if not for the fact that he was born in Canada.

Brett Hull, born in Belleville, Ontario, represents America on the international stage, simply because he was cut by Team Canada and, thanks to dual citizenship, got invited to play for Team U.S.A.

It's ridiculous, but every stat list counts him as American, so he gets on.

Despite that Hull is truly a superstar. He won two Stanley Cups (even if one of them shouldn't have counted), was an All-Star three times, won the Hart once, and the Ted Lindsay (The Pearson) once.

Hull is first in goals (by 180), second in points, eighth in assists, doing it in 1,269 games.

Hull is mostly remembered for his time in Dallas, but his best years came with St. Louis. Hull led the league in goals three straight years with 72, 86 and 70. He scored 40 plus goals in eight straight years and would have done it nine straight if not for the 1994-95 lockout.

Hull undoubtedly is one of the best players of all time period, but I have to dock points for being born in Canada.

No. 7 on my list is Pat La-La-La-La-La-LaFontaine.

LaFontaine is an extremely overlooked player in NHL history, simply because he did not have the longevity a lot of the other greats did. LaFontaine is the only American in the top 20 of points who did not play at least 1,000 games.

This lack of games was not due to LaFontaine falling off earlier than others, but because of concussion and other injury issues.

Still, LaFontaine was a one time all-star and a one time Bill Masterton winner. He also finished eight in goals, 11th in points, 19th in assists and still hit over 1,000 points in only 865 games.

Even with the injury issues, LaFontaine was consistent in Hart, and Lady Byng talks.

LaFontaine did as much as he could when he was healthy carving out an amazing career and one worthy of being one of the best Americans off all-time.

Joe Mullen comes in at No. 6 all-time.

Mullen was a huge part in bringing two cups to Pittsburgh and one to Calgary. And even when his team didn't win it all, he was a playoff machine.

Mullen led the playoffs twice in goals, once in Calgary's cup win and once in 1985-86. In the Penguins first cup, he had a +17 rating, which was best in the playoffs. He totaled 60 goals, 46 assists for 106 points over his playoff career, putting him eight among Americans.

To add to that, Mullen was of course a regular season animal. He was a Lady Byng winner twice and a one time all-star and always in the top of the league in the plus/minus category, leading the league with a plus 51 in 1988-89.

Mullen may not have been the most flashy, but he was consistent and good enough to be sixth in goals, eighth in points, 18th in assists in 1,062 games.

Our first defenseman on the list appears at No. 5 with Phil Housley.

Housley is a model offensive defenseman. First in assists, fourth in points, 22nd in goals all in 1,495 games.

Housley made the all-rookie team and finished second in Calder voting with 66 points in his first season. From there he became an average 70-80 point defender, which was hard to do in the dead-puck era.

Despite how good he was, Housley barely missed out on the Norris several times, with four top five finishes.

Fortunately for him, I am only considering players NHL careers for this list and not their coaching careers because if I did, Housley would fall way off this list.

No. 4 brings us to another defenseman in Brian Leetch.

Leetch was similar to Housley in terms of production, but he has the Norris' to show for it. In addition to his two Norris Leetch was a fiver time all-star, a member of the All-Rookie Team, the Calder winner, a cup winner and the Conn Smythe winner.

In his Conn Smythe win Leetch led his team in everything besides goals, which he was second on his team in. He had 11 goals, 23 assists for 34 points and was a +19. It was a legendary run, especially for a defenseman.

Leetch was a huge part of the Rangers' resurgence in the 1990s and without him, they might hold the longest Stanley Cup drought.

His offensive prowess was superb throughout his career, allowing him to finish fourth all-time in assists and 10th all-time in points.

Into the top three we have Mike Modano.

I struggled where to put Modano because, to my surprise, he didn't have the career accolades I always thought he did.

Modano only has a cup (that shouldn't count), an all-rookie nod and one all-star nod. In terms of personal awards, that's it.

You would think he'd rank lower for this but, his stats are beyond insane. 561 goals (second), 813 assists (third) 1374 points (third), in 1,499 games (which should be 1,500 but Mike Babcock happened).

I grew up at the tail end of Modano's career but I remember hearing about him as "the American." And even though I never saw him in his prime, I do remember how dazzling he was even as he got up into his late 30s.

It seemed like every player talked about wanting to be Modano when I watched NHL interviews and I think having that mysticism has to count for something.

No. 2 on my list is the only current active player and for good reason.

Patrick Kane is my generation's Mike Modano. He is "the American" NHL player.

Just this season, Kane became the highest scoring American NHL player and will likely pass Housley for most assists (Kane is two points back).

Kane in his now old age has done everything. He has three cups, he won the Calder, he made the All-Rookie Team, he was a four time all-star, he won the Conn Smythe, he won the Art Ross, the Hart, the Ted Lindsay, I mean, that's practically every award in the book.

Kane also brought a huge personality to a league that lacked (and still does lack) real personalities.

The way Kane moves, the way he plays, he is a bona fide legend.

By the end of his career, he might be the best American-born NHLer, but for now, I think there is one better.

I think Chris Chelios is the greatest American NHL player of all time.

He has the longevity with the ninth most games played ever. He has the points, 13th among Americans, the assists, fifth and of course the awards.

Chelios won three cups, made the All-Rookie Team, won three Norris, was a seven time all-star, took the Messier leadership award and has the most playoff games played ever.

What else is there to say about Chelios?

He is the definition of consistent and of what it means to be a two-way defenseman. Only five seasons in his 26-year career he posted a negative plus/minus. In total, he was a +351, which is insane.

He balanced offense and defense to the standard of Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque and Nicklas Lidström, some of the all-time greats.

Chelios did as much as anyone on this list in one of the hardest NHL eras and he did it for longer than almost anyone.

Chelios is the definition of an American and deserves to be named the best American NHL player ever.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.