Connor McDavid becomes the first NHL player rated 99 in EA Sports’ NHL 27

EA Sports’ NHL 27 player ratings are out, and the marquee change is historical. According to Yahoo Sports’ report on the ratings release, Connor McDavid has earned the game’s first 99 overall rating, making him the first player in NHL video game history to reach the “99 Club.” The announcement positions McDavid as the face of the league not only in real-world play, but also in how EA measures elite performance inside its franchise mode and roster files.

For Oilers fans, it is a familiar kind of recognition, tied to McDavid’s long-running status as the NHL’s most dynamic offensive engine. In NHL 27, the 99 rating is portrayed as a first-of-its-kind marker, implying a ceiling that has not previously been reached by any player in the game’s rating history. If that framing holds across the full ratings list, it also suggests EA treated this release as an exception, rather than another incremental step in overall rankings.

EA Sports’ rating releases typically cover every skater and goaltender with an overall number that functions as a shorthand for in-game attributes such as skill ratings, shot-making, and playmaking, then clusters players into tiers based on those scores. This year’s headline number matters beyond fandom because it becomes a reference point for how quickly careers are evaluated by rating-based games. When a player becomes the first to cross a threshold like 99, it can reshape how others in the same competitive group are perceived, even if their real-world roles and on-ice impact remain the central story.

The “99 Club” label also carries symbolic weight because it represents a specific kind of peak rating, not merely a high overall. By design, rating tiers are often used by players to compare current teams and rosters at a glance, so having one clear standout at the very top changes how an entire franchise lineup might be viewed by players building rosters. For McDavid, it also reinforces an image that stretches across multiple seasons: the idea that Edmonton’s star is not just among the league’s best players, but the benchmark.

Still, it is important to keep expectations in perspective. Video game ratings do not map perfectly to hockey analysis, and they do not substitute for the on-ice context that determines awards, playoff success, and team performance. EA Sports’ scoring is a mix of its rating model and selected attribute calibrations, and the numbers are best understood as an entertainment metric rather than a definitive ranking of real-world talent.

What to watch next is how the rest of NHL 27 handles the “99 Club” gap. Once McDavid is placed as the first 99, questions follow naturally: how close the next-highest players are, whether there are multiple stars clustered near the top, and how EA adjusts ratings for the rest of the Oilers and league-wide contenders. Those answers will determine whether the 99 number is a one-player outlier or the start of a new top-end trend in future releases.

For now, the headline is straightforward and newsworthy for both hockey and gaming communities. As NHL 27 launches its player ratings, McDavid is the first player to earn a 99 overall rating in the game’s history, turning Edmonton’s star into the game’s most elevated roster figure and setting a new bar for everyone else who follows.