The EA Sports NHL video game series that has cost me countless dollars in college dorm room bets has slowly been releasing their 2017 player ratings for the past few weeks. The Capitals have made out pretty well after their 2015-16 President’s Trophy-winning season as they are tied with the Chicago Blackhawks with the most players rated in the top 50 with five.

Alex Ovechkin, 94 Rating

As you would expect, Alex Ovechkin remains at the top spot when it comes to left wingers at a 94 overall (tied with Jamie Benn) and is the second highest rated player in the game, sharing that distinction with seven other players.

The top 10 highest rated players:

1. SIDNEY CROSBY (95)
2. JAMIE BENN (94)
3. PATRICK KANE (94)
4. DREW DOUGHTY (94)
5. ALEX OVECHKIN (94)
6. JONATHAN TOEWS (94)
7. SHEA WEBER (94) (lol)
8. STEVEN STAMKOS (94)
9. CAREY PRICE (94)
10. ANZE KOPITAR (93)

Braden Holtby, 92 Rating

Following an outstanding, Vezina Trophy-winning season, Braden Holtby was awarded a 92 overall rating, making him the third best goaltender in the game and the 18th best overall player in the game. Braden checks in behind Jonathan Quick, which is wrong and Carey Price, which is right.

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Top 10 goaltenders:

1. CAREY PRICE (93)
2. JONATHAN QUICK (93)
3. BRADEN HOLTBY (92)
4. HENRIK LUNDQVIST (92)
5. CORY SCHNIEDER (91)
6. PEKKA RINNE (91)
7. COREY CRAWFORD (90)
8. MARC-ANDRE FLEURY (90)
9. TUUKKA RASK (89)
10. BEN BISHOP (89)

Nicklas Backstrom, 91 Rating

Ovechkin’s Swedish running mate Nicklas Backstrom cracks the top 10 center list that he somehow missed out on in last year’s game, coming in at a 91 overall, behind Tyler Seguin and just in front of Claude Giroux. He’s rated at the same overall as someone like Ryan Getzlaf, which I disagree with, but EA isn’t as wrong as they were last year with Nicklas #improvement.

Top 10 centers:

1. SIDNEY CROSBY (95)
2. JONATHAN TOEWS (94)
3. STEVEN STAMKOS (94)
4. ANZE KOPITAR (93)
5. JOHN TAVARES (93)
6. EVGENI MALKIN (93)
7. TYLER SEGUIN (92)
8. RYAN GETZLAF (91)
9. NICKLAS BACKSTROM (91)
10. CLAUDE GIROUX (91)

John Carlson, 89 Rating

Capitals number one defenseman John Carlson also joins his star teammates in the top 50 as the 19th best defenseman in the game at 89 overall and this is the one Caps player rating that I have no problem with, so I don’t have a joke for this one.

Top 10 defensemen:

1. DREW DOUGHTY (94)
2. SHEA WEBER (94)
3. DUNCAN KEITH (93)
4. RYAN SUTER (93)
5. ERIK KARLSSON (92)
6. BRENT BURNS (92)
7. VICTOR HEDMAN (91)
8. MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC (91)
9. PK SUBBAN (91)
10. DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN (91)

Evgeny Kuznetsov, 89 Rating

The last notable Capitals player that cracked the top 50 is Evgeny Kuznetsov, who after a breakout season is the 13th best rated center in the game at an 89 overall. Kuzy’s puck skills are easily going to be some of the best in the entire game as we witnessed his immense skill throughout all of last season and as we know by rule, puck don’t lie.

The full game is out on September 13th. What’s everyone think about the released ratings so far?