Four Veteran NHL Stars Who Are Better Than Ever In 2024-25

A couple of days ago, I took a look at four veteran NHL skaters who have taken their games to new heights through the first two months of the 2024-25 season.

Now, it’s time to take a look at some established stars who have been great in the past and are now putting up numbers that could make this year their best yet.

If we'd done this exercise a couple of weeks ago, Alex Ovechkin would have led the charge. His 15 goals in 18 games didn't just turn up the heat on his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s record — it also projected to 68 goals over a full 82-game season, which would have beat his previous high of 65 from 2007-08.

A shout-out, also, to goalie John Gibson. The 31-year-old has been playing his best hockey in years since coming back from his appendectomy in early November, and his .922 save percentage lines up favorably against his best years, early in his career.

Once again, we’ll stick to strictly skaters on this list.

Mitch Marner, RW, Toronto Maple Leafs

Aaah, the contract-year performance bump.

As the days tick away toward Marner’s opportunity to test the free-agent market on July 1, his performance during Auston Matthews’ recent injury absence has once again endeared him to the mercurial fans in the Queen City.

Now with 600 games under his belt, Marner has nine goals and 33 points in 24 games this season. That puts him on pace for a career-high 112 points this season — all the more impressive since Job 1 for the Toronto Maple Leafs under Craig Berube is to deliver strong defensive play.

The 2023 Selke finalist isn’t shirking there either. According to naturalstattrick.com, Marner is controlling 56.21 percent of expected goals at 5-on-5, slightly better than his 2023-23 mark of 55.22 percent.

Bottom line: Marner is back, and the Leafs fans love him again. But how he does in the playoffs will matter the most.

Related: NHL Breakout Stars: These Four Players Are Exceeding Expectations In 2024-25

Anze Kopitar, C, Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings captain has a Hall of Fame-worthy resume that includes two Stanley Cups, two Selke Trophies and two Lady Byngs. His 1,240 points in 1,398 games also rank him fifth among active NHL players, behind only Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin and Patrick Kane.

After peaking at 35 goals and 92 points when he was named a Hart Trophy finalist in 2017-18, Kopitar’s production backslid a bit as he moved deeper into his 30s, settling in at 20-something goals and 70-some points a year.

This season, Kopitar seems to have sipped from the same fountain of youth that’s keeping Ovechkin hydrated. With 29 points in 25 games, he’ll hit a career best of 95 if he can keep this up.

His ice time is down slightly, but he’s still playing over 19 minutes a game. His faceoff rate of 58.1 percent is the best of his career. And, like Marner, his two-way play is once again impeccable, with an expected goals share of 54.95 percent.

Even as they remake their roster, the Kings still go as far as Kopitar takes them. At 37, that’s into the upper reaches of the Pacific Division.

Matt Duchene, C, Dallas Stars

Duchene has never won a Stanley Cup and hasn’t been a finalist for a major award since he finished third in Calder voting in 2010. But the 33-year-old entered the NHL as a third-overall draft pick, has a crateful of hardware from international tournaments including 2014 Olympic gold, and hit career highs of 43 goals and 86 points in 2021-22, just one year before he was bought out by the Nashville Predators.

His first season in Dallas was successful, with 25 goals and 65 points and a trip to the Western Conference final. This year, Duchene has stepped it up another notch and taken on a more vocal leadership role.

His 12 goals and 28 points in 24 games lead the Stars and have him on pace to eclipse 90 for the first time in his career. On a second-straight one-year deal at $3 million in Dallas, Duchene is shaping up to be the new Joe Pavelski, with a late-career star turn in the Lone Star State.

Related: Three NHL Teams That Aren't In A Playoff Spot But Can Still Make It

Zach Werenski, D, Columbus Blue Jackets

It’s been a minute since Werenski and Seth Jones were regarded as one of the NHL’s top up-and-coming defense pairs as they helped disrupt the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup aspirations in 2019.

Jones, of course, is now in his fourth season in Chicago. Werenski stuck around, and with Dean Evason now behind the bench, the Columbus Blue Jackets are starting to get tongues wagging as a surprise team this season.

Just two points out of a wild-card spot, the Blue Jackets are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. And while newcomer Sean Monahan has helped steady the ship up front, Werenski’s play has been a major catalyst for the team’s success.

The 27-year-old has always logged big minutes. This year, he’s leading the league at 25:59 a game, the most he has every played. And while Werenski hit a new high with 57 points last season, he’s now looking to leave that number in the dust.

He leads his team with 26 points in 23 games and is on pace for 28 goals while also controlling a solid 52.51 percent of expected goals. That's especially impressive on a team that finished 29th overall with a minus-63 goal differential just last year.

An afterthought when the season began, Werenski could very well hear his name called at Team USA’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster announcement on Wednesday.

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