The Oldest NHL Player in 2026-27, and the Youngest

The oldest NHL player this season is Brent Burns, the Colorado Avalanche defenceman, who turned 41 in March. He is one of three players born in 1985 still on an NHL roster, and 23 years older than the youngest.

We pulled the birth date of every player on all 32 rosters for 2026-27. Here is how the age range actually looks.

The oldest NHL player question usually gets answered with a name and nothing else. The interesting part is the shape around it.

The oldest NHL player, and the nine behind him

Ages are as at opening night, 29 September 2026. Three of the ten are Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pittsburgh have three of the ten oldest

Malkin, Letang and Crosby are all still in Pittsburgh. All three are in the league’s ten oldest players. No other club has more than two, and Los Angeles are the only other team with even that, through Corey Perry and Mats Zuccarello.

They have been teammates since 2006. Crosby went first overall in 2005. Malkin went second in 2004, Letang in the third round the same year. Twenty seasons later all three are on the same roster, and no other trio in the modern game has managed it.

The youngest players in the NHL

A caveat worth stating. Being listed on a roster is not the same as playing, and several of these names are prospects who may spend the season in junior or the AHL. The one certain to play is Gavin McKenna, the first overall pick, who signed a three-year entry-level contract with Toronto in July. Our look at what to expect from him is on our Gavin McKenna stats page.

A 23-year spread

Brent Burns was born in March 1985. Nikita Klepov was born in June 2008. Burns had played more than 300 NHL games before Klepov was born, which is the kind of fact that makes the oldest NHL player question worth asking in the first place.

Three players born in 1985 are still on rosters. All three are skaters. None is a goaltender.

Goaltenders do not actually last longest

The received wisdom is that goaltenders play into their forties while skaters break down. This season says otherwise.

The oldest goaltender in the league is Cam Talbot at 39, sixth on the list. The three oldest players are two forwards and a defenceman. Sergei Bobrovsky, at 38, just signed a three-year contract that runs to 41, so the pattern may reassert itself. For now the skaters are outlasting the netminders.

Brent Burns is the more remarkable case. Defencemen are supposed to go first, because the position punishes skating and the minutes are heavy. He is the oldest player in the NHL and still playing top-four minutes in Colorado.

Ovechkin is the one to watch

Of the three 41-year-olds, Alex Ovechkin is the one with something left to chase. He came back on a one-year deal for a 22nd season. He sits ten goals short of Wayne Gretzky’s combined regular season and playoff total. We track it on our Ovechkin goals tracker.

That is the other thing the oldest NHL player list hides. Two of the top three are not hanging on. They are still producing.

Ages are as at opening night, 29 September 2026, from the birth dates listed on all 32 NHL rosters.