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Connor McDavidNHL

Connor McDavid becomes first player to join the "99 Club" in EA Sports NHL 27 video game

By Bowstone Staff

EA Sports gave Connor McDavid a 99 overall rating in NHL 27, making him the first player in the franchise's history to reach that mark.

McDavid sits 1st of 4 NHL players by BX Overall on Bowstone's platform, with a composite score of 29.25 as of August 15, down 0.32 points from the prior week. He ranks 11th of 77 players by BX Overall across all tracked players. His AI Visibility score stands at 48.89, with 13 AI mentions recorded in the most recent run.

The 99 rating is a marketing event as much as a game mechanic. EA Sports doesn't hand out perfect scores casually, and the announcement functions as a co-branding moment that amplifies McDavid's visibility heading into a new NHL season. The slight dip in BX Overall this week suggests the boost from the announcement hadn't yet registered in the August 15 measurement window. It's worth watching whether the next tracking cycle shows a correction upward.

For brands assessing NHL sponsorship value, McDavid's position at the top of the league on Bowstone's composite reflects sustained AI model recognition that predates the NHL 27 news. The 99 Club designation adds a culturally legible shorthand that tends to travel well beyond hockey audiences.

Per EA Sports NHL on X.

Bowstone tracks how AI models describe sports brands, measuring what Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini and Perplexity say when asked about teams, leagues and athletes — see the methodology, or browse every tracked entity.

Legend

Methodology →
AI Visibility
Direct ranked model selections, normalized within a published peer group.
Social Presence
Comparable social reach and movement, normalized 0–100.
BX Overall
The Bowstone Index combining eligible AI and social signals.
Peer rank
Position within the stated measured cohort and metric.
Provider positions
Question-specific stored selections, not overall provider rankings.
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