The Professional Hockey Writers Association, will announce the winner of the Hart Trophy award, given yearly to the NHL player voted most valuable to his team at a later date. Right now, Kucherov, McDavid, and MacKinnon are finalists.
Kucherov led the league with 144 points (44 goals, 100 assists) in 81 matches, the highest point total of his NHL career and the most in Tampa Bay Lightning history. This surpasses the 128 points (41 goals and 87 assists) he had in 2018-19. The forward won the Art Ross Trophy, awarded to the player with the most points in an NHL season. He won the Hart Trophy in 2018-19.
McDavid and Kucherov were the first players to have 100 assists in a season since Wayne Gretzky’s 122 for the Los Angeles Kings in 1990-91. His 53 power-player points (13 goals, 40 assists) also lead the NHL.
MacKinnon was second with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) in 82 matches. In addition to leading the Colorado Avalanche in goals, assists and points, his goals were fourth in the league and his 48 power-play points (10 goals, 38 assists) were second to Kucherov. It was the second time in MacKinnon’s NHL career and second straight season with at least 100 points after he had 111 (42 goals, 69 assists) last season.
The 28-year-old center led the league with 405 shots on goal and had a home point streak of 35 matches (77 points, 29 goals, 48 assists) to begin the season. This is the second longest in NHL history behind Gretzky, who had a 40-game run for the Kings in 1988-89.
“It’s the consistency in his preparation,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Tuesday. “Takes care of his game first. But there’s no question that his leadership has evolved over the eight years that I’ve been with him. I think when you get your game to a spot that you feel comfortable with as a young player and then understand how important winning is and what it takes to get there, then you start trying to help everyone else around you. He’s certainly done that. He’s branched out and evolved as a leader of our team. Some of the things are still very consistent, the way he leads by example, the way he prepares himself and helps prepare our team for our opponents. Those parts of his DNA have always been there, but there’s no question that he’s got a bigger-picture outlook on the game now than he did when I first came.”
McDavid was third with 132 points (32 goals, 100 assists) in 76 matches. It was the fourth straight season the Edmonton Oilers captain scored at least 100 points, and the seventh time in his nine NHL seasons. He had 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his first 11 matches, which had him tied for 107th in scoring. But McDavid had 122 (30 goals, 92 assists) in his final 65, an average of 1.88 points per game.
The 27-year-old center is contesting to win the Hart Trophy for the second straight season and the fourth time since joining the NHL for the 2015-16 season. He also won the trophy in 2016-17 and 2020-21.
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