Nikita Kucherov is your 2025-26 Hart Trophy winner. He edged out Connor McDavid by 10 points to take home his first win since the 2019 season. As per Sportsnet Stats, “This is the closest Hart Trophy vote since 2001-02 when Jose Theodore tied Jarome Iginla on points.”
With 1436 to McDavid’s 1426 points, Kucherov’s 130 points – 42 points more than his closest teammate – was enough to take hom the award. He became the third player to go seven-plus years between Hart Trophy wins, joining Jean Beliveau (8 years) and Sidney Crosby (7 years).
Nathan MacKinnon came in third, Macklin Celebrini in fourth, and Nick Suzuki rounded out the top five. While MacKinnon got a ton votes, it was a two-horse race. This marked the first time under the current system that all three finalists received at least 25% of first-place votes.
How Close Was It Between Kucherov and McDavid?
The numbers between Kucherov and McDavid were so close, it’s no surprise that the voting was close as well.
Points-Per-Game: Kucherov: 1.71 McDavid: 1.68 MacKinnon: 1.59
Gap Between Next Highest Scorer: Kucherov-Guentzel: 42 McDavid-Draisaitl: 41 MacKinnon-Necas: 27
Game-Winning-Goals: Kucherov: 8 MacKinnon: 7 McDavid: 4
Individual Point Percentage (% of goals for the team that they earned a point on): Kucherov: 80.75% McDavid: 80.50% MacKinnon: 75.15%
*Thanks to @BoltsBreakDown for those numbers
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