The NHL has announced the three 2025-26 Hart Trophy finalists. The Hart Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the league’s most valuable player from the regular season. The finalists for this year’s award are Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Nikita Kucherov. These truly are the who’s who of NHL superstars from the game today. Let’s find out why they are deserving of this honour.
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McDavid, Kucherov, MacKinnon the 3 Hart Trophy Finalists for ’26
These three players are all very deserving of this prestigious honour. Let’s chat about why each of the three of them deserves to be in this position. One clear point to make is the percentage of team goals these players were involved in. Let’s check out some statistics.
Hart Trophy finalists: Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 8, 2026
- McDavid – 138 – Edm – 282 (6th)
- Kucherov – 130 – TBL – 286 (4th)
- MacKinnon – 127 – Col – 298 (1st)
- Celebrini – 115 – SJS – 249 (17th)
Above is the top-four leading scorers from the 2025-26 regular season, along with their teams’ total goals scored. Below, we are simply converting those numbers to a percentage.
- McDavid – 48.9%
- Kucherov – 45.5%
- MacKinnon – 42.6%
- Celebrini – 46.2%
To help the explain why these high percentages exist, we have to consider something. Next, is the second-best scorers on teams and the gap between the leaders.
- Leon Draisaitl – 97 – (41)
- Jake Guentzel – 88 – (42)
- Martin Necas – 100 – (27)
- Will Smith – 59 – (56)
In any sense, it is quite remarkable how similar each of the three 2025-26 Hart Trophy finalists stats are from these perspectives shown above. One explanation might be something like Aleksander Barkov‘s injury, and that inability to put himself in the conversation between the offensive guys. These offensive stars are all very similar in their statistical impact to their respective teams’ success. It is quite remarkable really, and difficult to ignore Celebrini’s case for inclusion.
Celebrini’s next closest teammate was Will Smith with only 59 points. Furthermore, he almost singlehandedly willed his team to a Stanley Cup Playoff appearance. In the end, the Sharks not making it, maybe was a reason Celebrini wasn’t a finalist.
In terms of most-valuable to your team, MacKinnon’s impact is probably the lowest of the three Hart Trophy finalists. It is no fault of his own, but Colorado is a very well built team. The connection between Necas and MacKinnon is a big part of MacKinnon’s success. When it comes to final MVP voting, the fact that Colorado would be a strong team without MacKinnon, might end up hurting his case. Additionally, MacKinnon should get a boost for his team capturing the Presidents’ Trophy in 2025-26.
McDavid’s Case as the 2025-26 NHL MVP
McDavid’s case is boosted by his pure scoring dominance. His 138 points is in the territory few players have ever reached. Moreover, it is the 30th most points ever, tying with former Oiler and defenceman Paul Coffey. Only 14 different (including McDavid) players have ever had more in a single season. That includes McDavid’s career-best 153 points from the memorable 2022-23. He also seemed to put his Oilers on his back and make sure they qualified for the playoffs. This is a point really noticeable in the result of their first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks. You could see that McDavid didn’t have a perfect team built around him.
Don’t Forget the Hart Trophy Finalist from Tampa
Finally, what about Nikita Kucherov? He is likely the best playmaker in the league. In addition, he can still set up on the one-timer on the power play and you would put him up against many shooters from around the NHL. Similar to this season, he often has a large gap between himself and second on his team in scoring. That just speaks to his ability to increase his team’s total offensive output, singlehandedly. The fact that he helped his team get back to Atlantic Division powers, should not be lost on voters.
So, we think all three, Kucherov, McDavid, and MacKinnon are worthy candidates. We probably give McDavid a slight edge, with MacKinnon ultimately looking like the third-place guy. However, we did want readers to recognize that Celebrini needs to be in the same conversation based on his results. Whoever wins, we see a similar style seemingly preferred and also, a very worthy winner.
Main Photo Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
