Lightning star Nikita Kucherov wins MVP trophy over Connor McDavid in closest vote in 24 years
Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon all had incredible seasons, but the voters liked Kucherov the most, apparently.
The Tampa Bay Lightning star was named the 2025-26 winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy given to the NHL’s MVP on Thursday, beating out the other two finalists in the tightest race in more than two decades.
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It’s Kucherov’s second time winning the award, having previously taken it in 2018-19.
Per the official voting table, Kucherov received 1,436 points and 72 first place votes, just beating out McDavid’s 1,426 points and 68 first-place votes. MacKinnon wasn’t far off at 1,297 and 52.
That’s the closest vote since José Théodore and Jarome Iginla tied on points in 2001-02. Théodore received the trophy by receiving three more first-place votes. This is also the first time in the 30-year history of the current voting system that three players each received at least a quarter of all first-place votes.
In fourth place was San Jose Sharks phenom Macklin Celebrini. At 19 years old, we can probably expect him to compete for many more awards in the future. Canadiens center Nick Suzuki was the only other player to get a first-place vote (one, in his case).
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With 44 goals and 86 assists, Kucherov led the Lightning to a 50-26-6 record. Unfortunately, he couldn’t prevent a fourth-straight first-round exit, this time losing to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games. Kucherov posted one goal and five assists in that series, but didn’t record a point in the final three games.
In addition to Kucherov’s Hart win, the Lightning also had Andrei Vasilevskiy win the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender and Jon Cooper win the Jack Adams Award for best coach.
