NHL reveals Oilers star Connor McDavid’s final 2026 Hart Trophy voting result

The biggest of all the NHL awards has officially been handed out, as Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. The Hart Trophy race was a very close three-horse battle between Kucherov, Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid, and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon. In the end, the Lightning star won in one of the closest votes in NHL history. Kucherov won the Hart with 1,436 total voting points, while McDavid finished right behind him at 1,426.

MacKinnon amassed plenty of support himself, finishing with 1,297, per results shared by Frank Seravalli. In terms of first-place votes, it was also a razor-thin margin between the three best players in hockey this season. Kucherov garnered 72 winning votes, while McDavid finished with 68, and MacKinnon finished with 52. McDavid, MacKinnon, and Kucherov were the three leading point-scorers in the NHL this season, so it didn’t come as a surprise to see them lapping the field in terms of voting for this award.

McDavid led the way with 138, while Kucherov got to 130 and MacKinnon finished third at 127. McDavid’s argument for the award comes from anchoring the best power play in hockey and carrying an unmatched offensive load on an Oilers team that doesn’t have a lot of depth behind him.

While that lack of depth cost the Oilers a chance at a Stanley Cup once again, it also shows the value that McDavid had to his team this season. MacKinnon was the league’s leading goal-scorer and also led the league in plus-minus on an Avalanche team that won the Presidents’ Trophy and was the best team in hockey during the regular season. Kucherov was a bit of the best of both worlds, and that was good enough to get him the very slight nod in the end. Of course, McDavid already has three Hart Trophies on his mantle, so he won’t be too worried about losing out on a fourth one here.

Instead, he is locked in on trying to get this Oilers team back to the Stanley Cup Final after a first-round exit this spring.