Draisaitl of Oilers wins Hart Trophy as NHL MVP

Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers won the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player in the NHL on Monday.

"It's a big deal for me," Draisaitl said. "You know, at the same time, I know that there's so many people that have helped me get to this point, and there's so many people that I have to thank, you know, family, friends, coaching staff, they trust in me, my teammates, most importantly, the fans. There are so many people that, you know, play such a big role in this and they don't get much recognition, so just from my side, it's a huge thank you to all those people."
Draisaitl also won the Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player in voting by the NHL Players' Association after he led the League with 110 points (43 goals, 67 assists) and in points per game (1.55), assists, and power-play points (44). He was first among forwards in ice time per game (22:37), tied with Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak for first in game-winning goals (10), and was second in even-strength points (66) and power-play goals (16). Draisaitl had 33 multipoint games and scored at least one point in 56 of 71 games.
"Obviously, I found some chemistry with Kailer Yamamoto] and [Ryan Nugent-Hopkins]*
He is the first Germany-born player to win the Hart Trophy.
"It's a big honor," Draisaitl said. "Our hockey's getting much better (in Germany) and we're producing more and more players, so hopefully this will somehow give little kids maybe some more joy of playing hockey and starting hockey instead of other sports. If I can help with that in any way, then I'd love to do that."
Draisaitl is the fourth Oilers player to win the Hart. Connor McDavid won it in 2016-17, Mark Messier won it in 1989-90, and Wayne Gretzky won it eight straight seasons, from 1979-87.
Draisaitl finished with 1,309 points, including 91 first-place votes, in voting for the award by the Professional Hockey Writers Assocation before the postseason began.
Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers were the other finalists. MacKinnon finished second with 1,162 points (48 first-place votes), and Panarin had 889 points (24 first-place votes).

MacKinnon was fifth in the NHL with 93 points (35 goals, 58 assists) and third with 62 even-strength points to help the Avalanche finish with the second-best record in the Western Conference (42-20-8, .657) and qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a third straight season. The center was leading the postseason in points (25; nine goals, 16 assists) when Colorado was eliminated by the Dallas Stars in seven games in the Western Conference Second Round. MacKinnon won the Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct) on Sept. 11.
Panarin tied for third in the League with NHL career highs in goals (32), assists (63) and points (95), and was first in even-strength points (71) and first among forwards in rating (plus-36). The forward helped the Rangers (37-28-5, .564) advance to the Qualifiers, when they lost a best-of-5 series to the Carolina Hurricanes in three games.
MacKinnon and Panarin also were the other finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award.
The 2020 NHL Awards had been scheduled for June 18 in Las Vegas but were postponed March 25 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
2020 Hart Trophy voting (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Leon Draisaitl, F, EDM 1,309 (91-31-26-16-4)
2. Nathan MacKinnon, F, COL 1,162 (48-66-34-15-5)
3. Artemi Panarin, F, NYR 889 (24-41-54-25-17)
4. David Pastrnak, F, BOS 369 (3-12-15-43-51)
5. Connor McDavid, F, EDM 309 (1-7-24-33-31)
6. Connor Hellebuyck, G, WPG 283 (3-13-15-22-21)
7. Roman Josi, D, NSH 29 (0-0-1-6-6)
8. Jack Eichel, F, BUF 14 (0-0-0-2-8)
9. Brad Marchand, F, BOS 12 (0-0-0-3-3)
10. Evgeni Malkin, F, PIT 8 (0-0-0-1-5)
10. Auston Matthews, F, TOR 8 (0-0-0-1-5)
12. John Carlson, D, WSH 7 (0-0-1-0-2)
13. Nikita Kucherov, F, TBL 6 (0-0-0-1-3)
13. Alex Ovechkin, F, WSH 6 (0-0-0-1-3)
15. Jacob Markstrom, G, VAN 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
16. Elias Pettersson, F, VAN 3 (0-0-0-0-3)
17. Tristan Jarry, G, PIT 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
17. Patrick Kane, F, CHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
17. J.T. Miller, F, VAN 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika contributed to this report