Trophy Tracker: Kucherov of Lightning choice for Hart as NHL MVP

To mark the end of the 2025-26 regular season, NHL.com is running its fifth and final installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Hart Trophy, awarded annually to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team as selected in a vote by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Jon Cooper went there, right to the very definition of the award, to provide the why for Nikita Kucherov and the Hart Trophy.

"There are some fabulous players in this league, but for how valuable he is to the team...and he's pretty darn important to us," said Cooper, the Tampa Bay Lightning coach. "Could you make a case for a bunch of guys? Yes, but I think it's pretty evident that 'Kuch' has made a name for himself this year that he should be the guy."

He is according to a vote of 16 NHL.com staff members, and it can be categorized as a landslide given the competition.

Kucherov is the favorite to win the Hart Trophy this season after receiving 10 of 16 first-place votes and 72 total voting points from the NHL.com staff.

The "bunch of guys" that Cooper referenced all finished bunched up behind Kucherov.

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon had 52 voting points but got only one first-place vote. Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid got four first-place votes and 48 voting points.

McDavid, by the way, won the Art Ross Trophy as the League's leading scorer with 138 points, eight more than Kucherov, who finished second. McDavid played six more games than Kucherov.

San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini got one first-place vote and 46 points.

Had the Sharks made the Stanley Cup Playoffs, maybe Celebrini would have gotten more first-place votes to get closer to Kucherov, but even that wouldn't have been enough to edge the Lightning's star right wing.

It's a big change from the voting done at the three-quarter mark of the season. At that point, Kucherov and MacKinnon were tied for the top spot, each with 59 voting points. Kucherov edged MacKinnon because he got six first-place votes and the Colorado star got three.

"For me he's the MVP," Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak said. "He's the best player."

But this isn't an award given just to the best player; it's given to the player most valuable to his team.

Kucherov's value was obvious this season by sheer numbers alone.

He averaged an NHL-best 1.71 points per game, finishing with 130 points (44 goals, 86 assists) in 76 games. He had 42 more points than his next closest teammate; Jake Guentzel with 88 points in 81 games.

Kucherov was a plus-43.

But the stat that might be the most telling is this:

Kucherov had 27 points (six goals, 21 assists) in 14 games in which the Lightning did not have center Brayden Point and defenseman Victor Hedman in the lineup.

Point is their No. 1 center. Hedman is their No. 1 defenseman.

Tampa Bay went 10-3-1 in those games. It finished second in the Atlantic Division with 106 points, one of five teams with 50 wins, including 42 in the 60 games Kucherov had at least one point (42-13-5) compared to 6-10-0 when he was held off the score sheet and 2-3-1 in the six games he missed.

The numbers are the evidence. Kucherov's play dictates the story.

Most valuable to his team.

"What he's doing out there on the ice is unbelievable," Cernak said.

Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1-basis): Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning, 72 points (10 first-place votes); Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche, 52 (1); Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers, 48 (4); Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks, 46 (1); David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins, 11; Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets, 4; Cole Caufield, Montreal Canadiens, 3; Nick Suzuki Montreal Canadiens, 3; Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders, 1