The 2023-24 NHL season begins Oct. 10 with a tripleheader on ESPN. To celebrate the start of the season, NHL.com writers and editors are debating who they think will win some of the League’s major awards. Today, the Hart Trophy, which is given annually "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers Association in all NHL cities at the end of the regular season.
Though it’s been 30 years since a Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup, the Hart Trophy has found a home north of the border. A player on a Canada-based team has won the trophy the past four seasons, with Connor McDavid (twice) and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers winning it a total of three times over the past four seasons and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs winning it two seasons ago.
Will that trend continue this season? Will it even leave Edmonton?
Here is who our writers picked:
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid is on his team, but Draisaitl doesn’t play second fiddle to anyone in the NHL. He’s too good. He’s that good. He has been for a long time, and he’s motivated to be the best this season. McDavid, said so himself in the playoffs last season, that Draisaitl is “the best player in the world on a lot of nights.” Those words hold weight and will sway voters to pay even closer attention to Draisaitl than they already do. He is 100 percent right that Draisaitl is the best player in the world on many nights. McDavid is too. They each will be in the running for the Hart Trophy again this season, but I’m giving it to Draisaitl. He won it in 2019-20, the season that got cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he led the NHL with 110 points in 71 games. Draisaitl is second to McDavid in the NHL with 537 points (231 goals, 306 games) in 369 games since 2018-19. There’s no question that McDavid will put up his big numbers this season and be a favorite for this award, but Draisaitl’s complete game, leadership and drive to make the Oilers the best will be rewarded. McDavid himself will drive that narrative for his teammate. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer
Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils
Look, McDavid is the easy choice to win the Hart for me. He’s the best player on his team, he’s the best player in the NHL, he’s the best player on the planet. Who’s No. 2? Draisaitl of the Oilers, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins are all worthy picks, but my choice here is Hughes, especially the way his game is ascending. He’s reaching superstar status, if he hasn’t already, as evidenced by the fact he finished just one point shy of the century mark last season with 99 points (43 goals, 56 assists) in 78 games. And he’s still just 22 years old. Now he enters the 2023-24 season on a Devils team that has added Tyler Toffoli and has Timo Meier for a full season and beyond, each of whom should help spike Hughes’ point total, especially on the power play. Hughes finished eighth in Hart voting last season; there are legitimate reasons to believe he’s poised to rocket up that list. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
In the past six seasons, MacKinnon has finished top four in the Hart voting four times (he was also sixth once), including being a finalist three times from 2017-21. He has been runner-up twice but never won the award and if anyone is going to take the mantle away from McDavid this season, it would be MacKinnon. If he remains healthy, the Avalanche center is one of the best players in the League. He had NHL career highs in goals (42), assists (69) and points (111) in 71 games last season. Since the 2017-18 season, his 553 points trail only McDavid (702) and Draisaitl (607), and he is averaging well over a point per game (1.35). Playing another season without teammate Gabriel Landeskog, who is recovering from a cartilage transplant in his right knee, could mean even more responsibility for MacKinnon. If he scores 120-plus points, the Hart could be within reach. -- David Satriano, staff writer
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
My selection for the Hart Trophy? Yeah, it’s pretty simple, isn’t it? He’s the best player in the world, keeps hitting new heights when it comes to production, and I won’t be surprised if he does it again this season. McDavid just continues to wow us and watching him is always riveting. He finished with 153 points (64 goals, 89 assists) last season. He's had more than 100 points six of his past seven seasons and was pretty close in doing it in 2019-20, too, when he finished with 97 in 64 games. He's won the Hart Trophy two of the past three seasons (2020-21 and 2022-23). Yes, I know, the season hasn’t begun yet, but in a world where there are very few sure bets, I’m feeling good betting on McDavid adding another Hart to his trophy case. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer
Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks look like a team that could take a big jump up the standings this season, and Pettersson will be the driving force getting them there. He had his first 100-point season in 2022-23 with 102 (39 goals, 63 assists) in 80 games, and a look inside the numbers shows he did better after Rick Tocchet took over as coach (1.33 points per game in 36 games) compared to Bruce Boudreau (1.23 in 44 games). Now he'll have a full season in Tocchet's structured system. Pettersson also is in the final season of his contract and understands an elite-level season could land him the kind of contract elite-level players receive. There's motivation for Pettersson on a team and individual level, and the reward will be the Hart Trophy, a long-term contract with the Canucks and a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. -- Adam Kimelman, deputy managing editor
