To mark the beginning of the 2025-26 regular season, NHL.com is running its first installment of the Trophy Tracker series. Today, we look at the race for the Hart Trophy, given annually to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team selected in a vote by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.
Connor McDavid's desire to win appears to be at an all-time personal high after losing in the Stanley Cup Final two straight years, making it possible that the 2025-26 version of the Edmonton Oilers captain will be the best the NHL has seen to date.
If so, McDavid likely would run away with the Hart Trophy that he is considered the favorite to win for a fourth time in 11 seasons, according to a panel of 15 NHL.com voters.
McDavid received nine first-place votes and 62 voting points. Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon was second with three first-place votes and 54 voting points.
"He's completely focused at the task at hand in trying to win here," Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said of McDavid. "He's dialed in and is as hungry as I've ever seen him. It's fun to be around and another one of those attributes that's infectious to our group."
Individually, McDavid is entering historic territory with his career.
He needs 18 points in the first 12 games to become the third fastest player in NHL history to reach 1,100 points. He has a chance to join Wayne Gretzky (15) and Mario Lemieux (10) as the third player in League history with at least nine career 100-point seasons and the eighth with six consecutive 100-point seasons. He is 39 goals away from 400 for his career and 76 assists away from 800.
McDavid had 100 points (26 goals, 74 assists) in 67 games last season.
"He's our captain, he's our leader and he's our go-to guy," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. "He's irreplaceable."
All of the individual success is a byproduct of McDavid's hunger to win the Stanley Cup in Edmonton, which he emphatically stated with the two-year, $25 million contract ($12.5 million average annual value) that he signed Tuesday, a deal that will begin with the 2026-27 season.
He is in the last year of an eight-year, $100 million contract that carries the same $12.5 million AAV.
"I said I was committed to winning here and I meant that when I said that," McDavid said.
Taking a lower AAV than he could have gotten in a new contract already has helped the Oilers sign defensemen Jake Walman (seven years, $49 million) and Mattias Ekholm (three years, $12 million).
But by signing a two-year contract without a raise, McDavid also put the Oilers and his Edmonton legacy on a three-year clock.
The clock could re-start after the 2027-28 season, when the two-year deal expires, but for now McDavid's focus is on doing everything he can to help the Oilers win the Stanley Cup at least once, if not three times, during the next three seasons.
It's motivating him. It's driving him. It's enough to make him the unquestioned favorite to be the most valuable player to his team this season.
"I know a lot of guys talk about winning and that's the priority No. 1," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Well, he showed that it is priority No. 1 for him."
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1- basis):
Connor McDavid, Oilers, 62 (9 first-place votes); Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche, 54 (3); Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs, 23 (1); Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning, 23 (1); Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights, 15 (1); Leon Draisaitl, Oilers, 11; Mitch Marner, Golden Knights, 10; Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild, 8; David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins, 4; Mikko Rantanen, Dallas Stars, 4; Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes, 3; Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals, 2; Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets, 2; Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, 1; Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens, 1; Clayton Keller, Utah Mammoth, 1; Cale Makar, Avalanche, 1
NHL.com staff writer Derek Van Diest contributed to this report
