Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov captured the 2025-26 Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. The league announced the award Thursday evening just prior to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. Kucherov secured the victory in a tightly contested race, edging out Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid by a margin of only 10 voting points from the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
The win marks the second time Kucherov has claimed the honor, having previously won the award in 2019. He finished second in overall league scoring this season with 130 points, racking up 44 goals and 86 assists to trail McDavid’s 138 points. However, Kucherov led all NHL players with 1.71 points per game and single-handedly anchored the Lightning offense. He scored 42 more points than his next-closest teammate, Jake Guentzel. The tight voting margins were confirmed Thursday, according to the official Associated Press report detailing the final standings. Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon finished third in the voting, while San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini placed fourth.
By claiming the award again, Kucherov joins an exclusive tier of active players who have won the MVP multiple times, standing alongside McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Alex Ovechkin, according to a detailed historical comparison of the elite ranks. The announcement seals a frustratingly close loss for McDavid, who took home the Art Ross Trophy this season but missed the Hart by just 10 points.