Nikita Kucherov Winning Hart Trophy Over Connor McDavid Sparks Wild Reactions Among Fans: “Least Deserving Winner”

Nikita Kucherov finished 2nd in the regular season points tally at 130, with Connor McDavid leading the chart at 138.

Nikita Kucherov Winning Hart Trophy Over Connor McDavid Sparks Wild Reactions Among Fans: “Least Deserving Winner”

Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid (Image via X/@BR_OpenIce)

On Thursday, the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) revealed the results of the Hart Trophy polls. As per the voting, Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov was named the 2025-26 Hart Trophy winner over Edmonton Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid.

The Hart Trophy is awarded annually to the most valuable player (MVP). The winner of this honor is decided through votes from the PHWA. Last season, Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck received his award for his outstanding performances in front of the net.

This year, Kucherov was the one who took home this honor. In a surprise announcement, the PHWA revealed that he received 1,436 points, 10 more than McDavid.

Kucherov finished the regular season with 130 points (44 goals and 86 assists) in 76 games. In the playoffs, he picked up 6 points (1 goal and 5 assists) in 7 games as his side suffered a first-round exit against the Montreal Canadiens.

Meanwhile, McDavid was top of the points leaderboard. The Oilers forward had 138 points (48 goals and 90 assists) in 82 games. As for the playoffs, his team also suffered an early exit as they lost in 6 games against the Anaheim Ducks. McDavid also picked up 6 points (1 goal and 5 assists).

As for the voting, Kucherov received 72 first-place, 60 second-place, 52 third-place, 12 fourth-place, and 0 fifth-place votes, respectively. Meanwhile, McDavid went 68-62-56-10-2 in the voting.

Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche came in third place with 1,297 points. He and his side had a great regular season and won the President’s Trophy. However, they had a brutal ending to the season as they got swept 4-0 in the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Kucherov is now the 4th active player with 2 or more Hart Trophy wins. The other three are Sidney Crosby (2), Alex Ovechkin (3), and Connor McDavid (3).

The Russian international was also a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award. Unlike the Hart Trophy, this honor is given to the most outstanding player voted by the members of the NHL Players’ Association. McDavid was named the winner of this on Sunday.

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Social media reacts to Nikita Kucherov being named NHL MVP over Connor McDavid

Nikita Kucherov was named the NHL’s MVP for the 2025-26 season through the PHWA voting. Fans on social media were left a bit stunned by this.

Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid
Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid (Image via X/@BR_OpenIce)

On X, several users debated this. A few of them questioned the voting by the PHWA. One user did not seem too pleased to see Kucherov win the honor and wrote, “least deserving winner” while making their feelings known.

Check out some of the fan reactions regarding this incident from X below:

The debate regarding this is likely to rage on for a while. Kucherov’s 2nd win marks the third time this award has gone to the Lightning. Martin St. Louis was the first Lightning star to claim this honor in 2003-04.

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History repeats itself for Lightning following Nikita Kucherov’s 2nd MVP win

Nikita Kucherov is the NHL MVP once again. The forward earned his 2nd win through the PHWA voting. Following his win, history repeated itself for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Nikita Kucherov
Nikita Kucherov (Image via X/@BR_OpenIce)

Kucherov’s first MVP win came in the 2018-19 season when the Lightning won the President’s Trophy. Surprisingly, they got swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets. This is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in NHL history.

While the season did not bring the cup for the team, their goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best goaltender of the season.

This season, Vasilevskiy won this honor again. So the Lightning struck twice for the two Russian players.

Earlier, their coach, Jon Cooper, was bestowed with the Jack Adams Award, given to the best coach of the year. Despite all these individual wins, the Lightning were unable to progress to the second round of the playoffs.

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