NIKITA KUCHEROV WINS 2026 NHL HART MEMORIAL TROPHY

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player for the 2025-26 season. The award was announced on Thursday, with Kucherov finishing ahead of Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon in the closest vote in more than two decades. Kucherov received 1,436 points and 72 first-place votes from the panel of voters. McDavid finished second with 1,426 points and 68 first-place votes, while MacKinnon collected 1,297 points and 52 first-place votes.

This is Kucherov's second Hart Trophy, having previously won the award in the 2018-19 season. The margin of victory is the narrowest since José Théodore and Jarome Iginla tied on points in 2001-02, when Théodore took the trophy by virtue of three additional first-place votes. The 2025-26 vote also marks the first time in the 30-year history of the current voting system that three players each received at least a quarter of all first-place votes. San Jose Sharks centre Macklin Celebrini finished fourth, whilst Montreal Canadiens centre Nick Suzuki received one first-place vote.

Kucherov recorded 44 goals and 86 assists during the regular season, helping Tampa Bay to a 50-26-6 record. The Lightning were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games. Kucherov contributed one goal and five assists in that series. Tampa Bay also collected two further individual honours, with Andrei Vasilevskiy winning the Vezina Trophy and Jon Cooper taking the Jack Adams Award for best coach.