On Thursday afternoon, the NHL closed the books on announcing the individual winners of the 2025-26 NHL Awards. Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov is the winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. That isn’t a shock; this is Kucherov’s second win and he’s been a finalist for the top NHL award each of the past three years.
But here’s how close the voting was for the Hart Trophy this year:
Source: X / @NHLPRWith the announcement of the award, the NHL included these two striking notes on how historically close the vote was this year:
For the first time since the current points allocation system was established in 1995-96, all three finalists received at least 25 percent of all first-place votes. Kucherov’s winning margin of 10 points is the third-fewest in the 30 years under the current points allocation: Jose Theodore edged Jarome Iginla in a tiebreak (434-434, Theodore placed first with more first-place votes) in 2001-02 and Chris Pronger eked past Jaromir Jagr 396-395 in 1999-2000.It’s worth noting that Kucherov was a second-round pick (No. 58 overall) by Tampa in the 2011 NHL Draft. Another reminder that players drafted outside the first round can make a significant impact (something I wrote about this week for the Blackhawks).
Voting for the NHL Awards
I have the honor and privilege of being a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association who gets to vote on the NHL Awards.
To be clear, voting members of the PHWA received instructions to name five candidates — in order 1 thru 5 — for each of the awards below. There wasn’t a list we chose from; I named my own five candidates. And these are the NHL Awards for which I had a vote; the PHWA doesn’t decided everything. For example, general managers vote for the Vezina Trophy.
Now that all of the individual NHL Awards have been announced, I’ve seen a number of folks (including Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic) share their personal votes for this year’s awards. So, the time has come to reveal how I cast my ballot for each of the individual NHL Awards for which the PHWA has a vote.
Here’s how I voted for the 2026 NHL Awards (the winner is in bold). By all means, feel free to tell me what I got horribly, terrible wrong in the comments.
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnonHART TROPHY
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach WerenskiNORRIS TROPHY
Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets Moritz Seider, Detroit Red Wings Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres Lane Hutson, Montreal Canadiens Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche Michael Misa, Matthew Schaefer and Anton Frondell at the 2025 NHL Draft.CALDER TROPHY
Matthew Schaefer, New York Islanders Beckett Sennecke, Anaheim Ducks Jakub Dobeš, Montreal Canadiens Ivan Demidov, Montreal Canadiens Alex Nikishin, Carolina Hurricanes LA Kings captain Anze KopitarLADY BYNG TROPHY
Anže Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings Teuvo Teräväinen, Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews, Winnipeg Jets Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks Jesper Bratt, New Jersey Devils Note: Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield won the Lady Byng Trophy. Montreal Canadiens center Nick SuzukiSELKE TROPHY
Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens Mitch Marner, Vegas Golden Knights Valeri Nichushkin, Colorado Avalanche Ilya Mikheyev, Chicago Blackhawks Shane Pinto, Ottawa Senators Winnipeg Jets center Jonathan ToewsBILL MASTERTON MEMORIAL TROPHY
Note: the PHWA received a formal ballot with the 32 finalists (one per team) as nominated by the local Writers Association chapters. Spencer Knight was the Blackhawks’ nominee. Writers were asked to vote for a first, second and third place only off that ballot.
Jonathan Toews, Winnipeg Jets Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche Charlie McAvoy, Boston BruinsHence then, the article about nikita kucherov wins historic hart trophy here s how i voted for the 2026 nhl awards was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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