The NHL announced Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl, Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Nikita Kucherov are this year’s Hart Trophy finalists.

The Hart Trophy is awarded "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team" and is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. In other words, the winner is the MVP of the regular season.

The Oilers' Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy in 2020, and the Lightning's Kucherov won it in 2019. They were also awarded the Ted Lindsay Award in those seasons, too, as the most outstanding player according to NHLPA members. 

Only Kucherov can win the Hart and Ted Lindsay this year – the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar were the other finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award. With that, Kucherov already has the Art Ross Trophy under his belt, finishing the regular season as the NHL’s top scorer with 121 points.

The definition of the Hart Trophy states it’s awarded to the player who is most valuable to his team in the regular season, and Kucherov is just that.

The Russian playmaker scored 37 goals and 84 assists in 78 games this year. He had 31 more points than left winger Brandon Hagel, who had the second-most points on the Lightning with 90.

Tampa Bay ended the regular season as the best offensive team, scoring a league-best 292 goals. Kucherov made up 41.4 percent of the team’s goals with his 121 points.

Draisaitl, meanwhile, won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal-scorer this season, and he is a Hart finalist for the second time in his career.

The German carried the load for the Oilers all season long. He scored 52 goals and 106 points in 73 games with Edmonton, which is the sixth time he’s scored 100 or more points in a season. He tied Boston Bruins right winger David Pastrnak for the third-most points in the league.

Draisaitl also had 11 game-winning goals, tied for the league lead, and he led all players in Situational Scoring, Ken Campbell’s model for showing who scores the most important points.

Oilers' Leon Draisaitl Scored More Goals – And Bigger Goals – Than Anyone In The NHL The NHL had only one 50-goal scorer this season in Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers.

If Draisaitl takes home the Hart, the Oilers will have their name on that award for the fifth time in nine years, with Connor McDavid holding three of them.

Hellebuyck took home the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltender who conceded the least number of goals (minimum 25 games) and is now a finalist for two premium accolades. 

Not only could he win his third Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in the NHL, but he also has a chance to win the Hart.

In fact, he could be the first goaltender to win the Hart Trophy since Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price did so in 2015. Along with the Hart, Price won the Jennings, Ted Lindsay and the Vezina Trophy in the 2014-15 season. Hellebuyck has a chance to win three of those four awards, with an opportunity at a Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy.

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