The NHL's Hart Trophy race has a new youngster in second place, while the Vezina Trophy leaderboard briefly had a new No. 1.
There has been a comparatively major shakeup atop the odds leaderboard for the NHL's Hart and Vezina Trophies.
A sophomore out of San Jose and a veteran in Long Island are making waves to start 2026, looking to win their first major NHL awards.
1. Macklin Celebrini Replaces Connor McDavid As Second Favorite
Two names have been synonymous with the NHL's Hart Trophy race in 2025-26: Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.
It's been a two-horse race for most of the season, with thoroughbred MacKinnon setting the pace throughout. McDavid had made up ground in the rearview, thanks to his outrageous recent run.
However, despite the Edmonton Oilers captain's current 19-game point streak, the best of his already illustrious career, Macklin Celebrini has leapfrogged McDavid on the Hart Trophy hockey odds leaderboard.
MacKinnon, with odds of -303, remains the clear Hart Trophy favorite despite McDavid and Celebrini's best efforts. Those odds imply a 75.19 percent win probability, which, by the way, is too high by estimation.
Celebrini, meanwhile, is trading at +375, carrying a 21.05 percent implied probability. McDavid is receiving the third-shortest odds (+550), representing a 15.38 percent chance of securing his fourth Hart Trophy.
If the 19-year-old Celebrini pulls off the improbable and wins the Hart Trophy, he would join Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky as the youngest-ever MVPs.
With the runaway triumvirate trading way ahead of Nikita Kucherov (+6600), receiving the fourth-shortest odds, it’s promising news for Canada ahead of the Olympics, anyway you slice it.
2. Ilya Sorokin Briefly Became The New Vezina Trophy Favorite
Ilya Sorokin has quietly and effectively gone about his business on Long Island, and the 30-year-old is reaping the fruits of his labor as he replaced longtime leader Logan Thompson as the Vezina Trophy favorite – but not for long.
After the Islanders lost 5-4 to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, and Thompson's Capitals won 3-2, Thompson is back on top.
His rise to first place was due equally to his impressive play and Thompson's fall, the latter of which doesn't come at a good time for Team Canada.
Thompson was 4-6-3 heading into Tuesday with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage since Dec. 5. Sorokin, meanwhile, led the New York Islanders to a 5-2-0 record in that same timeframe while sporting a 2.12 GAA and a .936 save percentage.
Sorokin also briefly unseated Thompson at the top of the goals saved above expected leaderboard. He had 19 goals saved above expected, while Thompson was at 18.2.
But on Tuesday, Sorokin recorded 2.05 goals saved below expected, while Thompson was at 0.14 goals saved below expected that night. So Thompson leads again at 18.0, while Sorokin is at 17.0.
Sorokin, who is now 14-11-2 with a 2.57 GAA and a .911 save percentage, has odds of +165. Thompson has +160 odds of winning the award for the first time. The Capitals No. 1 is 17-12-4, with a .916 save percentage and 2.34 GAA.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (+700), Scott Wedgewood (+700) and Igor Shesterkin (+2000) round out the five Vezina Trophy favorites.