The QMJHL's fingerprints were all over the 2024 NHL Awards as Nathan MacKinnon took home the Hart Trophy for most valuable player and the Ted Lindsay Trophy for players' MVP. This is the first time MacKinnon won either trophy.
MacKinnon, a former 1st overall pick in the NHL, was drafted out of the Halifax Mooseheads where he spent his entire junior career potting 153 points across 102 games. Notably, he was the main force of the 2013-14 Mooseheads team that won the QMJHL championship and eventually the Memorial Cup, thanks to his 13 points across four games in the tournament.
MacKinnon wasn't the only representative to come away with an award in hand as Nikita Kucherov won the Art Ross Trophy for most points with 144. This is the second Art Ross trophy for Kucherov, winning it back in 2018-19 with his then unthinkable 128-point season.
Kucherov entered the QMJHL two years after being drafted by Tampa in the 2011 draft with the Quebec Remparts, before being dealt to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies where he would finish his junior career. Between the two, he had amassed 63 points across 33 games in the QMJHL.
Alongside his Art Ross win, Kucherov was among the finalists for the Ted Lindsay trophy and the Hart Trophy, the latter of which Kucherov came second in voting.
The Final Cuts
The QMJHL had a number of its alumni get award votes, but didn't win.
Rick Bowness was among the runner-ups for the Jack Adams Trophy for coach of the year. Before coaching, Bowness got his start as a player in the QMJHL with the QMJHL championship winning Quebec Remparts in 1973 before getting traded to the Montréal Juniors.
Noah Dobson came eighth in voting for the Norris Trophy for best defenseman. The New York Islanders defenseman played for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the QMJHL from 2016-2019.
Marc-Andre Fleury was the Minnesota Wild's King Clancy Trophy nominee for on-and-off ice leadership and community involvement. The former NHL first overall pick back in 2003 manned the crease for the Cape Breton Eagles four seasons from 2000-2004.