Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has won his second career Hart Trophy after a season in which he scored at a rate not seen in the NHL in nearly 30 years.
Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews and Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon were the other finalists for the award given “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”
McDavid reached new heights in the shortened 2020-21 campaign, scoring a jaw-dropping 105 points in just 56 games – 21 points more than the next closest player. He became the first player since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96 to reach 100 points in 53 games or less and joined Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin as the only active players to reach 100 points in four different seasons before turning 25. Hockey legends Wayne Gretzky, Lemieux, Phil Esposito, Steve Yzerman, Bernie Nicholls and Adam Oates are the only players in NHL history to record a better point per game rate in a season than McDavid’s 1.88 in 2020-21.
McDavid was presented the Hart Trophy virtually by teammate Leon Draisaitl, who won the award last season, and the Oilers captain made sure to thank his teammates in his acceptance speech.
“My teammates are everything and I wouldn’t really be anywhere without them,” McDavid said. “We had a special group this year and obviously we didn’t do what we wanted to do but it was still so fun to be a part of.”
McDavid, who also took home the Ted Lindsay Award and Art Ross Trophy this season, won the Hart in 2016-17 and has finished top five in voting for the award every year since.
