Hart Trophy Rankings for NHL MVP So Far During the 2025-26 Season
Trying to gauge how the NHL awards might shake out when we're just over a month into the season is like predicting the future without being a psychic.
It's tough, and when only a handful of players have really flexed their muscles to start the campaign, it makes it even tougher.
However, we like challenges at B/R, and we also love the direction the Hart Trophy race is headed in for the NHL's most valuable player.
It's a wide-open field of players, and with teams still figuring themselves out and finding (or losing) their way through the schedule, picking out the favorites is genuinely difficult.
Sure, we could just pick the league's highest scoring players and call it a day, but it's not quite that simple this year.
We're breaking down the top 10 candidates as we see them right now, and, unfortunately, we have to factor in long-term injuries, while some recent developments shuffled things around a little.
Still, these rankings should shift around a lot as the season rolls on, and the cream always rises to the top in the end.
Honorable Mention
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Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils
The Devils are flying high out of the gate, and Hughes is a big reason for that. Unfortunately, his recent hand injury at a team dinner will have him out of action for up to the next two months, and it crushed him in our rankings. He's on our radar, but missing that much time is a blow to many voters.
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Watching Malkin and Sidney Crosby have monster seasons while the Penguins are in the heat of the Metropolitan Division race is the kind of throwback we love to see. He's in the top 20 in points and leads Pittsburgh in scoring.
Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
The Sharks are off to a much better start than anyone figured they would be, and it's thanks to Celebrini that they're doing it. He's third in the league in scoring behind Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid. If San Jose gets to the playoffs, expect his case to be very noisy in the MVP race.
Nick Suzuki, Montréal Canadiens
The Canadiens' great start to the season is due to the outstanding play of both Cole Caufield and Suzuki, but it's the latter who's helping drive the pace of play and manage the game up the middle, where they're now wracked with injuries.
Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
You have to figure Makar is the favorite for the Norris Trophy again early on, and we haven't seen a defenseman win the Hart Trophy since Chris Pronger in 2000. If anyone can pull off that double, it's Makar. Unfortunately, one of his teammates is a leading contender for MVP himself.
William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs might be a bad team this year, but it won't be the fault of Nylander, Matthew Knies, or John Tavares. Nylander is having a great start to the season and is fourth in the league in scoring.
Adrian Kempe, Los Angeles Kings
The Kings are among the best teams in the West, and Kempe is pacing the offense for them. The Kings don't score or give up a lot, but Kempe is earning his new extension so far this season with 19 points in 19 games.
Bo Horvat, New York Islanders
The playoff race in the East will be wicked again, and the Islanders are right in the mix of it thanks to Horvat's outstanding play. He has 12 goals and 11 assists in 18 games, and while rookie Matthew Schaefer is earning the spotlight he's gotten, it's allowing Horvat to thrive.
10. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
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Even though the Oilers are struggling a bit at the start of the season, it's not taking anything away from Connor McDavid.
He is second in the NHL in scoring with 30 points, trailing only Nathan MacKinnon, and 17 of his 30 points are at even strength. Somehow, opponents have yet to stop taking penalties against Edmonton after all these years.
Just from a raw ability and his natural greatness, McDavid is always going to figure somewhere in the discussion for MVP. And yes, he has Leon Draisaitl for a teammate, but the rest of the group around him isn't quite as stout as it was the past few seasons.
With Zach Hyman returning, you'd have to think McDavid's numbers will jump a bit, as should the Oilers' win total.
Yes, they are down now, but they've done this the past couple of years and rallied to finish strong. Thinking McDavid won't be in the discussion at the end of the season is unwise.
9. Seth Jarvis, Carolina Hurricanes
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If it seems like no one from the Hurricanes ever ends up in discussion for the MVP despite the team always being among the league's best, you're not wrong at all.
It's hard to ignore the start Carolina has had this year, though, and that means looking over its roster to see who's most responsible, and the play of Seth Jarvis is tough to ignore.
Jarvis leads Carolina in goals and is second in scoring behind Sebastian Aho. One category that stands out for Jarvis, however, is how four of his 10 goals are game-winners, and two of them came in overtime.
While Aho may be the more complete player on the roster, Jarvis is the guy coming up big in the key moments and leading the way with his all-around effort and, naturally, the goals.
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8. Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
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Last season, Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck made it clear why he was not only the Vezina winner but also the MVP by leading Winnipeg to the Presidents' Trophy.
Even though the netminder is again having an outstanding start to the season, it's Mark Scheifele whose early-season explosion is worthy of note.
The Jets are again among the league's best teams this season, and Scheifele is leading the way offensively with 11 goals and 24 total points, which puts him just outside the top 10 in the NHL in scoring.
Winnipeg's offense runs through Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Josh Morrissey, but it's Scheifele taking charge so far and doing it all.
If the Jets wind up atop the Central Division again—and considering how much more competitive it's shaping up to be, that would be a monster accomplishment—Scheifele taking charge is helping Winnipeg be a team that can score a ton while Hellebuyck is shutting opponents out.
7. Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks
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If we were feeling brave, we would have Spencer Knight as our MVP candidate for the Chicago Blackhawks' rise from the rebuild, but after plenty of fans were ready to bury Connor Bedard last season, he's showing he's the real deal now.
Bedard is tied for fourth in the league in scoring with 26 points and is head and shoulders above his Chicago teammates as the team scoring leader. Everything that seemed to go wrong and sideways for Bedard a year ago is no longer doing that, and it's allowing the 'Hawks the opportunity to get out of the league basement.
No doubt it's a hot start to the season for Bedard, but everything we're seeing from him now seems to be the more complete version of the player we've seen in stretches during his first two seasons.
If he's arrived for real and helps Chicago back to the postseason, the MVP talk will be impossible to ignore.
6. Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights
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Lots of teams in the NHL deal with injuries, but the Vegas Golden Knights have had a few major ones.
Jack Eichel has helped keep Vegas flying out of the gate despite those absences.
From Alex Pietrangelo to Mark Stone to Adin Hill, the Golden Knights are missing vital players for their effort to get back to the Stanley Cup Final.
All Eichel has done this season is lead the way in scoring (24 points, 8 goals) and been a major weapon at even strength and on the power play (11 power-play points).
Eichel got heavily into the mix for MVP a year ago, but if he's able to carry Vegas to a Pacific Division top seed again, it'll be difficult to ignore the case he's built for himself as both a top scorer in the league and a steady defender all over the ice as well.
5. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
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If you believed the Pittsburgh Penguins would be one of the best teams in the Metropolitan Division before the season started, you'd have run the risk of being laughed at.
Yet, here they are, one of the best teams in the East and in the league early this season, and leading the way is Sidney Crosby. He has 12 goals, two off the league lead, and has 21 points, second on the team behind Evgeni Malkin with 23.
Crosby again being among the league leaders in scoring at 38 years old is a revelation, and after the past few years seeing them fall short of the postseason, the odds seemed to get longer of ever seeing him get back there with the Penguins.
The joke's on us, though, because new coach Dan Muse has them playing with a reinvigorated brand of hockey, with all their older, all-time great players playing outstanding hockey again.
With Crosby at the forefront of their attack, if Pittsburgh returns to the playoffs, his case for a third Hart Trophy would be strong.
4. Leo Carlsson, Anaheim Ducks
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Among the many young players having breakout seasons, the one who might be catching everyone by surprise is Leo Carlsson.
Not only is Anaheim flying out of the gates among the best teams in the NHL, but it's being led by the 20-year-old from Sweden.
Carlsson is among the top 10 in points with 26, and that includes 11 goals. A year ago, he struggled with a sophomore slump, but the growing pains are gone, and he is thriving.
Seeing the Ducks start this hot makes us wonder if it's for real or just the kind of thing that happens for a team with talent under a new coach with a legacy; however, the immense talent has always been there for Anaheim, and waiting for young players to step up was a key part of their growth.
With Carlsson as their leading scorer and Cutter Gauthier right behind him, it's more than noticeable what's happening in the O.C.
3. Mikko Rantanen, Dallas Stars
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The impression Mikko Rantanen made on the Stars last season was instantaneous, and watching that carry over into this season is no surprise and just as impressive.
Rantanen leads the Stars in scoring with 26 points, and their three-headed attack, along with Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston, has been outstanding this year.
With Jake Oettinger off to a slow start, Rantanen and the gang leading the way offensively have the Stars right in the thick of things in the Central and atop the NHL standings.
Given what the Stars gave up to get Rantanen and the money they gave him to stay in Dallas, seeing him step up the way he has to spark the offense and continue where he left off in the postseason is exactly what GM Jim Nill wanted to see.
2. David Pastrňák, Boston Bruins
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For years, David Pastrňák has been among the best goal scorers and offensive players in the NHL, but he's never won the MVP.
Twice, he's finished in the top five in voting, and in 2023, he was a runner-up for the award to Connor McDavid. With the Boston Bruins shaking off the funk of last season and jumping to the top of the Atlantic Division, all eyes are on Pastrňák.
He leads the Bruins in scoring and is among the NHL leaders with 26 points, including 11 goals. He's a threat at even strength and an even bigger threat on the power play with his shot and creativity with the puck.
If the Bruins can continue to impress and prove the doubters wrong, and Pastrňák continues to do what he's always done, his case to win MVP will have a special kind of momentum to it.
With how close he's come in the past and his generally consistent scoring throughout his career on top of an unexpected return to contention, Pastrňák would have a compelling case.
1. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
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There are so many great and dynamic players in the NHL, but when Nathan MacKinnon is on a roll and takes charge in a game, few are more terrifying.
With his speed, physicality, and determination, he is capable of taking over a game by himself. He leads the NHL in goals (14) and points (33), and the Avalanche has the best record in the league. This might seem like we're making the easy choice for our leader as the MVP, but sometimes the decision is made simple by the evidence.
MacKinnon won the Hart Trophy in 2024, and he's been in the top five in voting five other times, including finishing as the runner-up twice (Taylor Hall in 2018 and Leon Draisaitl in 2020).
His efforts in leading Colorado out of the gate this year come with starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood working his way back from injury and backup Scott Wedgewood taking charge. But offensively, it's been MacKinnon out front with Martin Nečas and Cale Makar on the blue line doing most of the damage.
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