Nikita Kucherov Wins 2026 Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, Voting Results for Race with MacKinnon, McDavid

Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov is a two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner.

Kucherov received the MVP honor over the Colorado Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon and Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid on Thursday.

It was an unbelievably close race between the three candidates:

The Hart Trophy is awarded annually to "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team" as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.

Kucherov earned that distinction after ranking second to McDavid for the NHL lead with 130 points (44 goals, 86 assists) in 76 games.

That production allowed Kucherov to lead the league with 1.71 points per game.

It also placed a 42-point gap between Kucherov and Jake Guentzel, who ranked second in the Lightning points race with 88 points.

That marked the largest gap behind any leading scorer last season other than the San Jose Sharks' Macklin Celebrini.

Kucherov also factored in on 45.5 percent of the Lightning's goals, which ranked as the third-highest rate in the NHL behind McDavid and Celebrini.

His season was highlighted by 95 points from Nov. 22 to March 20, marking the most productive single-season 45-game stretch since Mario Lemieux in 1996.

That production helped push the Lightning into a ninth straight postseason, which is tied for the longest playoff streak in the NHL.

The Lightning will now have to consider an extension this season for Kucherov, who is signed through 2026-27 but set to hit unrestricted free agency ahead of his age-34 campaign in 2027.

Kucherov won the Hart Trophy in 2019 after recording the most productive season by any NHL player since Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1996.

He now joins Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby as the fourth active player with multiple Hart Trophy wins.

Kucherov also joins Crosby and Jean Beliveau as the only players to win MVP trophies at least seven years apart.

MacKinnon finished as a runner-up for the award after leading the NHL with 53 goals, while McDavid was named a finalist after winning his sixth Art Ross Trophy by pacing the league with 138 points.