Taylor Hall, Anze Kopitar, Nathan MacKinnon Named Hart Trophy Finalists

New Jersey Devils winger Taylor Hall, Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon were announced as the 2018 NHL Hart Trophy finalists on Friday.

MacKinnon finished the 2017-18 campaign with a career-high 39 goals and 58 assists to finish with 97 points. The only players with more points were Edmonton's Connor McDavid, Philadelphia's Claude Giroux, Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov and Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin. 

Hall, meanwhile, piled up 39 goals and 54 assists as he led the Devils to their first postseason berth since 2012. 

Then there was Kopitar, who logged career highs of 35 goals and 57 assists for a Kings team that nabbed a wild-card spot in the tightly contested Western Conference. 

The obvious omission is McDavid, who took home the 2017 Hart Memorial Trophy. 

Despite leading the NHL with 108 points and finishing sixth with 41 goals, the Oilers finished 17 points out of the playoffs in the Western Conference. 

Conversely, Kopitar, Hall and MacKinnon all played instrumental roles in leading their clubs to the playoffs. 

The other omissions of note: Washington's Alexander Ovechkin (league-leading 49 goals, 38 assists) and Malkin (42 goals, 56 assists). 

The 2018 NHL Awards will take place Wednesday, June 20, at The Joint in Las Vegas.