The high skilled, lightning-fast captain of the Edmonton Oilers dominated the NHL regular season from start to finish.He did the same at Monday’s awards ceremony.
McDavid won his third Hart Trophy as NHL MVP thanks to a 153-point campaign — the most in the NHL since Mario Lemieux’s 161 in 1995-96.
The 26-year-old started the night by taking home his fourth Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player as voted by his peers.
Desperate for team success in the playoffs as the leader of a roster that made the Western Conference final in 2021-22 and the second round this spring, McDavid was still able to reflect on his individual accolades.
“It’s not lost on me what these trophies mean in the grand scheme of our game,” he said. “It’s not the motivating factor, but it’s special, still. I know that the five-year-old me would be pissed if I was taking it for granted.
“I’m not. It’s special.”
McDavid had already secured his fifth Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer — 25 points clear of teammate Leon Draisaitl’s second-place showing — along with his first Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy on the heels of a league-best 64-goal season.
The Hart is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, while the Ted Lindsay is chosen by members of the NHL Players’ Association.“I really feel that it is the most prestigious award that’s given out here in terms of the hockey awards,” McDavid said of the Ted Lindsay.
“To have your peers recognize you, they’re the ones that you go to battle with each and every night, for them to single you out, it’s really, really special.”
“I’m sure there’s gonna be lots of talking about that from now until that happens,” he said. “It’s a long ways away.”
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