With the dreams of hoisting the Stanley Cup diminished, and the season in the rear view, fans, along with the leagues elite will look toward the coveted NHL awards which take place Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Many of the brightest stars within the league will be in attendance at tonight’s ceremony at Fontainebleau, in a city known for its glitz and glam.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is among the three finalists for this years league MVP, with the winner taking home the prized Hart Memorial Trophy, but winning it won’t be a landslide by any means. This years Hart Trophy finalists all proved their worth throughout the 2023 / 2024 season and playoff run.
Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning are the other nominees in the Hart Trophy category.
McDavid won the Conn Smythe Award as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after the Oilers lost to the Panthers in a seven-game Stanley Cup Final, finishing with an NHL-best 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) in 25 games. He is attempting to win the Hart for a second straight season and fourth time in his first nine NHL seasons, also winning in 2021 and 2017.
McDavid was third in regular-season scoring with 132 points (32 goals, 100 assists) in 76 games. The center has had more than 100 points in four straight seasons and seven overall.
“He’s the greatest player to ever play in my books,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. “There are so many things that people don’t see that he does. He single-handedly turned our franchise around, pretty much. I just love sharing the ice with him and he’s a really, really special person.”
The Ted Lindsay Award, given to the player voted to be the most outstanding during the regular season by the League’s players will also see Kucherov and MacKinnon, who are joined by Toronto Maple Leaf’s star Auston Matthews.
Center Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks and defensemen Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild and Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils are the finalists for the Calder Trophy, given annually to the best rookie in the NHL as voted by the PHWA.
Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, led rookies in goals (22) and points (61) and tied Faber for first in assists (39) despite missing 14 games with a broken jaw. The 18-year-old had 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in his final 29 games.
Comedian Matt Friend will host the show, which will air on ESPN and Sportsnet at 5 p.m. MST.
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