Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning wins the 2026 Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. Multiple outlets report the result as a narrow vote that sees Kucherov finish ahead of the two other leading MVP candidates, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche. The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, and other sources describe it as a tight race, with one report stating Kucherov’s margin is about 10 voting points.
Kucherov is credited with a high-end offensive season, leading scoring at a rate of roughly 1.71 points per game and totaling 130 points. He also posts strong goal and assist production, with one source citing 44 goals and 86 assists. Several articles emphasize that this is Kucherov’s second Hart Trophy overall, with his first coming in 2019. Sources also note that he becomes the first Lightning player to win the award twice. The Oilers and Avalanche stars are widely cited as the main runners-up in the MVP voting.
