Lightning's Nikita Kucherov wins NHL MVP, beating out Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon for 2026 Hart Trophy

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov has been named the 2026 Hart Trophy winner as the NHL's MVP. This is the second Hart Trophy of Kucherov's career, and he beat out fellow finalists Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon to win the award this season.

>It was a competitive Hart Trophy field with all three players being worthy winners, and San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini had an excellent case for MVP, even though he was not named as a finalist. Ultimately, Kucherov takes home the league's most prestigious individual award after turning in one of the best seasons of his illustrious career.

>Kucherov ranked near the top of the NHL in goals (44, 8th), assists (86, 2nd) and points (130, 2nd), but his impact reached far beyond the score sheet as the rare winger who can drive play on his own. Tampa Bay was utterly dominant with Kucherov on the ice at five-on-five. In those situations, the Bolts posted a 57.0% expected goals share and a plus-38 goal differential, per Natural Stat Trick.

>Kucherov is one of two Lightning players to win the Hart Trophy -- along with franchise legend Martin St. Louis -- and he is now the first player in team history to win the award twice. Kucherov also joins Andrei Vasilevskiy (Vezina Trophy) and Jon Cooper (Jack Adams Award) as members of the Lightning to win individual awards in 2025-26.

>McDavid misses out on the award after winning the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer with 138 points. MacKinnon comes up short after earning the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the leading goal-scorer with 53 tallies.

>Finalists: Connor McDavid (EDM), Nathan MacKinnon (COL)

>Finalists: Ilya Sorokin (NYI), Jeremy Swayman (BOS)

>Finalists: Cale Makar (COL), Rasmus Dahlin (BUF)

>Finalists: Ivan Demidov (MTL), Beckett Sennecke (ANA)

>Finalists: Anthony Cirelli (TBL), Brock Nelson (COL)

>Finalists: Rasmus Dahlin (BUF), Jonathan Toews (WPG)