Oilers’ Connor McDavid wins 2023 Hart Memorial Trophy

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid predictably won his third Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s best player on Monday after posting one of the greatest seasons in NHL history.

McDavid, who won the Ted Lindsay Award as players’ MVP earlier in the evening, became just the ninth player in league history to win the Hart for a third time. He got the nod over Boston’s David Pastrnak (61G) and Matthew Tkachuk (109P) of the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers.

The 26-year-old forward scored the most points (153) in a single season since Steve Yzerman collected 155 in 1988-1989. Only Yzerman, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux have ever scored more in a campaign.

While Gretzky and Lemieux occupy the top 13 spots for highest-scoring seasons in NHL history and Yzerman holds the 14th spot, no one has scored 150 points since Bernie Nicholls in 1989.

McDavid’s total points overshadowed the best goal-scoring season of his legendary career. His 64 tallies were the most since fellow three-time MVP Alexander Ovechkin buried 65 in 2007-2008.

Kucherov’s previous 21st-century record was a comparatively paltry 128 points. McDavid’s teammate Leon Draisaitl equaled that amount in 2022-2023.

The Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights outlasted McDavid, Draisaitl, and the Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but Edmonton still made NHL history in 2022-2023. Their 325 goals were the most since the 1995-1996 Colorado Avalanche scored 326, and their 32.4 power-play success rate is the best in NHL history.

McDavid already has 850 points and has achieved everything he could ever want to at the individual level. Along with his three Hart Trophies, he has four Ted Lindsay Awards, five Art Ross Trophies as NHL top-scorer, and this year’s Rocket Richard Trophy as top goal-scorer.

All that’s left for McDavid is to win the Stanley Cup (and maybe a Conn Smythe or two), and he will enter the top echelon of hockey’s all-time greats.