Nikita Kucherov won the Hart Trophy for the second time as the NHL’s MVP, edging Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon after recording 130 points in 76 games. His surge helped the Tampa Bay Lightning clinch a ninth straight playoff berth and finish second in the
On the same season the Tampa Bay Lightning locked in another playoff path, Nikita Kucherov accepted another reminder of how often the franchise’s best nights start with him.
The star winger won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP for the second time. adding to a year that already carried multiple Lightning awards. Kucherov finished second in the NHL with 130 points in 76 games—producing a league-best 1.71 points per game. Tampa Bay also clinched its ninth consecutive playoff berth and finished second in the Atlantic Division.
Kucherov’s numbers weren’t just impressive. They were loud inside his own team. He finished with 42 more points than his closest teammate, the second-largest gap between a team’s top two scorers in 2025-26 after the San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini.
The voting tightened the picture. Kucherov edged fellow finalists Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche in a vote by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. He beat McDavid by 10 points.
He’s already proven he can carry seasons. Kucherov led the league in scoring over the past two seasons and was a finalist for the award both times. His earlier Hart Trophy win came in 2018-19.
Around him, other honors landed in the same orbit of Tampa Bay’s success. Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Vezina Trophy, and coach Jon Cooper received the Jack Adams Award.
The spread of NHL awards across the league also showed how the MVP race fits into a wider roster of standout performances. Connor McDavid was named the Ted Lindsay Award winner for most outstanding player. Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets took the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. while New York Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer earned the Calder Trophy. Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens won the Selke Trophy for defensive forward play. and Cole Caufield also of Montreal captured the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship. Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche received the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. and Landeskog also won the Masterton Trophy for perseverance.
The Lightning’s season is now stamped not only by another playoff qualification—its ninth straight—but by a cluster of major league honors that reflect how central Kucherov has been to that run. When the Hart Trophy and the Lightning’s other trophy moments all land in the same stretch. it changes the way the year will be remembered: less as a single star’s spike. more as a team turning excellence into momentum.
Nikita Kucherov Hart Trophy NHL MVP Tampa Bay Lightning Andrei Vasilevskiy Jon Cooper Connor McDavid Nathan MacKinnon Professional Hockey Writers Association