Greg WyshynskiFeb 5, 2026, 06:49 AM ETCloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.Follow on XMultiple Authors
play0:50Nikita Kucherov gives the Lightning an early leadNikita Kucherov rips one past the goalie to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
play0:58Matthew Schaefer lights the lamp for IslandersMatthew Schaefer lights the lamp for Islanders
play1:23Goalie fight breaks out at Stadium Series after scrum in front of Bruins’ netBruins goalie Jeremy Swayman gets involved in a scrum in front of the net, which sends Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to the other side of the ice to fight Swayman.
Nathan MacKinnon nets his 39th goal of the season (0:44)Nathan MacKinnon scores a fantastic goal to put the Avalanche up 2-0 over the Red Wings. (0:44)
Nikita Kucherov gives the Lightning an early leadNikita Kucherov rips one past the goalie to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
Goalie fight breaks out at Stadium Series after scrum in front of Bruins’ netBruins goalie Jeremy Swayman gets involved in a scrum in front of the net, which sends Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to the other side of the ice to fight Swayman.
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman gets involved in a scrum in front of the net, which sends Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to the other side of the ice to fight Swayman.
play0:42Zach Werenski nets goal for Blue JacketsZach Werenski nets goal for Blue Jackets
As the Winter Olympic break arrives in the NHL, the awards picture has really come into sharp focus.
There are clear leaders for some trophies and clear top-threes for others. But with one glaring exception, there’s still time for players to shake up these races.
Could the Olympics play a role in that? Please recall in 2009-10 that Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller won the Vezina Trophy in the same season he backstopped Team USA to an overtime loss in the gold medal round at the Vancouver Games. It’s not that Miller was an unworthy winner in what was his most dominant NHL season. But it’s hard to ignore his margin of victory (23 out of 30 first-place votes from the general managers) and not think there was an Olympic halo effect.
Just something to keep in mind if, you know, Macklin Celebrini scores a winning goal in overtime to hand Canada a gold medal over the United States …
Welcome to the NHL Awards Watch for February. We’ve polled a wide selection of Professional Hockey Writers Association voters anonymously to get a sense of where the wind is blowing for the current leaders. We’ve made sure it’s a cross section from the entire league, trying to gain as many perspectives as possible.
Keep in mind that the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) votes for the Hart, Norris, Calder, Selke and Lady Byng finalists, broadcasters vote for the Jack Adams, and general managers handle the Vezina. All stats are from Hockey-Reference.com, Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey. (editor’s note: statistics are through games on Feb. 3)
Leader: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche Finalists: Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks; Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
This is the third straight month MacKinnon has topped the MVP balloting. He has led the Avalanche to the top of the NHL standings, although at a slightly less historic points pace than earlier this season — Stathletes has the Avs projected for 117 points.
The projections remain historic for MacKinnon personally. Stathletes has him finishing with 56 goals, which would be a career high and a record for the Avalanche, topping Mikko Rantanen’s 55 in 2022-23. If we include the Quebec Nordiques — and we might as well since the Avs are dressing like them — then MacKinnon has Michel Goulet’s 1982-83 record of 57 goals in his sights.
“Most even-strength points in the league, plus-44 rating. Yeah, still good,” one MacKinnon voter said.
MacKinnon, seeking his second Hart after winning in 2023-24, earned 59% of the first-place votes from our panelists, which is up from his vote share last month (just over 50%).
That said, the distance between Celebrini (81 points in 54 games) and the next-highest scorer on the Sharks (39 points) is greater than that and quite frankly preposterous. The San Jose center and Canadian Olympian leads the team with 28 goals, 11 more than Will Smith, and leads all forwards in average ice time (21:12). He has done everything in his power to keep the Sharks circling around a wild-card playoff spot.
It’s a star-making season for Celebrini, who earned around 24% of the first-place votes from our panelists, and it could end with some awards love. Those Sidney Crosby comparisons aren’t going away any time soon if Celebrini also wins league MVP in his second season, the way Crosby did in 2006-07.
But there’s one huge caveat here that the other finalists probably won’t face: Celebrini’s efforts might not ultimately result in his team qualifying for the playoffs.
“Celebrini is lingering, but Sharks need to be more securely above the playoff line to get my vote,” said one voter who didn’t have Celebrini in their top three.
“If the Sharks were actually in a playoff spot, I might give this to Macklin Celebrini. But MacKinnon still leads the field given not only how good he is, but how strong the Avalanche have been all year long,” a MacKinnon voter said.
The final finalist is Kucherov with around 12% of the first-place votes, just nudging ahead of Connor McDavid this month.
Nikita Kucherov rips one past the goalie to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
McDavid fell out of the top three after being second in the voting last month. But that’s just illustrative of how tight this race is.
“This isn’t a Nathan MacKinnon slam dunk anymore, at least not for now. Connor McDavid is doing McDavid things in Edmonton and Nikita Kucherov can’t stop putting up points in Tampa,” one MacKinnon voter said.
Other players mentioned for the Hart on our panelist’s ballots: Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider and Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar.
Leader: Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche Finalists: Quinn Hughes, Minnesota Wild; Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets.
These three were the finalists for the award last season. Makar won the Norris last season over Werenski, who finished second in the voting, and Hughes, who was third. Obviously, the big change here is Hughes swapping the irrelevance of the Vancouver Canucks for the surging Wild via that blockbuster trade, which could be a factor eventually in the voting.
The Colorado defenseman had 56 points in 54 games this season, skating to a plus-27 for the juggernaut Avalanche. He’s averaging 25:05 in total ice time and plays in all situations. Makar has been a finalist for the Norris for the past five seasons, winning the award twice (2022, 2025).
Makar earned around 53% of the first-place votes this month. That’s down significantly from his leads over the past two months for the Norris, in which he was a unanimous choice in December and earned all but two first-place votes in January. Werenski is a big reason for that.
“It’s still Cale Makar, but objects in the rearview mirror are closer than they appear in the form of Zach Werenski,” one voter said.
Zach Werenski nets goal for Blue JacketsZach Werenski nets goal for Blue Jackets
The Columbus defenseman has 61 points in 51 games, including 19 goals. He’s second in average ice time per game (26:27) and plays in all situations. He’s a rock for the Blue Jackets on the back end, a suddenly ascendent team in the Eastern Conference after hiring coach Rick Bowness — although they aren’t the playoff given that the other finalists are.
“If the Blue Jackets were in a playoff position, then Zach Werenski deserves serious consideration here. As it is, Makar is just too good,” one Makar voter said.
Hughes was the only other defenseman to receive first-place votes. He could win a Norris for his team in Minnesota alone: 32 points in 25 games, including 29 assists for a plus-10 rating. He’s averaging an astonishing 28:16 in ice time per game since the trade. Overall, Hughes has 55 points in 51 games this season between Minnesota and Vancouver. Interestingly, Hughes averages only five seconds of short-handed ice time per game this season, unlike his counterparts.
One player to watch here, who was mentioned on multiple ballots: Seider of the Red Wings, who has been a defensive rock for them but might not have the point total (37 points in 57 games) to dazzle voters. Cue the “there should be an award for defensive defensemen!” outcry.
Leader: Matthew Schaefer, D, New York Islanders Finalists: Ivan Demidov, RW, Montreal Canadiens; Jesper Wallstedt, G, Minnesota Wild
Usually when an award is unanimous, we extrapolate who the finalists could be based on the support they received down the ballot. But that becomes a bit challenging when we receive ballots like this:
The Islanders 18-year-old rookie phenom has 39 points in 57 games, skating to a plus-7. The No. 1 pick in last summer’s NHL draft is averaging 24:05 in ice time per game, killing penalties while running the Islanders’ power play.
Matthew Schaefer lights the lamp for IslandersMatthew Schaefer lights the lamp for Islanders
He is nine goals and 17 points clear of Carolina rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin (22 points in 55 games), and no other rookie forward or defenseman comes close to his ice time.
“Ridiculous how good he’s been as a teenager at the toughest position to play in the game,” one voter said.
“Maybe the only lock on any ballot. No notes. No disrespect to Demidov. Schaefer being this good at 18 as a defenseman is just wild,” another voter said.
If there’s one skater who could make this interesting, it’s Demidov. After 56 games, he had the lead in the rookie points race (46) over forward Beckett Sennecke of the Anaheim Ducks (44 points, including an NHL-best 18 goals among rookies). He entered the NHL with so much hype. Winning the rookie scoring race could make things interesting.
As one voter broke it down: “Schaefer, by a whisker over Ivan Demidov, with Fraser Minten applying some pressure on Beckett Sennecke for the third spot.”