Greg WyshynskiApr 13, 2026, 08:00 AM ETCloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.Follow on XMultiple Authors
play1:21Connor McDavid nets hat trick as Oilers trounce SharksConnor McDavid shines yet again for Edmonton, scoring a hat trick in a win over San Jose.
play0:45Zach Werenski wins it for the Blue Jackets in a shootoutZach Werenski wins it for the Blue Jackets in a shootout
play0:26Matthew Schaefer reaches 50 points with a goal vs. the SenatorsMatthew Schaefer becomes the youngest defenseman in NHL history to record 50 points after scoring vs. the Senators.
Connor McDavid nets hat trick as Oilers trounce SharksConnor McDavid shines yet again for Edmonton, scoring a hat trick in a win over San Jose.
Zach Werenski wins it for the Blue Jackets in a shootoutZach Werenski wins it for the Blue Jackets in a shootout
Matthew Schaefer reaches 50 points with a goal vs. the SenatorsMatthew Schaefer becomes the youngest defenseman in NHL history to record 50 points after scoring vs. the Senators.
Matthew Schaefer becomes the youngest defenseman in NHL history to record 50 points after scoring vs. the Senators.
play0:44Nathan MacKinnon’s 51st goal of the season seals Avs’ win
play0:33Andrei Vasilevskiy robs Bruins with saveAndrei Vasilevskiy robs Bruins with save
play1:30Nick Suzuki lights the lampNick Suzuki lights the lamp
Kucherov nets hat trick in Bolts’ win (0:55)Kucherov nets hat trick in Bolts’ win (0:55)
It’s the final week of the 2025-26 NHL regular season. The awards voters have their ballots, and are sweating out their decisions in what are (with one exception) extremely close races this season.
Hence, this final NHL Awards Watch becomes the most illuminating. This where the wind is blowing in the final days of the season. These are players making late pushes or fading near the finish line. This could be what the finalists end up looking like.
Welcome to the NHL Awards Watch for April. 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 PHWA votes for the Hart, Norris, Calder, Selke and Lady Byng finalists, broadcasters vote for the Jack Adams and general managers vote for the Vezina.
Leader: Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning Finalists: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers; Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Kucherov earned roughly 50% of the first-place votes in the final Awards Watch tally to lead the race in its final days. Entering Sunday’s action, Kucherov had 128 points in 74 games to lead the NHL with a 1.73 points-per-game average. He was 41 points ahead of the Lightning’s next highest scorer Jake Guentzel in six fewer games. Kucherov last won the Hart Trophy in 2019 and was finalist last season.
He was tied with McDavid last month for the third-most first-place votes, but takes the lead at the end of the regular season.
“In a year in which the Lightning have dealt with so many key injuries and absences, Kucherov has been the driving force to getting Tampa Bay into a playoff spot,” one Kucherov voter noted.
“The Lightning aren’t comfortably in a playoff spot with well upwards of 100 points without Nikita Kucherov,” another declared. “So that boldly checks the award’s definition box.”
“This is the tightest Hart race I’ve ever voted on. Felt all season this was Nathan MacKinnon’s to lose and, well, Kucherov and Connor McDavid have both passed him at this point. The ultimate photo finish here,” another voter explained.
Connor McDavid nets hat trick as Oilers trounce Sharks
Connor McDavid shines yet again for Edmonton, scoring a hat trick in a win over San Jose.
McDavid was second in the voting this month with around 35% of the first-place votes. Since Leon Draisaitl saw his regular season end with a lower-body injury on March 15, McDavid had 10 goals and nine assists in 12 games to clinch a playoff spot for the Oilers for the seventh straight season.
Entering Sunday, McDavid had 133 points in 80 games, seeking to add a sixth scoring title to his career achievements. There’s now a gap of 36 points between McDavid and Draisaitl among Oilers scorers, with Connor also 12 goals ahead of him.
“McDavid physically dragged Edmonton to the top of the Pacific without help from Draisaitl and reminded everyone he is the top dog,” a McDavid backer opined. “Edmonton is not in the playoffs without his performance down the stretch.”
Nathan MacKinnon’s 51st goal of the season seals Avs’ win
Nathan MacKinnon’s 51st goal of the season seals Avs’ win
Could MacKinnon still pull this thing out? Nate Dog earned the third-most first-place MVP votes in the final Awards Watch, having powered the Avalanche to clinching the President’s Trophy with the league’s best regular-season record.
MacKinnon had 126 points in 78 games. His 52 goals were best in the NHL entering Sunday, although Montreal’s Cole Caufield was just one tally behind. The Avalanche star is seeking his second league MVP award, having last won the Hart in 2024.
“I just think if you take him off the Avs, they aren’t nearly the same team. He’s been other-worldly,” one MacKinnon voter beamed.
The only other player to receive a first-place vote was 19-year-old San Jose Sharks star Macklin Celebrini. Our voters made it clear in last month’s Awards Watch: If the Sharks made the playoffs — or narrowly missed — many of them were ready to flip their votes over to Celebrini, with declarations like: “It’s Celebrini if the Sharks somehow rally.”
As it stands, only two writers officially gave Celebrini first-place votes in the final Awards Watch, but he received plenty of love from the voters we surveyed.
“Can we have a situation like with MLB, where a player wins MVP on a team that doesn’t make the playoffs? Alex Rodriguez won the AL MVP in 2003 on a Texas Rangers team that finished dead last,” a voter pointed out. “Celebrini joins a short list of players recording 100 points as a teenager. The last to do it was Sidney Crosby.”
“There are three incredible candidates for the Hart, and four if Celebrini can get the Sharks in,” a non-Celebrini voter acknowledged.
“If my ballot were due right now, it’s Nikita Kucherov. However, Macklin Celebrini has a serious case,” another admitted.
Other players mentioned by our voters that didn’t receive first-place votes included Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski and Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak.
Leader: Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets Finalists: Evan Bouchard, Edmonton Oilers; Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
Werenski has been eating into Makar’s vote lead for the last few months until he tied the Avalanche star with 41% of the vote last month. In the final days of the Norris race, Werenski has taken the lead in the ballots we surveyed, even as his team has dropped in the standings.
Werenski earned around 53% of the first-place votes for the Norris. The Blue Jackets defenseman was voted second for the Norris last season, which Makar won. Werenski is seeking his first award as the NHL’s top defenseman.
Werenski had 22 goals and 59 points through 73 games, with his 81 points ranking second behind Bouchard among all defensemen. He was also second in average ice time (26:34) behind Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild, playing in all situations for Columbus. That’s one reason why Werenski isn’t just one of the NHL best on the blue line this season — he’s also easily Columbus’s MVP, 14 points better than their second-leading scorer Kirill Marchenko.
“What, and where, is Columbus without Werenski? He isn’t working with the same depth of talent that Cale Makar has in Colorado,” another noted. “Werenski is exceptional at both ends of the ice, and Columbus wouldn’t be nearly where they are without him.”
“Werenski is also in the back end of Hart talk. It is time to give him his flowers,” another quipped.
Zach Werenski wins it for the Blue Jackets in a shootout
Zach Werenski wins it for the Blue Jackets in a shootout
Makar was second in the voting with around 24% of the first-place votes, and has strong support has he seeks his second straight Norris and third win of his seven-season career. The Avalanche defenseman has 20 goals in 55 assists for 75 points through 73 games, skating 24:53 on average. He scored 16 of those goals at even strength.
“While Evan Bouchard and Werenski have more points than Makar, that doesn’t make up for what Makar brings to a team,” a Makar backer argued. “Just a dynamic game-changing ability from the backend. Still the best defenseman in the NHL.”
If there’s one defenseman making significant noise at the right time it’s Bouchard. The Oilers star will lead all defensemen in scoring this season, having tallied 91 points in 80 games, becoming just the fifth defenseman to break 90 points in a season this millennium. He’s averaging 24:38 in ice time per game, playing in all situations.
“Bouchard isn’t getting the love he deserves, probably because he wasn’t at the Olympics — which I will remind everyone, doesn’t count for this award,” one voter pointed out. “He’s scoring, and has improved 5-on-5 numbers. Werenski has run out of steam of late.”
Bouchard collected the third-most first-place votes. The only other defensemen to be named first on out voters’ ballots were the Wild’s Hughes, who was a finalist for the Norris in the March Awards Watch, and Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, last season’s rookie of the year.
“Lane Hutson is my No. 1 right now,” one voter revealed. “I feel an argument can be made for so many top blueliners this year. For me, I boiled it down to 5-on-5 production.”
Other defensemen mentioned down the ballot included Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars, Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings, Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, and Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders.
Leader: Matthew Schaefer, New York Islanders Finalists: Ivan Demidov, Montreal Canadiens; Beckett Sennecke, Anaheim Ducks