Hart Trophy winner for 2024-25 season debated by NHL.com

The NHL’s offseason business is close to finished with most free agents having been signed. Training camps loom in less than three weeks and the landscape of the League has changed with new faces in new places. Heck, even the team landscape has changed with the Arizona Coyotes being relocated to Salt Lake City and becoming the Utah Hockey Club.

With that in mind, we asked NHL.com staffers to look into their crystal balls and do some prognosticating on the League’s major awards. Today, it’s the Hart Trophy, awarded annually to the player adjudged to be most valuable to his team. Here, in alphabetical order, were the selections.

Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks

Where is the love for the defensemen? Don’t they have value? Of course they do, and it’s about time they are recognized in the Hart Trophy balloting. A defenseman has not won the award since Chris Pronger in 2000, but that changes this season, 25 years later. Hughes is the man to do it. He has all the attributes. He is a force in the offensive zone, rivaling some of the forwards on this list with his 92 points (17 goals, 75 assists) last season. He is rock solid in his own end, as evidenced by his plus-38 goal differential, so he prevents goals almost as well as he creates them. And he played 24:11 per game last season, more than any forward on this list. Simply, he touches every part of the game for a Stanley Cup contender. What’s more valuable than that? Nothing. -- Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial

Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild

The 27-year-old had his third straight 40-goal season in 2023-24, but something seemed a bit different for him. Maybe it was the way he reacted to playing under coach John Hynes; he scored 40 goals in 56 games after the coaching change was made Nov. 27. Now he'll have a full season playing in Hynes' system, which he clearly likes. And with Marco Rossi beginning to emerge, Kaprizov could get to skate with the best playmaking center he's been around as he enters his fifth NHL season. He's in the prime of his career, skating for a coach who he clearly enjoys playing for, and he should be motivated after the Wild missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. -- Adam Kimelman, deputy managing editor

Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

It’s hard not to pick Connor McDavid for this award, but I don’t think you can go wrong with Kucherov, one of the three finalists for the award last season. Kucherov led the NHL with 144 points (44 goals, 100 assists) in 81 games, which was a career high for the forward, better than the 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists) he had in 2018-19 when he won the Hart. His 100 assists matched the 100 by McDavid, making each of them the first to reach triple digits since Wayne Gretzky had 122 in 1990-91. Kucherov is 31 years old, but he doesn’t seem to be slowing down after putting up the best offensive season in Lightning history. -- Amalie Benjamin, staff writer

Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

Yep, I believe the forward repeats as Hart Trophy winner after taking the award last season. Why not? The best players in the NHL continuously find ways to hit impressive marks, and MacKinnon is no exception. He scored more than 50 goals for the first time in his career last season (51). He had a career-high 140 points and a 35-game home point streak, second-longest in League history behind Gretzky’s 40-game run with the Los Angeles Kings in 1988-89. What impressive stats will MacKinnon put up this season? That remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt he will once again be the driving force for the Avalanche. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer

Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

The American forward scored 69 goals last season. Granted, expecting him to score that many again this season seems far-fetched. Wayne Gretzky (four times), Mario Lemieux (four), Brett Hull (three), Phil Esposito (three), Jari Kurri (two) and Mike Bossy (two) are the only players who have scored at least 65 goals twice in their careers. Gretzky, Hull, Lemieux, Esposito and Kurri are the four who have done it in back-to-back seasons. But Matthews’ ability to score puts him in that category. He can do it. He leads the NHL with 368 goals (in 562 games) since he broke into the League in 2016-17. Let’s face it, the object of the game is to score more goals than the opposition. The Maple Leafs consistently do that well because of Matthews. But now he’s the captain too. There are leadership responsibilities. There’s more on his plate, but the expectation here is Matthews will have another 60-goal, 100-point season. Put it all together, and this will be his season to earn the label as the most valuable player to his team. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer

Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Since being selected No. 1 by the Oilers at the 2015 NHL Draft, no player has more points (982) and assists (647) than McDavid. It’s not even close. Consider this: the 27-year-old has 141 more points than the second-highest point getter in that span, teammate Leon Draisaitl (841). It’s that type of dominance that has netted him three Hart Trophy honors (2017, 2021, 2023). But for me, this is as much about the eye test as it is about statistics. As a kid, I watched Bobby Orr and was privileged to get to know him when he was an agent. I covered Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux at the end of their generational careers, then got to do the same with Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin from the time each broke into the League. Through all that, I’ve never seen a more naturally talented hockey player than McDavid. His straight-line speed and his ability to make plays at such high velocity is jaw-dropping. Want proof? Just watch him. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

The forward has put together back-to-back 100-plus point seasons, and there is little reason to believe he will not be able to do it again this season. The 28-year-old had 110 points (47 goals, 63 assists) in 82 games last season and eight points (four goals, four assists) in 13 playoff games. Pastrnak is just entering his prime and with a strong supporting cast around him is capable of putting together an MVP season for the Bruins. It would not be surprising to see Pastrnak surpass the 50-goal and 100-point plateau like he did in 2022-23 (61 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games. -- Derek Van Diest, staff writer

Steven Stamkos, Nashville Predators

I’ll admit it feels strange typing Nashville Predators after Stamkos’ name, and it may take a little bit to adjust seeing him in their colors after he played his first 16 NHL seasons in the royal blue of the Tampa Bay Lightning. But I have a feeling it’s not going to take Stamkos much time to adjust to his new team. In fact, I believe he’s going to flourish. He is coming off a 40-goal, 81-point season, and has scored at least 40 goals (he had 42 in 2021-22) in two of his past three seasons. He will be a force on a Nashville power play that was 16th in the NHL last season (21.6) and more importantly will make the Predators a legit Stanley Cup contender. That is what an MVP does and that is what Stamkos will do for Nashville. -- Bill Price, Editor-in-Chief