Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak and Matthew Tkachuk were named finalists for the Hart Trophy on Friday.
The winner of the award, given annually to the NHL player voted most valuable to his team by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, will be announced as part of the 2023 NHL Awards at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on June 26 (8 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS).
McDavid led the NHL in scoring for the third straight season with 153 points (64 goals, 89 assists) in 82 games for the Edmonton Oilers, the 15th-highest total in a single season. He became the fifth different player to lead the League in each category in a season (Phil Esposito, 1972-73 Boston Bruins; Wayne Gretzky, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87 Oilers; Gordie Howe, 1952-53, Detroit Red Wings; Howie Morenz, 1927-28, Montreal Canadiens).
The center was also the first player in NHL history with three point streaks of at least 15 games in a season and has led the NHL in scoring in five of the past seven, finishing second in the other two.
McDavid, who helped Edmonton (50-23-9) qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, is a two-time Hart winner and five-time finalist. He won the award in 2020-21 and in 2016-17 and would be the third Oilers player to win it in the past four seasons (Leon Draisaitl, 2019-20). The Oilers captain would be the ninth player to win the award at least three times; Gretzky won it a record nine, including eight straight seasons from 1979-87.
Pastrnak finished second in the NHL with 61 goals in 82 games for the Boston Bruins, tied Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for third in points (113) and set NHL career highs in goals, assists (52), points, plus-minus rating (plus-34), game-winning goals (13) and shots on goal (407). He had nine games with at least three points this season was and tied for second in the League with three hat tricks.
The forward led the second-ranked offense in the NHL (3.67 goals per game) and helped Boston (65-12-5) set NHL records for wins and points (135) in a season and win the Presidents' Trophy for having the best regular-season record.
A first-time finalist, Pastrnak would be the first Bruins player to win the Hart since Esposito in 1973-74.
Tkachuk had an NHL career-high 109 points (40 goals, 69 assists) in 79 games for the Florida Panthers, topping 100 points and 40 goals for the second straight season. He led Florida in assists, points, plus-minus rating (plus-29), penalty minutes (123), even-strength points (72), power-play points (36) and shots on goal (322) and tied Aleksander Barkov for the team lead with six game-winning goals.
The forward had 14 games with at least three points, including 12 (five goals, seven assists) in the final eight regular-season games when Florida (42-32-8) went 6-1-1 to clinch the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Panthers reached the Stanley Cup Final, losing in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights.
A first-time finalist, Tkachuk would be the first Panthers player to win the award.
"To be honest, I think that's more of a July 10, August 1 thing to think about," Tkachuk said about possibly winning the Hart Trophy. "That's just not even … our team doesn't, we're not caught up in the individual stuff. Maybe other teams are. That's a thing I'll look back on in the summer."
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews won the Hart Trophy last season.
NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report
