Macklin Celebrini, Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid were named finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award on Tuesday, putting three of the NHL’s most productive players in line for one of the league’s most respected honors. The winner will be announced at a later date.
Celebrini’s case starts with a season that pushed the San Jose Sharks forward. He finished fourth in the NHL and set a franchise record with 115 points in 82 games, scoring 45 goals and adding 70 assists while getting on the scoresheet in 60 games. He also had at least three points in 18 games, five games with at least four points, 33 power-play points and five game-winning goals. The Sharks finished 39-35-8 with 86 points after managing 20 wins and 52 points last season, and Celebrini would be the first Sharks player to win the award.
Kucherov again brings the force of a repeat finalist and defending winner. He was second in the NHL with 130 points in 76 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning, with 44 goals and 86 assists, and led the league with a 1.71 points-per-game average. His plus-43 rating was tied for third among all NHL players. Kucherov had at least one point in 60 of 76 games, including 40 games with at least two points, plus nine games with at least four points and two five-point games. His best run came from Dec. 20-Jan. 12, when he piled up 25 points in 10 games. He won the Ted Lindsay Award last season after leading the NHL in scoring with 121 points, and this is the fourth time he has been a finalist and the third season in a row.
McDavid’s numbers are even harder to ignore. He led the NHL in scoring with 138 points, including 48 goals and 90 assists, and had points in 68 of the 82 games he played. He posted 43 multipoint games, seven games with at least four points and three games with five points, and collected 46 points during a 20-game point streak from Dec. 4-Jan. 13. He led the Oilers in goals, assists and points, and helped Edmonton finish second in the Pacific Division at 41-30-11. McDavid has won the Ted Lindsay Award four previous times, is a finalist for the seventh time and could join Wayne Gretzky as the only player to win it five times.
The award, voted on annually by members of the NHL Players' Association, is supposed to reflect what players value most, not just what fills a stat sheet. That makes this field unusually stark: Celebrini is chasing a first for San Jose, Kucherov is trying to repeat, and McDavid is after a fifth trophy that would put him alongside the league’s standard-setter. The remaining finalists for the NHL Awards will be announced this week and next week, but the race for this one already has a clear shape.
