Closest Hart Trophy votes in NHL history: Where Nikita Kucherov's narrow win over Connor McDavid ranks all-time

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Closest Hart Trophy votes in NHL history: Where Nikita Kucherov's narrow win over Connor McDavid ranks all-time originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Hart Trophies go a long way toward determining legacies in the NHL, and only a handful of votes kept Connor McDavid from his fourth this season.

Lightning star Nikita Kucherov edged out McDavid for MVP honors by one of the smallest margins in NHL history, receiving 1,436 points to McDavid's 1,426 points. It's Kucherov's second Hart Trophy, while McDavid will have to make another attempt at becoming only the fourth player to earn his fourth.

Kucherov put up his fourth consecutive season of at least 110 points this season, posting 130 points in 76 games for Tampa Bay.

Here's a look at where this year's narrow race ranks among the closest in NHL history.

MORE:2025-26 NHL awards tracker

Closest Hart Trophy votes in NHL History​

The win by Kucherov is the fourth-closest in NHL history:

Year	Margin	Winner	Runner-up
2001-02	0 points	Jose Theodore	Jarome Iginla
1999-00	1 point	Chris Pronger	Jaromir Jagr
1989-90	2 points	Mark Messier	Ray Bourque
2025-26	10 points	Nikita Kucherov	Connor McDavid
2012-13	32 points	Alex Ovechkin	Sidney Crosby

By definition, no race will actually beat the 2001-02 battle between Jose Theodore and Jarome Iginla, as the two tied but Theodore won by the tiebreaker of first-place votes. Two years earlier, Chris Pronger edged out Jaromir Jagr by only a point.

After Mark Messier's two-point win over Ray Bourque in 1990 (albeit with fewer points go around), Kucherov's victory comes in as the fourth-closest at 1,436 points to 1,426.

Nathan MacKinnon wasn't far behind, either, as he received 1,297 points. The 2025-26 Hart Trophy race is the first since the current system was implemented in 1996 that all three finalists earned at least 25 percent of the first-place votes.

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Who votes for the the Hart Trophy winner?​

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association vote for the Hart Trophy, with nearly 200 voters now deciding the NHL's MVP award.

Nikita Kucherov 2026 stats​

Games	Points	Goals	Assists	PPG	+/-
76	130	44	86	1.71	+43

Kucherov recorded his fourth consecutive season of at least 110 points and third consecutive season of at least 120 points in 2025-26, posting 130 points on 44 goals and 86 assists. The 2019 Hart Trophy winner also reached 400-goal and 1,000-point milestones for his career this season.

Connor McDavid 2026 stats​

Games	Points	Goals	Assists	PPG	+/-
82	138	48	90	1.68	+17

McDavid led the NHL with 138 points across a full 82 games in 2025-26, though Kucherov just barely edged him out in points per game with 1.71 to 1.68.

2025-26 marked McDavid's ninth career 100-point season, and he would assuredly have a streak of 10 consecutive 100-point seasons if not for the abrupt ending to the 2019-20 regular season.

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