The three finalists for the National Hockey League Players Association’s Ted Lindsay Award for the 2025-26 season are Macklin Celebrini, Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid, the league announced on Tuesday.
The award is presented annually to “the Most Outstanding Player in the NHL,” as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA.
The winner of the award will be announced at a later date. McDavid is a four-time winner of the award, Kucherov has taken the award home twice, and it is Celebrini’s first time being nominated for the honour.
Celebrini, 19, took the league by storm in his second full season since he was taken with the first overall pick by the San Jose Sharks in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He finished tied for fourth with 45 goals, and set a Sharks franchise record with 115 points in playing all 82 games.
Per San Jose Sharks PR, Celebrini joined the legendary Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history under 20 years old to claim a 40-plus goal, 70-plus assist season.
Kucherov, of the Tampa Bay Lightning, overcame a slow start to the campaign to finish second in the league in points with 130. He finished with 44 goals and 86 assists, and collected his 1,000th career point of his career in a game against the Anaheim Ducks early in the year.
Kucherov won the award last season, and took home his first Ted Lindsay Award following the 2018-19 campaign.
McDavid, the captain of the Edmonton Oilers, led all skaters with 138 points this year. He finished with 48 goals and a league-leading 90 assists.
This season was the sixth season of his career in which he led the league in points. Some milestones through the year for McDavid included 800 career assists (third fastest in NHL history), 1,100 and 1,200 points and 400 career goals.
McDavid has won the Ted Lindsay Award four times in his career - in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2023.
