Macklin Celebrini, Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid were named ted lindsay award finalists on Tuesday, putting three of the NHL’s most productive players on the sport’s latest awards stage. The ted lindsay award honors the league’s most outstanding player as voted by members of the NHL Players’ Association. The winner will be announced at a later date.
Three stars, three elite seasons
Celebrini, a San Jose Sharks center, finished fourth in the NHL and set a San Jose Sharks franchise record with 115 points in 82 games. The 19-year-old had points in 60 games this season, including 18 games with at least three points and five games with at least four points. He also posted 33 power-play points and five game-winning goals as San Jose finished 39-35-8 with 86 points after a 20-win, 52-point season.
Kucherov, a Tampa Bay Lightning forward, finished second in NHL scoring with 130 points in 76 games and led the league with a 1. 71 points-per-game average. He had a plus-43 rating, recorded at least one point in 60 of 76 games and produced 40 multi-point games, including nine with at least four points and two five-point games. His strongest stretch came from Dec. 20-Jan. 12, when he totaled 25 points in 10 games.
McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers captain, led the NHL with 138 points in 82 games. He had points in 68 games, including 43 multi-point games, and put together a 20-game point streak from Dec. 4-Jan. 13 that included 46 points. Edmonton finished second in the Pacific Division with a 41-30-11 record.
Ted Lindsay Award race stays crowded
The ted lindsay award has already belonged to Kucherov four times, including last season and the 2018-19 season. This is his fourth time as a finalist and the third straight season he has reached that stage. McDavid has won the award four previous times and is a finalist for the seventh time, leaving him one win away from matching Wayne Gretzky for the most in league history.
Celebrini would become the first Sharks player to win the award. That gives this year’s field a rare mix of established names and a younger player arriving in the same conversation.
What the finalists have already put on the board
Celebrini’s season stood out for volume and consistency, with a franchise scoring benchmark and repeated high-end output. Kucherov remained one of the league’s most efficient scorers, while McDavid again set the pace at the top of the scoring race and delivered a long point streak that shaped Edmonton’s season. Together, they form the clearest snapshot of where elite offense sat this year.
More awards are still coming
The NHL will announce the remaining finalists for its awards this week and next week, beginning with the Vezina Trophy on Wednesday, April 29 ET and ending with the Hart Memorial Trophy on Friday, May 8 ET. The NHL Awards schedule now turns attention toward the next wave of finalists, but the ted lindsay award already has one of the season’s sharpest races in place.
