The Hart Trophy is the highest individual honor in the National Hockey League (NHL). First awarded in 1924, the trophy is given to the league’s most valuable player as determined by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PWHA) in all NHL cities. Wayne Gretzky has won the Hart Trophy a record nine times, including in eight consecutive years from 1980-87, and is one of only eight players to win the award at least three times.
Seven of those eight winners, including Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe, are from Canada and the other—Alex Ovechkin—is from Russia. Ovechkin is one of only six European players to win the Hart Trophy in the 21st century. Here’s a look at the others.
1. Leon Draisaitl (2020)
Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl became the first player from Germany to win the Hart Trophy in 2020, finishing ahead of runners-up Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) and Artemi Panarin (New York Rangers) in PHWA voting. Draisaitl, who also won the Ted Lindsay Award, led all players in scoring with 110 points (43 goals and 67 assists) in 71 games in the COVID-shortened season.
Draisaitl’s teammate Connor McDavid, arguably the best player in the world, won his first of two Hart Trophies in 2017. He had 97 points (34 goals and 63 assists) in 64 games in the 2019-20 season. While Draisaitl’s detractors have argued that he benefits greatly from playing with McDavid, the German superstar excelled with McDavid out of the lineup, registering 12 points in a six-game span.
2. Nikita Kucherov (2019)
Nikita Kucherov, who was a finalist for the Hart Trophy in 2024, won the award in 2019 after a career-best season in which he established a new record for most points (128) by a Russian player. Kucherov had the most points in a single season since Lemieux and teammate Jaromir Jagr recorded 161 and 149, respectively, in 1995-96. He was instrumental to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s success in the 2018-29 season, recording a point in 62 of the team’s 82 games.
Moreover, Tampa Bay was 54-5-3 when Kucherov was on the scoresheet and 8-11-1 when he failed to register a point. He also won the Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. The first Lightning player to win the Hart since Martin St. Louis in 2003-04, Kucherov received 164 of 171 first-place votes from PWHA members.
3. Alex Ovechkin (2013, 2009, and 2008)
Ovechkin, who was just 27 goals from breaking Gretzky’s career record of 894 as of December 3, 2024, won his third Hart Trophy in 2013. The Washington Capitals winger had a slow start to the season, but scored 23 goals in the team’s final 23 games to help them make the playoffs, while runner-up Sidney Crosby was sidelined for the last 12 games of the season with a broken jaw. Ovechkin had 50 first-place votes in the lockout-shortened season and Crosby had 46.
It wasn’t so close when Ovechkin won his second Hart Trophy in 2009. He won the award for the second consecutive season, receiving 115 of 131 first-place votes. Fellow Russians Evgeni Malkin (Penguins) and Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings) finished second and third in voting. Ovechkin scored a league-best 56 goals and finished second with 110 points.
Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy in 2007-08 after leading the league in goals (65) and points (112). As such, he also won both the Rocket Richard Trophy and Art Ross Trophy. He was the first player to reach the 60-goal mark since Lemieux in 1996.
4. Evgeni Malkin (2012)
Malkin, currently in his 19th season with the Penguins, won the Hart for the first and only time in his career in the 2011-12 season. A native of Russia, Malkin has faced similar criticisms as Draisaitl at times throughout his career, but proved himself as a superstar capable of carrying a team on his own, recording a league-best 109 points (50 goals, 59 assists) in 75 games. His longtime teammate and two-time Hart winner Crosby was limited to just 22 games that season due to injury.
Malkin also won the Art Ross and Ted Lindsay Award in 2011-12 and was the only 100-point scorer in the NHL, an impressive feat despite drawing the attention of each opponent’s top defensive pairing every game. Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) and Steven Stamkos (Lightning) were runners-up for the Hart.
5. Henrik Sedin (2010)
A native of Sweden, Henrik Sedin became the first player in Vancouver Canucks history to win the Hart Trophy in 2009-10. The 29-year-old led all players with a career-best 112 points (29 goals and 83 assists), but was surprised to win the award, stating that he thought Crosby and Ovechkin were the best players in the league that season.
6. Peter Forsberg (2003)
Seven years before fellow Swede Sedin won the Hart Trophy, Peter Forsberg became the first player from the Nordic country to win the award. He also won the Art Ross Trophy, leading all players with 106 points (29 goals and 77 assists). His Colorado Avalanche teammate, Milan Hejduk, won the Rocket Richard with a league-best 50 goals.