Connor McDavid Wins Hart as NHL MVP; Matthew Tkachuk 3rd

As expected, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid was the runaway winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the NHL with Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk placing third.

Boston forward David Pastrnak placed second in the voting done by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.

For the second consecutive year, Tkachuk was named to the All-NHL team as the second-team right wing.

McDavid ended his season with 64 goals with 153 points and led the Oilers to the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Pacific Division, two points back of the Vegas Golden Knights.

This was his third Hart Trophy win since 2017 and second in three years.

McDavid got 195 of the 196 first-place votes with Pastrnak getting one.

The Hart Trophy was awarded at the annual NHL Award Show, held Monday night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Tkachuk was the only Florida finalist in awards handed out Monday; Florida GM Bill Zito is one of three finalists for the Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award which will be announced during the first-round of the NHL Draft on Wednesday night.

The Panthers did have Sasha Barkov as a top-10 finishers in a couple of other awards, finishing seventh in voting for the Lady Byng and eighth in the Selke Trophy.

Defenseman Brandon Montour finished 12th in voting for the Norris Trophy.

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK

• Wednesday: Round 1 of the NHL Draft; Nashville, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
• Thursday: NHL Draft Rounds 2-7; Nashville (Florida has picks in Rounds 2, 4, 5, 6 & 7), 11 a.m. (NHL Network)
• Friday: Buyout period ends
• Saturday: Free agency opens, noon
• Mid-September: Training Camp, South Florida
• Sept. 25: Preseason starts, doubleheader v. Nashville @ Sunrise
• Oct. 7: Preseason ends, vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Mid-October: Start of 2023-24 Regular Season