One of the most prestigious awards in the NHL for an individual player is the Hart Memorial Trophy. This award is presented to the player “adjudged to be the most valuable for his team” throughout the regular season.
Let’s check out the history of the trophy and what we can learn from recent winners when wagering on this award at the best NHL betting sites.
History of the Hart Memorial Trophy
The Hart trophy was first donated to the league by Dr. David Hart, the father of the then Montreal Canadiens head coach Cecil Hart. It was initially awarded in 1924 to Frank Nighbor of the Ottawa Senators. The trophy was retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960 by the NHL, hence why we now have the Hart “Memorial” trophy instead of just the Hart trophy.
This week in 1928: @CanadiensMTL legend Howie Morenz is landslide winner of Hart Memorial Trophy (123 of 140 votes) as NHL’s MVP, his 1st of 3, second #GoHabsGo player in award’s then 5-year history to win it (Herb Gardiner, 1927). Original Hart Trophy was quite unlike today’s. pic.twitter.com/W8pdITLo3a
— Dave Stubbs 🇨🇦 (@Dave_Stubbs) April 1, 2021
Each season, members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote on the trophy, with the top three votes qualifying as the finalist at the end of the regular season.
The trophy has been awarded 99 times to 61 different players, interestingly only three of the trophy winners have not been inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame (Tommy Andrson, Al Rollins and Jose Theodore).
The Great One(s)
Taking a look at the players who have won it the most; the great Wayne Gretzky holds the record for the most wins having been awarded the trophy a total of nine times throughout his NHL career. Only Gretzky and Mark Messier have been awarded the trophy with two different teams.
Joe Thornton is the only winner of the trophy to have changed teams throughout his winning season (Boston to San Jose) whilst Eddie Shore picked up the most wins for a defenceman having been awarded the trophy on four occasions in six seasons between 1932 and 1938.
Finally, only two players have ever been outright undisputed champions, Wayne Gretzky in 1982 and Connor McDavid in 2021.
Goaltenders have been few and far between when it comes to the Hart Memorial Trophy, winning just eight times in its 99-year history, the last goaltender to own the award was Carey Price in 2014.
What Lessons We Learned From Recent Winners
Recent winners of the trophy have played for the Edmonton Oilers with Connor McDavid winning the award three times in the previous seven seasons, while his teammate Leon Draisaitl also picked up the award in 2020, giving Edmonton four winners from the previous seven seasons.
Center players have also been favored recently, having won 10 of the previous 18 trophies, whilst left wingers have won it three times and right wingers four, with the final position going to goaltender (Carey Price). The last defenceman to win the award was back in 2000, and we have to go back to 1972 for the second previous defender to win.
Overall its mostly been centre players who have been awarded the trophy, having picked up the award 60% of the time in the previous 60 seasons.
McDavid became just the second unanimous Hart Trophy selection – joining Wayne Gretzky in 1982 – in receiving all 100 first-place votes from members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. https://t.co/Nuf9D0yLaF
— Detroit News Sports (@detnews_sports) June 30, 2021
Recent Years
In recent years the biggest lesson we have learned from recent winners is the fact they have ended the regular season as either the top goalscorer or top points scorer, with 9 of the previous 10 outfield players to win having finished as either top goalscorer or points scorer at the end of the regular season.
Even when we take a look at this year’s potential winners, 3 of the 5 in the betting market at the top offshore sportsbooks are ranked as the top three points scorers thus far this season, with the other being the current top goalscorer. Only one player in the top five of the betting isn’t ranked as a top goalscorer or points scorer and, wouldn’t you know, it’s the three-time winner Connor McDavid.
The ❤️ of the League.
Who do you think is going home with the Hart Trophy this season? #NHLAwards
See more from @NHLdotcom: https://t.co/MPniLoLIff pic.twitter.com/6jp2rgFXKz
— NHL (@NHL) January 19, 2024
Who Are the Favorites to Win the Trophy in 2023-24
- Nathan Mackinnon (+200)
- Connor McDavid (+250)
- Nikita Kucherov (+330)
- David Pastrnak (+850)
- Auston Matthews (+1200)
Comparing these odds to the current state of play in terms of overall stats, it’s fair to see why Mackinnon is favored as the current top points scorer and assister, but in our opinion, Nikita Kucherov could give McDavid a run for his money as second favorite.
Kucherov is just one point behind McKinnon in the overall stats standings, of course with McDavid’s pedigree the sportsbooks fancy him to up the pace in the second half of the season, but Kucherov has a 17-point head start.
We would respectfully skip David Pastrnak at +850 and go straight to the top goalscorer Auston Matthews at +1300 for our next best bet. If he keeps banging them in, he could become the top regular season scorer of this century (needing just 28 more to level Alex Ovechkin’s 65 set in 2008) that alone could be worthy of the trophy.
