Unlike a lot of the awards and trophies that you can bet on at NHL betting sites, this one is an undisputed one and the stats speak for themselves when it comes to determining the winner, there can also be a tie when it comes to this award.
The Maurice Richard trophy is annually awarded to the player(s) with the most goals scored at the end of the regular season, and in its short 26 year history has been won nine times by one single player.
History of the Maurice Richard Trophy
The Maurice Richard trophy —also known as the Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophy— has only been in the league since 1998.
It was donated to the league by the Montreal Canadiens in honor of Maurice Richard, who was a Montreal legend having played 18 seasons with the team. He ended the season as top scorer on five occasions and was also the first NHL player to ever score 500 career goals in the league.
In 1944-45, Richard became the first NHL player to score 50 goals in one season and hoisted the famous Stanley Cup an eye-watering 8 times throughout his NHL career. He also managed to get his hands on the Hart trophy in 1947.
It’s fair to see why he deserves an award named after himself.
With it being one of the newest awards in the NHL, there haven’t been many winners in its short 26-year history, and has been tied on two occasions.
Once in 2003-04, when three players ended the season with 41 goals, and again in 2009-10 when Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos both ended the season with 51 goals.
The leading all-time winner of the trophy is current Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin. He has won the trophy on nine occasions. A further five players have won it twice (Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews, Steven Stamkos, Jarome Iginla and Pavel Bure).
What Lessons We Learned From Recent Winners
Let’s be honest here.
The main lesson we have learned from recent winners is the fact Alex Ovechkin is an absolute sniper in front of goals, as he has won the award as the top goalscorer in 7 of the previous 12 seasons, but his time in the spotlight may be slowly coming to an end.
Ovechkin has not won the award since 2019-20 and this season alone Ovechkin has only managed to score 8 goals in 42 games, which ranks him 195th in the overall list of top goalscorers.
Wayne Gretzky holds the record for the most goals scored in the NHL. Ovechkin is currently only 65 goals away from beating his record, but if he continues to score at such a low rate, he might have to stay in the league a lot longer than expected. Although Ovechkin has always been a one-man team, maybe it’s time he found pastures new to see will his game improve.
The previous four awards have gone to David Pastrnak, Auston Matthews twice in a row and Connor McDavid last season.
Although it seems these days Matthews is the best scorer in the league as he is currently topping the charts yet again this season with 38 goals (4 more than the second best). If Matthews ends this season as top scorer he will have won the award 3 times in the previous 4 seasons.
Who Are the Favorites to Win the Trophy in 2023-24
- Auston Matthews (Toronto) -105
- David Pastrnak (Boston) +400
- Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay) +700
- Connor McDavid (Edmonton) +750
- Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton) +850
Despite these five players being the favorites at the main offshore sportsbooks to be top scorers this season, only the top three in the NHL betting market are ranked 1st, 3rd, and 4th thus far as top scorers.
Interestingly, the second top scorer at the moment (Sam Reinhart) is as high as +4000, which is amazing value in our eyes, especially when we consider the fact he has three more goals than the 3rd best Kucherov.
It’s hard to see Matthews being caught, but for our money if we had to take anybody else in the market, we would look towards Reinhart at such high odds and probably Kucherov at +700.
