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NHL Awards and the Winner of the 2025 Hart Memorial Trophy as League MVP

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The annual NHL award ceremony was tonight. We are here to tell you who came away with awards, but specifically the league MVP, the NHL’s 2025 Hart Memorial Trophy with a twist. In the running this year was the likes of Connor Hellebuyck, Nikita Kucherov, and Leon Draisaitl. Some of the other awards, such as Cale Makar claiming his second-career Norris Trophy or Lane Hutson being named the Calder Trophy winner have already been announced ahead of the official ceremony tonight, but we are here to announce the big one. However, the twist they also named the Vezina Trophy winner simultaneously.

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And the Winner of the NHL’s 2025 Hart Trophy Is…

Connor Hellebuyck claims these awards, and how. First of all, he helped his Winnipeg Jets squad capture the Presidents’ Trophy by five points. In doing so, he also claimed the William J. Jennings Trophy for team with fewest goals against in the regular season.  From an individual standpoint, last year we thought his numbers were great, but he basically destroyed them this go around. He led the league with a career high 47 wins and career-best 2.00 goals-against average. That’s not to mention his sensational winning percentage of .782. His save percentage of .925 was among the leaders, and eight shutouts also speaks for itself.

Hellebuyck had been on a mission of redemption. He sure proved his was capable in the regular season. His playoff performances, especially on the road leave some to be desired, but that speaks nothing to his abilities. This award and his fabulous, sustained play, is a sign of how good he truly is at his craft.

Before we get into all the fun stats, here’s one.

  • Gretzky – eight-years in a row (1980 to 1987)

But to the tenders.

GOALIES to Have Won the Hart

As for the Vezina. Helly knocked off Andrei Vasilevskiy and Darcy Kuemper. Since Patrick Roy won back-to-back in 1989 and 1990, there were a couple other notable stretches of dominance. Dominik Hasek won the award six of eight seasons for a stretch. Also, Martin Brodeur had a run of four-out-of-five victories. More recently, even winning multiple times is a little more uncommon. However, Connor Hellebuyck capturing back-to-back nods, and three in six years is very impressive.

What About the Runner-Ups

Leon Draisaitl had a great 2024-25 season. You know this by the fact that he was nominated for this award and not his teammate, Connor McDavid. Despite not securing the award victory, he had some excellent stats. He led the league in goals, by a safe margin of seven. His 52 were trailed most closely by the Leafs William Nylander. Furthermore, he had 106 points, tied for third in the league with David Pastrnak. However, Drai did it in fewer games, as he only skated 71 contests. That would’ve had him on a pace for over 120 points, had he played the whole campaign. Between the stats and the fact he is so hard to check off the puck, Draisaitl can control games. His Edmonton Oilers team have earned a second-consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final for a reason. Draisaitl was definitely deserving of this award.

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The Other 2025 Hart Trophy Candidate

This brings us to the other nominee, the Russian-superstar Nikita Kucherov. In 2024-25, with 121 points, Kucherov claimed his third Art Ross scoring title over the past six seasons, and defended his title from last year. He had a Hart win already from the first year he claimed the Art Ross. He tied for the league-lead in assists with and had five more total points than Nathan MacKinnon. In addition, the larger body of work for Kucherov’s offensive statistics are really starting to add up. Of course his 2020-21 regular season was lost to injury, but since 2017-18, he has 760 total points, and an amazing 1.47 points-per-game. For comparison, with the added benefit of an extra season, McDavid had 934 points, with a 1.60 PPG.

In any case, it was three worthy competitors. Each have owned their share of individual hardward.

Main Photo Credit: Terrence Lee-Imagn Images

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