Nikita Kucherov handed Hart Trophy in latest surprise announcement

League ditched awards show last year for more personal touch

Published Jun 11, 2026  •  Last updated 4 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov was announced as the Hart Trophy winner on Thursday, June 11, 2026.

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Lightning struck thrice this spring when NHL awards were handed out with the biggest individual regular-season accolade going to Nikita Kucherov.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning forward was surprised with the Hart Trophy by Phil Pritchard, the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Keeper of the Stanley Cup, who flew the NHL MVP award to the team’s practice facility in Florida for a video posted on the league’s website.

“Thanks for this honour,” said Kucherov, who won the award for the second time in his career. “Just really grateful for my teammates, coaches, my family. This means a lot.”

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The Russian winger edged out Edmonton Oilers centre and Ted Lindsay Award winner Connor McDavid in voting by 10 points, while Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon, who claimed the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal-scorer, was third.

Kucherov finished second in the league with 130 points (44 goals, 86 assists) behind only McDavid, but had more points per game (1.71) and was a plus-43 on the season for the Lightning.

He was one of three major award winners on the team after Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Vezina Trophy for a second time as the league’s top goalie and Jon Cooper won his first Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach.

“One of the great things … is he’s never satisfied,” Cooper said of Kucherov. “He could have 50 goals one year, well, he wants 51 the next year. He could have 100 assists one year. He might want 110 the next year. I think really that’s the growth of Kuch, he doesn’t put that above the team.”

League ditched traditional awards show

This was the second year that the NHL went without a traditional awards show, opting instead for grand reveals in intimate settings to surprise the award winners.

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Here’s a look at the other honourees for the 2025-26 season:

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Ted Lindsay Award

McDavid was named the most outstanding player by his peers for a fifth time after leading the league in scoring with 138 points (48 goals, 90 assists). That also automatically earned him the Art Ross Trophy for a sixth time.

He was surprised with the Lindsay Award by family and friends in the middle of a round at Magna Golf Club in Aurora.

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Jack Adams Award

Cooper, the Lightning’s two-time Cup-winning bench boss, claimed his first coach of the year award after another 50-win season in Tampa that included his 600th career victory. He said he “never thought this day would come.”

The Canadian Olympic coach was preparing to commemorate the Coop’s Catch for Kids Family Lounge at Muma Children’s Hospital in Tampa earlier this month when the award suddenly showed up.

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Vezina Trophy

Vasilevskiy’s second top goaltender award came on the heels of a 39-win season that included a .912 save percentage and 2.31 goals-against average.

His trophy presentation was more prank than surprise when police officers showed up after a workout at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa and told him that the K-9 unit detected a suspicious package inside his vehicle.

Cops pulled out a black bag with the Vezina in it.

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James Norris Trophy

Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski, who with his wife Odette recently welcomed their first child, thought he was being interviewed for a Father’s Day feature by NHL.com at his Detroit-area home earlier this month when Glenn Stants from the Hockey Hall of Fame showed up with the award given each year to the top blue-liner.

He finished the season with 81 points on 22 goals and 59 assists.

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Other winners

New York Islanders defenceman Matthew Schaefer (Calder Memorial Trophy), Montreal Canadiens forwards Nick Suzuki (Frank J. Selke Trophy) and Cole Caufield (Lady Byng Memorial Trophy), Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog (Mark Messier Leadership Award, Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy), Avalanche goalies Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood (William M. Jennings Trophy) and Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno (King Clancy Memorial Trophy).

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