Jan 09, 2026
3 min read
Even in an unpredictable NHL season, two familiar names are still dominating the MVP discussion.Can the Hart Trophy beat MacKinnon or McDavid, or will a challenger like Celebrini stake his claim?'s Sony Sachdeva explores the race.
It's been a wild, unpredictable NHL season.Parity reigns supreme, there are very few presumed contenders in contention, and we've already seen some blockbuster deals shake up the league.
However, if there is any familiarity, those are the two names at the top of the points race as we reach the halfway point of the season.
Although their respective clubs have endured remarkably different seasons so far, the two offensive assets continue to prove they belong in the league - but which of these two will be most important to their team at the end of the season?And which other big names in the league could be most important to their club's success?
As we approach the midway point, let's see who did the best for the Cup of Hearts:
Nathan McKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
The one-and-done phenom has been electric since Day 1. Opening the season with a four-game hitting streak, accumulating eight points in the opening week of the season, MacKinnon burst out of the gates, scoring a league-leading 24 goals and 51 points in the first 30 games.
Even though Connor McDavid's wild December put Edmonton Oilers captain Art Ross first, MacKinnon remains first in the league with 35 goals (bringing him to nearly 70 goals by the end of the season), second with 74 points (bringing him over 140), first in even points (56, 8) and even first in goals in 9 (2) into the stat, first with plus-48.
More importantly, his dominance was mirrored by his club's success.With MacKinnon the engine pushing Colorado forward, the Avalanche sit first in the league.Head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, the Avs have lost just four times in regulation with 42 turnovers, their .821 points percentage besting second-place Dallas by .682.Unless No. 29 or his team falls in the second half, MacKinnon appears to be late in the season on a collision course for some hardware.
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
It's been a much more troubled season in Edmonton.After backup trips to the Stanley Cup finals and a fairly busy season which eventually led to a two -year extension to the Oilers captain, McDavid started the season a little slowly - at least by its standards.However, number 97 has been overwhelming than the rest of the league since early December.
The three-time winner of the Hart Trophy continued a 16-game streak that saw him collect 17 goals and 39 points without scoring, with more than a few series of McDavid flying through defenders like nothing.The run brought him back to the competition, and pulled his Oilers back to the playoffs, too - at the end of November, Edmonton sat outside the post-season picture, tied with three other clubs for a wild card spot.Now, he sits in Vegas for the Pacific Division title.
The question is how many sponsors there are.McDavid has Leon Draisaitl himself as the best scorer in the game to work with.McKinnon has Cal Makar, arguably the league's most potent offensive threat out of the back.me tooThe first half proves that this will be true.
Maclin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
There is no doubt who is the most surprising entry in the Hart Trophy race - just add it to the list of plot twists penned by Sharks phenom Celebrini in his second campaign.
The 19-year-old exceeded everyone's expectations, scoring 23 NHL points in his first 15 games and dominating the league in his first month.Fast forward to the present, and the teenager is still going strong with two of the most prolific talents in the game, better than anyone in the NHL outside of McDavid and MacKinnon.His 67 points in 43 games has already surpassed his respectable total as a rookie last season, earning him a top 120 ranking in North Vancouver, British Columbia.If you filter out the noise, Celebrini was even more impressive, ranking second in the league in rebounds with 49 points and tied for second in scoring (20 points).
Celebrini's emergence has already proven he deserves to be considered one of the best players in the world, as the Sharks talisman's early reign earned him an unexpected spot on Canada's Olympic team.It would also be interesting to see the Sharks back in the postseason.It's been six years since San Jose earned a ticket to the dance and has been buried deep in the league base in four of those six seasons.Now, the Sharks sit in wild card territory, standing in the mix, but Celebrini pulled them forward.
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Offensive leader Lightning is no stranger to this race.Kucherov has been an award contender for the past two seasons — he won the Art Ross Award two years ago and won MVP honors from fellow players in 2024-25.And the 32-year-old is also in the thick of things.
It's been a veteran year for the Bolts veteran.Dropping six of their first seven games, it looked like the Lightning could be on their way to a mediocre season like their rivals in Toronto.The injuries were even more difficult - the captain of the blue line and the captain, Victor Hedman, played only three games since the beginning of November, while Brayden Point, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brandon Hagel and Kucherov himself also lost time due to illness.Off the line, the Lightning sit atop the Eastern Conference with 55 points, the fourth-highest total in the league.
No. 86's continued dominance is crucial to this lasting success.Despite playing more games than anyone in the top 10, Kucherov ranks fourth in the league standings with 61 points in 38 games, best in the league.The veteran has been the strongest so far - over the past month, Kucherov is second only to McDavid with 27 points.
Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks
If not for an upper-body injury that took Bedard out of Chicago's lineup last month, the 2023 first-round pick might be closer to the heart of this race.However, what has happened in Chicago since the fall of Bedard clearly shows how important the center is to them.
Like Celebrini, the 20-year-old started 2025-26 on fire - after scoring 67 goals as a sophomore last year, Bedard collected 22 points through his first 15 games of the season, coming out of the 3rd year.In the first month, he finished second in scoring behind the league leader Celebrini.The next period features two of the smaller ones that are set to start earlier than expected.But a surprising performance during the closing game on December 12 against St.Louis stopped Bedard's ascent, forcing him to let go of the ice holding his shoulder.He has been out since then, losing 11 games and counting.
At the time of the injury, Bedard was dominant.He finished second in the league with 51 points in 32 games, bettered only by McKinnon, which put him on track for 130 points.Chicago, meanwhile, was firmly in the wild-card mix by one point. With the 20-year-old's return to the lineup imminent, a second half could propel him into the MVP race if he can return to the form he's shown so far this season.
Mikko Rantanen, Dallas Stars
The Stars made the call when they brought in Rantanen during the trade last year.The 2022 Cup contender proved just how important he can be to their goal during his first full season with the club, scoring 22 points in 18 games as the Stars returned to the conference finals.Now in his first full season in Texas, the star player is showing the full weight of his potential.
The Finnish phenomenon has collected 59 points by 43 games for Dallas This season, coming sixth in the league after only the four names above and dropped.The 29-year-old player reached the 50-year-old player as a star earlier this season, and it was mainly deadly in the advantage of the husband, accumulating the third largest of power game points in the league for the stars Rantanen in Dallas.
His club reaped the rewards.When Rantanen rolled around, Dallas was the second-best outfit in the league this season, scoring 60 points and joining Colorado as the only two teams to reach that mark.Before their latest slump, the Stars ran from early November to late December, losing just three games in regulation and picking up points in 20 of 23 losses.In fact, it's up to McKinnon, McDavid and Celebrini if anything changes in the second half of the season - but, on the way to a career year, Finn's veteran contributions seem to be worth considering as dark horses.
