Three Habs Players Got Attention In Hart Trophy Voting

On Thursday, the Hart Trophy was officially awarded to Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, who narrowly edged out Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid for the league MVP during the 2025-26 campaign. However, the real story for Habs fans is that the Montreal Canadiens had 3 players finish in the top 15 in Hart Trophy voting for league MVP. The players were Nick Suzuki (5th), Cole Caufield (8th), and Lane Hutson (15th). Considering how well these three players played during the regular season, it’s no surprise that each of them got some attention from voters, but the Habs were also the only team to have 3 players in the top 15 and were one of 3 teams to have 2+ players get Hart Trophy votes.

Final voting totals for the 2025-26 Hart Trophy: pic.twitter.com/7OKcoq2qeA

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 11, 2026

Suzuki, who won the Selke Trophy last Thursday as the league’s best defensive forward, on top of putting up a career-high 72 assists and 101 points to become the first Habs player to record 100 points in a season since Mats Naslund got 110 points all the way back in 1986, really deserved to get votes for how well the year went for the captain. He finished 6th in points throughout the entire league, therefore, getting some 4th and 5th place votes for the Hart Trophy made a lot of sense. However, what came as a shock is that the Canadiens captain actually got 1st place over players like Kucherov, McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon, who had much better offensive numbers than him on the year.

If this award wasn’t about names, Nick would be top 3. I’m serious. This team is nowhere near an 106 pt team without Suzuki. He is the brain of this team, without him nothing happens. Last year I even think he was more of an MVP than this year too.

— Michael Dym (@Dym0127) June 12, 2026

When looking at it, the description of the Hart Trophy, there is an argument that he was a more valuable player to his team than the three superstars as he led the way for a young Habs team to surprisingly finish in 6th place in the regular season. Meanwhile, the other three were on teams that were built to finish higher in the standings. If anything, the real most valuable player to his team was 2nd year Macklin Celebrini (who finished 4th) as pretty much the only reason that the San Jose Sharks were in the Western Conference playoff race right until the end of the season. Unfortunately not making the postseason would certainly hurt Celebrini’s chances of winning the Hart Trophy, as very rarely does a winner come from a non-playoff team. The last player to do so was Mario Lemieux in 1987-88 when he led the league with a remarkable 70 goals and 168 points. With that being said, the hockey writer who voted for Suzuki has a good argument for it. The exact voting tallies that Suzuki got were one 1st-place, 19 4th-place, and 36 5th-place votes to finish as the consensus 5th-most valuable player in the league.

Next up, Caufield finished 8th in the voting after receiving his fair share of 4th- and 5th-place votes, like his teammate Suzuki. The argument to have him on the Hart Trophy ballot over Suzuki is that Caufield scored 51 goals, which was 2nd to only MacKinnon during the regular season, and scoring 50 goals in today’s NHL is actually more impressive than 100 points, as shown in an article I wrote back in April. 

My Hart Trophy ballot:
1. Connor McDavid
2. Cole Caufield
3. Nathan MacKinnon
4. Nikita Kucherov
5. Macklin Celebrini

— Ken Campbell (@Ken_Campbell27) June 12, 2026

Unlike Suzuki, Caufield didn’t get a single 1st place vote but did get two 2nd place votes. Long-time hockey writer Ken Campbell confirmed that he was one of the two guys to vote him 2nd. He backed it up by saying that he scored important goals more than anyone, which is true with his league-leading 12 game-winners. Caufield also got one third-place vote alongside the two 2nd place, six 4th place, and fourteen 5th place votes for how clutch he was during the regular season, to finish with a total of 51 points.

Cole Caufield a été nommé au sein de la Deuxième équipe d’étoiles de la LNH pour la saison 2025-2026! ⭐

Cole Caufield has been named to the NHL Second All-Star Team for the 2025-26 season!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/dbjEEAFJd1

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) June 12, 2026

On Friday, it was also announced that Caufield made the 2nd NHL All-Star team for the season as a left wing. Not to mention being announced as the Lady Byng Trophy winner last Thursday as the league’s most gentlemanly player. It was a heck of a season for the Habs’ sniper.

Finally, we have Hutson, who only continued his fantastic rookie season by being better in his sophomore season. He doubled his goal scoring from the year prior by potting 12 goals, but it was his 66 assists that tied the Habs record held by Larry Robinson for most assists in a season by a defenseman. As I’ve mentioned previously, he was my Habs MVP for the year, and four writers agreed with my viewpoint by giving him votes for the Hart Trophy this year.

The Montreal Canadiens’ season has wrapped up, and it’s time to weigh in on who deserves the MVP title for this year! Last season’s standout, Nick Suzuki, was clear-cut, but this year offers a tougher decision with four strong contenders in the mix. 🤔 Who do you think took the…

— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) June 2, 2026

He may not have gotten a single top 3 vote like his two other teammates, but his 2 4th-place and 2 5th-place votes show that he is getting some recognition around the league for the Habs team MVP. It won’t be surprising in future years if he ends up being the Habs player with the most votes for the Hart Trophy, as there is a good chance Hutson overtakes Suzuki as the team’s best player as he continues to develop his game.

Au moins 3 joueurs des Canadiens dans le top 15 du scrutin pour le Hart. C’est une première en 47 ans

2026
Suzuki : 5e
Caufield : 8e
Hutson : 15e

1979
Lafleur : 2e
Savard : 6e
Robinson : 12e
Gainey : 13e

— Guillaume Villemaire (@GVillemaire13) June 12, 2026

The Habs had three players that could have easily been their team MVP, and the votes for the Hart Trophy proved just that. This past season was also the first time since the 1978-79 campaign that the Habs have had at least 3 players in the top 15 for the Hart Trophy. Hopefully, the 2025-26 season is a sign of things to come for the Habs, and we will continue to see players at the top of the Hart Trophy ballots as well as a Stanley Cup or two over the next decade as this young team continues to develop.

Who was the MVP of the regular season for the Canadiens in your opinion?