Connor McDavid walked away from the NHL Awards on Monday with two new trophies, bringing his total from a busy 2022-23 season to four. According to one voter, he doesn’t even deserve to be one Finalist A.
After the Edmonton Oilers received the Hart Trophy for the Captain’s League MVP, the total votes were made public, and one – Especially Seth Rohrabach of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – McDavid didn’t deserve the title, but thought he deserved the fifth.
Some seasons, the race for Hart is so tight that no one knows how it will turn out. Not so this year. McDavid posted 153 points — a total not seen since Mario Lemieux had 160 30 years ago — and led the league with 64 goals, the most since Alex Ovechkin’s 65 in the 2007-08 season.
For 82 games this regular season, no one came close to what McDavid was doing and every voter thought he deserved the Hart title. One hundred ninety-five people put the sensational center first on their ballots, but Rohrabach decided not to.
Instead, he gave his first pick to Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak. The 27-year-old scored 61 goals and added 52 assists, but Pastrynak would have voted for McDavid.
This isn’t the first time Rohrbach has made waves with his rogue vote. He left out last year’s Hart Trophy winner McDavid and Auston Mathews with interest. Stopped his voting altogether In 2021-22.
Along with the nearly unanimous Hart Trophy, McDavid also received the Ted Lindsey Award for the league’s Most Outstanding Player, as voted by the players. In addition to Monday’s two awards, McDavid received the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in points and the Rocket Richard Trophy for leading in scoring.
