The Hart Trophy won’t be going to Leon Draisaitl after all.
The NHL announced Thursday night, an hour before the Edmonton Oilers were set to square off with the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, that Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was named the winner of the Hart Trophy.
Hellebuyck becomes the seventh goaltender to win the award and fourth in the expansion era (since 1967-68), following the likes of Dominik Hasek (1996-97, 1997-98, Buffalo Sabres), Jose Theodore (2001-02, Montreal Canadiens) and Carey Price (2014-15, Montreal Canadiens).
While Hellebuyck had a great season for the Jets, also being named the winner of the Vezina Trophy and William M. Jennings Trophy for a year in which he posted a 47-12-3 record, 2.00 goals against average and .925 save percentage, Draisaitl had an excellent year, too.
Draisaitl scored 52 goals, 54 assists and 106 points, pacing the league in goalscoring as he captured his first-ever Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s top goalscorer. He lapped the field with ease, scoring seven more goals than the second placed William Nylander.
On December 5th, Draisaitl had already racked up 19 goals in the Oilers’ first 26 games of the season, and from that point on through the remainder of the regular season, he never squandered the league. While he would share it for five more games, he gained sole possession of the goalscoring lead on December 16th, and never looked back.
Still, it wasn’t enough to sway the 193 voters — 81 of which voted for Hellebuyck as the Hart Trophy winner. Draisaitl received 53 first-place votes, 58 second-place votes, 38 third-place votes, 25 fourth-place votes and eight fifth-place votes.
Draisaitl was in the hunt for the second Hart Trophy of his career, having previously won the award in 2019-20 when he scored 43 goals, 67 assists and 110 points in 71 games, leading the league in the latter two categories.
