NHL MVP Odds: Who is Favored to Win the Hart Trophy 2023-24?

🏆 Who is the favorite to win the NHL Hart trophy?

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, here are the current odds of the favorites to win the Hart Trophy.

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Colorado center Nathan McKinnon finished the regular season as the favorite to take home his first NHL MVP.  

McKinnon was pushed in the final weeks of the regular season by Toronto center Auston Matthews and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

Matthews almost became the ninth player in NHL history to score 70 goals in a season. He fell just short, finishing with 69 goals after being denied on all 12 shots he took in the final game of the regular season against Tampa Bay. Still, it was the most goals in an NHL season since Mario Lemieux tallied 69 during the 1995-96 season.

Kucherov, meanwhile, won the Art Ross trophy, awarded to the player who leads the league in scoring. He finished the season with a career-high 144 points and became the fifth player in league history to get 100 assists in a season.

Both Matthews and Kucherov have Hart trophies on their shelves. If McKinnon wins it will be his first – and a long time coming.

McKinnon finished second in the voting in 2018 and 2020. But the 2023-24 season was by far the best of his long and distinguished career. He finished the season with a career-best 140 points (51 goals and 89 assists).

McKinnon led the Avalanche to 107 points and a third-place finish in the Central division. Part of McKinnon’s brilliance was his consistency. His longest stretch of games without a point all season was just three games, and he finished the regular season averaging 1.7 points per game.  

Who are the Sleepers in the Hart Trophy Race?

It’s strange to think of Edmonton Oilers three-time MVP Connor McDavid as a dark horse for the award, but that’s exactly what he is this year. McDavid got off to a slow start, played great for a few months in the middle of the season, but was never able to top what McKinnon, Matthews and Kucherov did this year. McDavid, who missed a few games late in the season with a lower body injury, finished the regular season third in the league in points with 132. His 32 goals were his fewest since 2016-17, his second year in the NHL. McDavid did set his career high in assists with 100. We’ll see if becoming a better facilitator helps the Oilers advance deeper into the playoffs.

Sidney Crosby of the Penguins will go down as one of the top five players in the history of the NHL, and it is seasons like this one at the age of 36 that will be one of the reasons why. The Penguins missed the playoffs for a second year in a row, but Crosby almost willed them there with his play. With the Penguins among the lowest-scoring teams in the league, Crosby took it upon himself to change his game. He scored 42 goals, his most since the 2016-17 season. Great players adapt and do what’s necessary to help their teams win. He almost single-handedly kept the Penguins in playoff contention until the final day of the regular season. He finished the season with 94 points, his most since reaching 100 in 2018-19.  

Rangers winger Artemi Panarin finished the regular season fourth in the league in scoring with a career-best 120 points. He scored goals in each of the final three games of the regular season. It was a strong finish to the season for Panarin, who had five goals and eight assists in the final eight games of the regular season. Panarin led the Rangers to the President’s trophy with a league-best 114 points. They enter the playoffs as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

NHL MVP odds update as of April 11, 2024

Colorado's Nathan McKinnon finished the regular season as the favorite for the Hart trophy before the odds were taken off the board in the final week of the regular season. McKinnon's odds lengthened a bit from -475 to -275, but he was still well ahead of the pack.

Toronto center Auston Matthews' strong finish vaulted him back into contention. His odds shortened from +2200 in early April to +500 in the final week of the regular season. If he had reach the magical 70-goal mark his odds might have been even shorter.

Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov saw his odds slightly lengthen from +450 to +500 despite finishing the season as the league's leader in points. Edmonton's Connor McDavid had an injury that forced him to miss a few games late in the regular season and his odds lengthened from +1300 to +2500. Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby saw his odds go from +15000 to +30000.

How to Bet on the NHL MVP

Want to make a bet on the Hart Trophy? Go to your favorite sports betting site or Ontario betting app and check out the awards section. You'll be able to find the Hart Trophy odds there. Once you set up an account you are ready to place your bet. If you place an early bet on a longshot you have a better chance to win a big bet, but you can place a bet anytime throughout the season as the odds change. Come back to this page often to see how the race unfolds during the 2023-24 season.

How the Hart Trophy Voting Works

The Hart Trophy is selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Each writer casts a ballot with five players on it and they're given points based on where they are ordered (10-7-5-3-1). Once the votes are tallied, three finalists are named. The trophy is awarded at the NHL Awards Ceremony following the Stanley Cup playoffs.

 

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How to Find the Best Odds

Odds vary from sportsbook to sportsbook so do your homework and visit a few before you place your bet. DraftKings is an NHL partner and has good information on its site and app. The other major sportsbooks also have dedicated coverage of the NHL sports betting scene. 

NHL Hart Trophy Winners From The Past 20 Years

 

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NHL Hart Trophy Trivia

• Wayne Gretzky's nine MVPs not only are the most ever in NHL history, but he also holds the record for most MVPs in any North American team sport, including the NFL, MLB and NBA.
• There have only been two unanimous Hart Trophy winners -- Gretzky in the 1981-82 season and Connor McDavid in the 2020-21 season.
• The team with the most Hart Trophy winners is the Canadiens with 17.
• Joe Thornton is the only player to win the Hart Trophy after being traded at midseason. Thornton started the 2005-06 season with the Bruins, but they traded him to the Sharks.
• The first American to win the Hart Trophy was Brett Hull, who won it as a member of the Blues in 1990-91. Natives of Canada had won all of the MVPs before Hull.

Author

Ray Fittipaldo

@rayfitt1

Ray has worked in sports journalism for the past 26 years, covering Super Bowls, Stanley Cup Finals, Final Fours and BCS national championship games.