Max Miller
San Jose Sharks superstar Macklin Celebrini was not named a finalist for the NHL’s Hart Memorial Trophy Award for MVP on Friday.
Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Nikita Kucherov were named the finalists for the 25-26 season, and all deserve recognition. As a writer for NHL Media, I am not part of the PHWA, the group of media members who vote on the end-of-season NHL Awards.
There’s a lot of hate going around after the Sharks centerman wasn’t even a finalist. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t voted for. The PHWA conducts votes by selecting five players and ranking them in order of who deserves the award. Based on their placement on each ballot, a points system is used.
A first-place vote is worth 10 points. 2nd is worth seven. 3rd is worth five. 4th is worth three. And 5th is worth one. This leaves openings for other players to receive more points in some cases, but have fewer overall first-place votes. In 2022, Cale Makar was the Norris Trophy winner despite having six fewer first-place votes than Roman Josi.
Although we don’t know if that’s the case this season with Celebrini, that very well could’ve happened this year. The San Jose Sharks wouldn’t have finished with 39 wins this season if it weren’t for the 19-year-old. 115 points, a new franchise record, and coming within four points of the final wild card spot, all on the back of Celebrini.
Despite that, if I still had a vote, which I did in 2024, I would’ve put Celebrini second. No player has won the MVP award without making the Stanley Cup Playoffs since Mario Lemieux in 1988. Although it certainly isn’t a requirement, and Celebrini likely has some first-place votes, it is a tough sell to put him No. 1 without a postseason berth.
Sheng Peng of SJHN is receiving tons of backlash from Sharks fans for voting Celebrini second on his ballot. He’s not the reason why Celebrini isn’t nominated; he had him in a spot to be a finalist. He’s also not the only writer to come out and say they put the San Jose Sharks center second on their ballot.
There is no way to quantify value for an MVP vote directly. Voters share their opinions, allowing fans of the sport to debate whether they agree. Healthy debate is good, and it’s part of what makes sports so amazing. Everyone sees the game a little bit differently, and it is okay not to have the same ideas.
In 2024, I voted for Kucherov as my first-place vote, and MacKinnon, the winner, was second on my ballot. That doesn’t make me wrong; that is my opinion. My first-place vote this year would likely go to MacKinnon. He won the Rocket Richard trophy, scored 97 even-strength points, the most in the league, and helped his team to the Presidents’ Trophy.
While MacKinnon certainly has more help on the Colorado Avalanche than Celebrini does on the Sharks, I have a specific view on why I give MacKinnon the edge. Take MacKinnon off the Avalanche; they are probably still a playoff team, but they are nowhere close to a 55-win season.
It is the same argument as to why Celebrini deserves to be nominated and in the running for the Hart. Take him off the San Jose Sharks; they are nowhere close to a 39-win team. People will disagree, and that is totally fine. Heck, even Mike Grier disagrees, but of course, he’s going to say his guy deserves to win.
“We didn’t get in the playoffs, but if you look at the MVP award, and what it actually means is the most valuable player to your team, I don’t think there was anyone more valuable to their team than he was to ours,” Grier said during his exit interview.
Celebrini will win the Hart Trophy at least once during his career, that is my gut feeling, and many more. But his time isn’t now to win it, but it isn’t far off either. The PHWA will release the ballots after the award winners are announced, and then we can see where Celebrini was placed, not even making him a finalist.
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