This morning, the NHLPA announced via its social media channels that Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and Auston Matthews have been named finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award.

In a surprise to no one, Connor McDavid has once again been nominated for the Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s best player as voted on by his peers, an award he’s won twice before. McDavid played in all 56 games for the Oilers in 2021, and still somehow managed to reach the 100-point plateau, which was the kind of effort that will make winning this award (and the Hart) next to impossible for his competition.

After leading the NHL with 105 points in only 56 games and winning his third Art Ross Trophy, McDavid is vying for his third Ted Lindsay award in what was only his sixth NHL season. With 68 even-strength points and a mind-melting 1.88 points-per-game scoring rate, McDavid seems like a lock to win the award after finishing his season with 21 more points than the next highest scorer which happened to be his teammate, Leon Draisaitl.  If he wins — and he absolutely should — McDavid would become only the seventh player to win the Ted Lindsay three times, joining Crosby, Gretzky, Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Jaromir Jagr, and Alex Ovechkin.

The other nominees include Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, who led the Penguins in scoring with 24 goals and 62 points, and Toronto’s Auston Matthews, who just collected his first Rocket Richard Trophy for leading the NHL with 41 goals. As always, it’s an impressive group of nominees where a case could be made for any of them to win, and it will be interesting to see how the players vote. If he does win, four of the past five winners will have been Edmonton Oilers (McDavid 3, Draisaitl 1) and I think that’s pretty amazing and a reminder that we need to get this team moving in the right direction. Personally, I’d bet the farm on McDavid being a lock but I’ve also been accused of being endlessly biased from time to time. Either way, this season’s recipient will be announced at some point during the Stanley Cup Finals later on this summer.

If you need a refresher, the Ted Lindsay Award is presented annually “to the most outstanding player in the NHL” as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA:

This year will also mark the 50th year that the Ted Lindsay Award has been presented.