THE CAPTAIN 🫡 #Oilers forward Connor McDavid has been selected as a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award which is given to the @NHL's most outstanding player in the regular season as judged by the members of the @NHLPA.
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Connor McDavid named finalist for the 2026 Ted Lindsay Award
Photo credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
Apr 28, 2026, 12:30 EDTUpdated: Apr 28, 2026, 13:11 EDT
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has officially been selected as a finalist for the 2026 Ted Lindsay Award.
The award is presented annually to the player who is deemed “most outstanding” as voted by fellow members of the NHL Players’ Association. San Jose Sharks sophomore Macklin Celebrini and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov were named the other two finalists this year.
This year, McDavid put up another stellar regular season campaign, finishing first in points (138) and assists (90), and third in goals (48). His totals in those three categories are all the second-best of his career, with highs in goals (64) and points (153) set in the 2022-23 season, and a career-high 100 assists tallied the following year.
Kucherov finished second in points behind McDavid, with 44 goals and 86 assists for 130 points. The 32-year-old Russian skater took home the award for the second time in 2025. Meanwhile, Celebrini has been named a finalist for the first time. The 19-year-old forward finished with 45 goals and 115 points this season.
McDavid has taken home the Ted Lindsay Award four times already in his career (2017, 2018, 2021, 2023). That tally is the highest of any active player, tied with Mario Lemieux for the second-most all-time behind Wayne Gretzky, who won the award five times. Other winners in recent years include Nathan MacKinnon (2024), Auston Matthews (2022), and Leon Draisaitl (2020). The German forward was the fourth Oiler to take home the award all-time, after McDavid’s and Gretzky’s multiple wins, and Mark Messier in 1990 (Messier won again in 1992 with the New York Rangers).
First awarded in 1972 as the Lester B. Pearson Award, the recognition was re-named in 2010 to honour Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay. In the 1950s, Lindsay was one of the active forces in pushing for the creation of a players’ union in the NHL. He won four Stanley Cups throughout his storied playing career.
McDavid and the Oilers are currently battling in the Stanley Cup playoffs themselves, down 3-1 in their opening series against the Anaheim Ducks. After being held off the scoresheet in the opening two games of the postseason, McDavid now has a goal and three assists across the last two matches. Game 5 gets underway on Tuesday night in Edmonton.
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