The players have spoken, and Connor McDavid sits atop the pack.
The Edmonton Oilers superstar was announced as the 2025-26 Ted Lindsay Award winner on Sunday, as voted by members of the National Hockey League Players' Association.
McDavid is just the second five-time recipient of the award, joining fellow Oilers great Wayne Gretzky. The 29-year-old also won the award in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2020-21 and 2022-23.
The Ted Lindsay award is presented annually to "the most outstanding player in the NHL" as decided by members of the NHLPA.
“This award, coming from the guys that you play against every single night and battle against every single night, to have them recognize me with an award like this, means so much,” McDavid said in a statement.
Among the finalists for the award were Macklin Celebrini, after the sophomore set a San Jose Sharks record with 115 points (45 goals, 70 assists), and three-time TLA winner Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
As for Edmonton's captain, he is coming off yet another strong season, putting up 138 points (48 goals, 90 assists) over 82 games to take home a sixth Art Ross trophy of his career, which tied Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux for second-most behind Gretzky (10).
McDavid became the third-fastest player to reach 1,200 points, doing so in 784 games — trailing only Gretzky (504) and Lemieux (593). The 2025-26 season was also his eighth season with at least 70 assists, tying Lemieux for second-most in NHL history behind Gretzky, who did it 15 times.
The 2025-26 Ted Lindsay Award was presented to McDavid in a surprise moment amongst his family and close friends.
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