In just his second year in the NHL, the Edmonton Oilers‘ 20-year-old superstar Connor McDavid led the league in scoring, helped get his team to its first playoff appearance in 11 years and has now been nominated for the Hart Trophy.
The Hart Trophy is awarded to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team.
With the nomination, McDavid has a chance to become just the third player in NHL history to win the award before his 21st birthday. The only other players to do so were Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky.
McDavid scored 30 goals and 100 points with the Oilers in the 2016-17 regular season. He ended the season on a 14-game point streak in addition to racking up 30 multi-point games, the most in the NHL. The hockey player has never gone three games without a point in his pro career.
McDavid’s offensive contributions made quite a difference in his team’s success as well. He helped the Oilers record 47 wins and 103 points, the highest-point total for the Oilers since the 1986-87 season.
READ MORE: All eyes on Oilers’ Connor McDavid as NHL playoffs begin
“He’s played 82 games with that target on his back,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said last month. “(He’s faced) the No. 1 (defence) pair, the No. 2 pair, the top checking line, the secondary line, man-on-man play, shadowing, group effort.”
The Oilers are currently leading the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in their second round best-of-seven playoff series. McDavid scored his first goal of the series Sunday evening in a losing effort as the Ducks won 6-3.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers regroup after 6-3 playoff loss at home: ‘We’ve got to recover here’
In addition to McDavid, the other nominees are Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby and Colombus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Crosby has won the the Hart trophy twice before. He led the NHL in goals in the 2016-17 regular season and ended the year tied with Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane for second in the league in points with 89.
Bobrovsky led the league with a 2.06 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. He put together a 14-game winning streak during the regular season, a mark that tied the second-longest such streak in league history.
The Hart Trophy winner and other NHL award winners will be announced at the 2017 NHL Awards at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on June 21.
-With a file from The Canadian Press
View Global News videos on Connor McDavid below:
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Global’s Kevin Karius 2016 prediction regarding McDavid’s 100 points -
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Interview with author of “The McDavid Effect” -
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Connor McDavid returns from NHL all-star weekend -
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Oilers’ Connor McDavid serves Christmas dinner to Edmonton families in need -
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Why was Connor McDavid pulled from game against Minnesota? Things NHL concussion spotters look for -
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Connor McDavid speaks to media after 3 point season opener -
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Excitement in Edmonton as Connor McDavid returns to Oilers after World Cup of Hockey -
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Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid, Milan Lucic weigh in on first pre-season game, practicing together -
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McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins had ‘huge, huge impact’ on Team North America’s success at World Cup of Hockey: Todd McLellan -
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Milan Lucic signed with Edmonton Oilers because of Connor McDavid -
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Milan Lucic says he picked Edmonton so he could play with Connor McDavid -
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Young McDavid fans luck out with commercial shoot -
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McDavid’s return inspires viral First Nations singing -
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Connor McDavid scores stunner to mark return
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