TAMPA, Fla. – Center Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs is the 2021-22 recipient of the Hart Memorial Trophy, presented “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team,” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Matthews, a Hart Trophy finalist for the second straight year after finishing second in voting in 2020-21, is the third Toronto player to win the award and first since Ted Kennedy in 1954-55.
The Maple Leafs star scored a decisive win by attracting 119 first-place votes and 49 second-place tallies among the 195 ballots cast en route to collecting 1,630 voting points. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, the two-time and defending Hart Trophy winner, received 29 first-place votes and 1,111 points in finishing second in the voting. Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers, the 2021-22 Vezina Trophy recipient, placed third with 738 points (24 first-place selections).
Matthews, who captured the 2021-22 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal-scorer and earlier this evening was honored with the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player in a vote by the NHLPA, posted career highs in goals (60), assists (46) and points (106) in 73 games to power the Maple Leafs to a fourth-place finish in the League standings as well as franchise records for wins (54) and points (115) in a campaign. Matthews became the 21st different player in NHL history – and first in a decade – to register 60 goals in a season, breaking Rick Vaive’s Toronto record (54 in 1981-82) and Jimmy Carson’s League benchmark for U.S.-born players (55 in 1987-88). He did so by averaging 0.82 goals per game – the highest rate by any player in a single campaign (minimum: 50 GP) since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 (0.99) – and scoring 19.23 percent of the Maple Leafs’ total goals (60 of 312) – the fourth-highest such mark in 2021-22 behind only Chris Kreider (20.8% w/ NYR), Leon Draisaitl (19.3% w/ EDM) and Alex DeBrincat (19.25% w/ CHI).
For more on the Hart Trophy, including a list of past winners, click here.
2021-22 Hart Trophy Voting
| Points | (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th) | ||
| 1. | Auston Matthews, TOR | 1630 | (119-49-15-6-4) |
| 2. | Connor McDavid, EDM | 1111 | (29-66-56-20-19) |
| 3. | Igor Shesterkin, NYR | 738 | (24-26-41-29-24) |
| 4. | Johnny Gaudreau, CGY | 617 | (3-19-44-66-36) |
| 5. | Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA | 506 | (13-21-21-31-31) |
| 6. | Roman Josi, NSH | 241 | (5-8-10-19-28) |
| 7. | Kirill Kaprizov, MIN | 126 | (2-4-4-13-19) |
| 8. | Cale Makar, COL | 48 | (0-1-3-5-11) |
| 9. | Leon Draisaitl, EDM | 28 | (0-1-1-3-7) |
| 10. | Alex Ovechkin, WSH | 10 | (0-0-0-2-4) |
| 11. | Steven Stamkos, TBL | 6 | (0-0-0-0-6) |
| 12. | Aleksander Barkov, FLA | 4 | (0-0-0-1-1) |
| 13. | Jason Robertson, DAL | 3 | (0-0-0-0-3) |
| t-14. | J.T. Miller, VAN | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) |
| Matthew Tkachuk, CGY | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) |
* Points allocation: 10-7-5-3-1 (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
