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NHL Hart Trophy Odds: Who Will Win MVP in 2025-26?

We’re a month into the 2025-26 NHL season as teams and players alike start to separate from the pack.

Teams like the Penguins, Canadiens, and Kraken have gotten off to surprisingly hot starts. Still, perennial contenders such as the Avalanche, Jets, and Golden Knights are also right in the mix thanks to standout performances from their star players.

This year’s early 2025-26 Hart Trophy odds feature several familiar names and past winners, including Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, while a few fresh faces are also in the mix.

Keep scrolling for my breakdown of the 2025-26 NHL Hart Trophy odds, predictions, and longshot picks.

Top Contenders for the 2025-26 Hart Trophy

It should come as no surprise that we’re seeing two familiar names leading the way in the early 2025-26 NHL Hart Trophy odds: Connor McDavid (+200) and Nathan MacKinnon (+225)

MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche are off to a scorching start – the Avs star has 19 points in just 13 games while his club sits first in the Central Division.

The Edmonton Oilers had a sluggish October for the second straight season, sitting fourth in the Pacific Division, but McDavid is still doing McDavid things with 19 points in 14 outings.

Outside of the top two frontrunners, the 2025-26 Hart Trophy race also features a few new contenders in Jack Eichel (+425), Kirill Kaprizov (+800), and Jack Hughes (+1200).

Eichel was named the NHL’s First Star of October after tallying a league-leading 19 points in 11 games, while Kaprizov (16 pts in 13 GP) and Hughes (16 pts in 13 GP) have also been early-season standouts for their respective clubs. Below are the updated Hart Trophy odds via BetUS:

Player	Hart Trophy Odds	Player	Hart Trophy Odds
Connor McDavid	+200	Nathan MacKinnon	+225
Jack Eichel	+425	Kirill Kaprizov	+800
Nikita Kucherov	+1000	Leon Draisaitl	+1000
Jack Hughes	+1200	Auston Matthews	+2000
Cale Makar	+2500	Mitchell Marner	+4000
Quinn Hughes	+4500	Connor Hellebuyck	+5000

Nathan MacKinnon (+225)

MacKinnon won his first and only Hart Trophy in 2023-24 after an incredible 51-goal, 140-point campaign. The Avalanche superstar has been in consistent contention for the award since 2017-18, finishing within the top six in Hart Trophy voting in six of the past eight seasons.

It would be a shock if MacKinnon did not earn another nod as the league’s MVP in his career, but at age 30, this may be one of his final opportunities.

Surprisingly, MacKinnon has never won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top scorer, though he’s finished as a close second to Nikita Kucherov in each of the past two campaigns.

What MacKinnon does have on his side is team success – the Avalanche have been a top-eight team in the NHL for six straight seasons, and they’re certainly trending in the same direction through the first month of the 2025-26 campaign.

Since 2015-16, only Oilers teammates McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have more total points than MacKinnon. Expect the Avs center to be in the mix for the Hart Trophy as usual.

Connor McDavid (+200)

The Edmonton Oilers are off to a bit of a rocky start with 15 points in 14 games, but that hasn’t stopped McDavid from producing.

The Oilers captain is already up to 19 points thanks to three multi-point performances in his last four games as he’s trending in the right direction.

McDavid has already earned three Hart Trophies in his career (2023, 2021, 2017) and five Art Ross Trophies as the league’s top scorer (2023, 2022, 2021, 2017, 2016).

With back-to-back Art Ross Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov logging just 10 points through his first 10 games and the Lightning also off to a tepid start, it could be McDavid’s time to take back his throne as the NHL’s top point getter.

Since his NHL debut in 2015-16, McDavid has led the league with 1,101 points. On November 3, he became the fourth-fastest skater in NHL history to reach the 1,100-point milestone, accomplishing this in just 726 games. In fact, he hit the mark 124 games faster than the second-fastest active skater, Sidney Crosby.

Following consecutive heartbreaking defeats in the Stanley Cup Final, we could see a motivated McDavid earn his first Hart Trophy nod since 2023.

Jack Eichel (+425)

Eichel has always been considered among the league’s elite, and the Vegas Golden Knights center took another step last season, posting a career-high 94 points in 77 games.

That earned him a fifth-place finish in last season’s Hart Trophy voting, but the oddsmakers have Eichel finishing even higher in 2025-26.

That seems to be an accurate prediction right now with Eichel logging 19 points in just 11 games – the third-best point-per-game pace among all skaters, which has him on track to post 141 points this season.

I suspect we’ll see his production slow down a bit, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Eichel finish with 120+ points, especially with Mitch Marner, one of the league’s best playmakers, joining the fold.

Kirill Kaprizov (+800)

Kaprizov was an instant hit when he joined the Minnesota Wild in 2020-21, and he posted a career-high 108 points just a season later. Kaprizov has dealt with some injury issues since then, but he’s off to a strong start this year with 16 points in 13 games.

Kaprizov’s highest finish in Hart Trophy voting came during that 108-point season in 2021-22, when he placed seventh.

The Wild star will likely have trouble finishing much higher than that if his club continues to scuffle. Minnesota sits seventh in the Central Division with just four wins and 11 points in 13 games.

Jack Hughes (+1200)

Hughes broke out in a big way during the 2022-23 campaign with 99 points in 78 games, earning himself an eighth-place finish in Hart Trophy voting.

The New Jersey Devils star has not reached that level of production in the past two seasons due to injury woes, but he’s currently leading his team in scoring and has helped the Devils climb to the top of the Metropolitan Division through the first month of play.

Hughes is currently the top player in the Eastern Conference according to our 2025-26 NHL Hart Trophy odds. However, only one player from the East has won the award in the past six seasons – Auston Matthews in 2021-22.

Final Prediction – Who Will Win the 2025-26 Hart Trophy?

All three frontrunners – MacKinnon, McDavid, and Eichel – will likely be in the mix for the 2025-26 Hart Trophy until the end of the season. MacKinnon and McDavid are the safe bets as they’ve both won before, but I believe we’ll see a changing of the guard this year.

The Golden Knights only got better in the offseason by adding Marner, and he’s already made an impact on their offense. Vegas is scoring 3.55 goals per game – an uptick from last season’s mark of 3.34.

Marner has also added another dimension to the Golden Knights’ power play, which is clicking at over 25%. Eichel has tallied nine of his 19 points on the man advantage, and I expect him to shatter his personal best of 94 points this season.

I predicted that the Golden Knights would hoist their second Stanley Cup in 2025-26, and with that, I’ll also take Eichel as my 2025-26 Hart Trophy winner.

If we’re talking value picks, I think Mark Scheifele is heavily undervalued at +15000. The Winnipeg Jets center is currently leading the league with 20 points in 12 games and is fresh off a career-best 87-point campaign.

He’s got two teammates ahead of him in the Hart Trophy odds in Kyle Connor (+10000) and last year’s winner, Connor Hellebuyck (+5000), but it’ll be hard to ignore Scheifele’s case if he keeps producing and the Jets keep winning.

Best bet: Jack Eichel (+500)

Value bet: Mark Scheifele (+15000)

Keep Up with the Hart Trophy Race

We’re only a month into the NHL season, so there’s no better time to get solid prices on 2025-26 NHL Hart Trophy odds.

Stay up to date with the latest NHL odds and predictions throughout the season at GamblingNerd.