NHL Hart Trophy Rankings: Who Trails McDavid in MVP Race After First Month?

The first month of the NHL season belonged to Connor McDavid. After a historic start to the season, who trails the Edmonton Oilers star as the next-best candidates to win the Hart Trophy?Over the past month of this 2026-27 NHL season, certain superstars have elevated their game, while some have remained consistent and are still at the top of the league from their red-hot start.The Hart Trophy is awarded "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." At this moment, there are several players worthy of being in the conversation, but it is difficult to make a case for the front-runner other than the star positioned at No. 1 on this list.Here are my top five players who lead the race for the Hart Trophy right now.5. Tim Stutzle, C, Ottawa SenatorsTim Stutzle has hung around the Hart Trophy conversation - as early as it is in the season - over the past month. The 24-year-old has excelled his game this year, becoming a real leader on the ice for the Ottawa Senators.Related storiesStutzle has nine goals and 21 points in 16 games so far this season for the Senators, leading his team in all major scoring categories (tied with Drake Batherson with nine goals). He's also tied for seventh in league scoring, along with William Nylander, Sebastian Aho, Quinn Hughes, Matthew Tkachuk and Leo Carlsson.4. Evan Bouchard, D, Edmonton OilersEvan Bouchard's ability to produce offensively from the back end has been very impressive. In 15 games for the Edmonton Oilers this year, the 27-year-old has eight goals and 26 points while averaging a mighty 25:51 of ice time per game.Let alone leading all defensemen in scoring, outside of the Oilers' roster, Bouchard leads the league in points. The next highest-scoring blueliner on the team is Mattias Ekholm with five points.Across the league, Bouchard is third in points behind teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, second in assists, and eighth in time on ice.3. Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado AvalancheSince Nathan MacKinnon's four-point game on Oct. 23, his scoring pace has slowed down slightly for his standard, scoring five points in the last four games. However, the Colorado Avalanche superstar has been very consistent all year long, keeping him near the top of the league-leading scorers.In 15 games, MacKinnon has not recorded a point in just three contests. He has nine goals and 25 points, and is in the midst of a five-game point streak.Artturi Lehkonen leads the team in goals with 12, but MacKinnon leads the team in points by seven points and is vitally important to the Avalanche, especially with Cale Makar not producing at his standard rate.2. Kirill Kaprizov, LW, Minnesota WildThough he's up against tough opposition, this could be the year that Kirill Kaprizov wins his first individual award since his Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2020-21. He's scored a whopping 15 goals in 16 games this year for the Minnesota Wild, leading the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy. He's also tied for fourth in the league in scoring with 25 points.Even with Hughes' scoring support from the back end, Kaprizov's offensive dominance is so impressive, and the Wild have been successful to start the year (third in the NHL with 10-3-3 record) that he earns the second spot on this list.1. Connor McDavid, C, Edmonton OilersNo player in the NHL has done enough to entertain the idea of McDavid not being the front-runner to be named the MVP this season.With already three Hart Trophies, his last coming in 2022-23, McDavid is very well on pace to win fourth. That would make him the leader among active players in terms of winning that award, as he's currently even with Alexander Ovechkin.In total, he has nine goals and a league-leading 39 points for the Oilers, and is certainly the most valuable player to his team at this point in the campaign.For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.