June 27, 2023 by Eric Friesen

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid cleaned up at the 2023 NHL Awards in Nashville on Monday.

McDavid won the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion, the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as goal-scoring leader, the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player and the Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player as voted by the NHLPA. The 26-year-old matched the NHL record for the most major awards in one season, which he shares by six other players.

While he isn’t driven by individual success, McDavid insisted that it’s still a great honour to be the recipient of multiple awards.

“It’s not lost on me what these trophies mean in the grand scheme of our game and to do it a number of times, it means a lot to me,” McDavid told the media in Nashville on Monday. “Obviously, it’s not the motivating factor, but it’s special still. I know the five-year-old me would be pissed if I was taking it for granted or something like that, because I’m not. It’s special.”

Long touted as the best player in the world, McDavid led the league in goals (64), assists (89) and points (153) to claim his fifth Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion and first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as goal-scoring leader. It was truly a season for the ages.

McDavid joined Gordie Howe, Phil Esposito, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr as the only players in NHL history with five Art Ross Trophies. He was also the first player to win three consecutive Art Ross Trophies since Jagr took home four straight from 1997-98 through 2000-01. Incredibly, McDavid has won the award in more seasons than he hasn’t during his eight-year NHL career.

No. 97 became the first player in franchise history to win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy (introduced in 1998-99), as well as first Oiler to lead the league in goals since Gretzky in 1986-87. In a season that included many milestones and records, perhaps his most impressive feat was winning hockey’s version of the triple crown. McDavid became only the fifth player in NHL history to outright lead the league in goals, assists and points in a single season and the first since Gretzky in 1986-87.

Related: 5 milestones and records Connor McDavid could reach in 2022-23

The NHL’s annual award ceremony started with McDavid accepting the Ted Lindsay Award, which is arguably the more meaningful award he was up for, because the winner is chosen by his peers rather than the media. McDavid joined Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the only players in NHL history with four Ted Lindsay Awards, putting him in some pretty impressive company.

The Oilers captain, who accepted the award from Lindsay himself in 2017 before he passed in 2019, expressed his gratitude for the hockey legend in his acceptance speech for his role in the formation of the first NHL players’ union.

“I want to say thank you to Mr. Lindsay for giving players a voice and all you’ve done for players in the past and present,” said McDavid. “I want to say thank you to all the players around the League, this award is obviously voted on by you guys, I’ve been up here a few times to accept this. I’m so honored I feel like this is the most prestigious award we give out tonight, so thank you guys so much, it’s a privilege to share the ice with you guys.”

The evening concluded with McDavid accepting the Hart Memorial Trophy, hockey’s most prestigious individual award. When he was announced as the winner, McDavid was greeted on the stage by the family of Oilers superfan Ben Stelter, who tragically passed away from brain cancer this past August. The Stelters flew from Edmonton to Nashville to present McDavid with the Hart Trophy and share a heartwarming moment.

“That was an incredible surprise,” said McDavid. “It means so much to me to be standing up here with the Stelters and thinking about Ben.”

The Newmarket, Ontario native joined Bobby Orr, Bobby Clarke and Gretzky as the only players in NHL history with three Hart Memorial Trophies at age 26 or younger. In addition, McDavid joined Gretzky as the only players in Oilers history to be named to the NHL First All-Star Team five times.

Considering how far ahead of the rest of the league McDavid is at this point, it’s very likely that he will be accepting the same four awards a year from now. However, there’s only one he wants, and McDavid plans on hoisting it on the ice next June.

“I can’t wait to get back to work with [my teammates] in September,” said McDavid after accepting the Hart Trophy. “We’ve got unfinished business.”