Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon Among Finalists for 2023-24 NHL Ted Lindsay Award
May 8, 2024
The Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews, Colorado Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon and Tampa Bay Lightning's Nikita Kucherov are finalists for the 2023-24 Ted Lindsay Award, the NHL announced Wednesday.
NHL Public Relations @PR_NHLNikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews are the three finalists for the 2023-24 Ted Lindsay Award. <br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLAwards?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NHLAwards</a>: <a href="https://t.co/5fD9ok95mz">https://t.co/5fD9ok95mz</a> <a href="https://t.co/bCtcjTqW2M">pic.twitter.com/bCtcjTqW2M</a>
The Ted Lindsay Award honors the NHL's most outstanding player as voted on by the NHL Players' Association.
Kucherov is seeking his second trophy after claiming the award following the 2018-19 season.
Matthews is also a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for defensive forwards and the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanlike play.
He also claimed the Ted Lindsay Award after the 2021-22 season.
Matthews already clinched his third career Rocket Richard Trophy after leading the NHL with 69 goals during the 2023-24 season. That's the highest goal total recorded by any NHL player since Mario Lemieux achieved the feat for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96.
The Toronto star also paced all NHL scorers with 51 goals at even strength as he led the Maple Leafs to finish the season as the highest scoring 5v5 team in the NHL, per Natural Stat Trick.
Kucherov and MacKinnon are also finalists for the 2023-24 Hart Trophy, which honors the most valuable player to their team as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
MacKinnon, a finalist in 2018 and 2019, is up for his first Ted Lindsay Award after becoming the first player in NHL history to record two 19-game point streaks in a single season.
In 82 games he topped the NHL with 405 shots on goal and led the Avalanche with 51 goals and 89 assists for 140 points, just four shy of Kucherov for the most in the league.
The last time Kucherov led the NHL in points, he claimed both the Ted Lindsay and Hart. Now he could be set to repeat as the winner of both awards after pacing all NHL producers with 100 assists and 144 points through 81 games.
Kucherov is now the only player in NHL history other than Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky to record a triple-digit assists total alongside 40 regular-season goals, per Lightning reporter Chris Krenn.
This will mark just the third time in eight seasons the trophy has not been awarded to an Edmonton Oiler. Connor McDavid has claimed the award four times, and Leon Draisaitl once, over the stretch.
The 2023-24 Ted Lindsay Award will be announced June 27 during the NHL Awards show, which is set to take place prior to the 2024 NHL Draft.