To mark the halfway point of the 2024-25 regular season, NHL.com is running its third installment of the Trophy Tracker series. Today, we look at the race for the Hart Trophy, given annually to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team in the NHL as selected in a poll by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

This is the obvious one. Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL with 68 points, seven more than Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl in second place. Also of note, he’s first in points per game at 1.58, narrowly ahead of the Art Ross winner last season, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov at 1.57.

The Minnesota Wild have never lacked fan support. For 41 games a year, over 18,000 pack the Xcel Energy Center to form one of the most passionate settings in the NHL. Players want to play here. Opponents know it’s a tough night coming to St.

Malkin may not be directing as many pucks on net compared to previous campaigns, but he's still at 33 points in 42 games — including 10 on the power play — and skating his usual elevated minutes. And yet,

Ovechkin & Co. are back on top according to our voters. And at the midway point of the season, we identify the best fantasy player for all 32 clubs.

With every team now having played 40+ games, it’s a great time to reflect on the season so far and look at some of the incredible performances we’ve seen from players around the league.

"A pleasure to play for him right from Day 1," Stars forward Matt Duchene said. "He pushes guys, he barks a little bit at times, but it's never personal and the message is usually accurate. His X's and O's are really elite. Tough to find many flaws."

Connor Hellebuyck will surely start getting some additional rest later in the season, so the race at the top right now is between Nikita Kucherov ... RW3 13. Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild ...

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck makes a glove save against the Colorado Avalanche during the first period of Game 3 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Friday, April 26, 2024, in Denver. (David Zalubowski/AP) Three months in, we’re starting to get a feel for how the 2024-25 campaign might just shake out in the end.

NEWARK, N.J. — Stefan Noesen scored a power-play goal in overtime and Jacob Markstrom made 23 saves as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Saturday night.

They’re now 3-4-3 since the Christmas break, partially due to a major uptick in quality chances allowed at five-on-five; they were at 2.18 per 60 heading into the holiday, fourth-best in the NHL. In the 10 games since, though, they’re over 2.5.

As you’ve likely heard by now, the Vancouver Canucks’ 2-0 shutout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday did a lot for Quinn Hughes’s case for the Hart Trophy – the NHL’s regular-season MVP award.