SAN JOSE – Macklin Celebrini on Tuesday became just the fourth San Jose Sharks player to be named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the NHL’s most outstanding player as voted by members of the NHL Players Association.
Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers are the other finalists. Kucherov won the award last season after he led the NHL with 121 points.
No Sharks player has won the award. Previous Sharks finalists were center Joe Thornton in 2005-06, and defensemen Brent Burns in 2016-17 and Erik Karlsson in 2022-23.
The winner will be announced at a later date. Celebrini, if he won, would become only the second teenager to capture the award after Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby in 2006-07.
Celebrini, 19, finished fourth in the NHL with 115 points, tied for fourth with 45 goals, and was seventh with 70 assists in the regular season. The point total eclipsed Thornton’s single-season team record of 114 set in 2006-07.
McDavid, who led the league with 138 points, has won the award four times, most recently after the 2022-23 season. He could join Wayne Gretzky as the only player to win it five times.
Kucherov was second in the NHL with 130 points in 76 games, and led the league with a 1.71 points-per-game average. He had a plus-43 rating, tied for third among all players.
Celebrini’s record-setting season could also make him a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy, given annually “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.” With his point total, Celebrini scored or assisted on 46.2% of all Sharks goals, the second-highest total in the NHL this season behind McDavid’s 48.9%.
The three finalists for the Hart Trophy, voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, will be announced on May 8.
The Ted Lindsay Award, formerly known as the Lester B. Pearson Award, is voted on annually and awarded to the player the NHLPA deems the most outstanding in the NHL regular season. The award was reintroduced in 2009-10 to recognize Lindsay. a Hockey Hall of Fame forward who helped establish the original Players’ Association.