Macklin Celebrini heard the “M-V-P, M-V-P” chants at SAP Center throughout his record-setting season for the San Jose Sharks. But his remarkable year was not enough for him to become a finalist this year for the NHL’s most prestigious individual award.

Celebrini on Friday was not among the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy, given annually to the NHL player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, Edmonton Oilers center and captain Connor McDavid and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon were all named finalists for the award.

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote on the Hart Trophy award. The winner will be announced at a later date.

McDavid was the NHL’s leading scorer with 138 points, followed by Kucherov (130) and MacKinnon (127). Kucherov led the league with a 1.71 points-per-game average and had a plus-43 rating, tied for third among all players. MacKinnon led the NHL with 53 goals.

“Those are the guys that I’m looking to learn from and watch them,” Celebrini said last month when asked about potentially being a finalist for the Hart. “They’ve been around for 10-plus years, so they’re the guys I was watching when I was a kid. Even now, I’m still trying to learn them and see what makes them successful. That would be pretty cool.”

Celebrini, 19, finished fourth in the NHL with 115 points, eclipsing Joe Thornton’s single-season team record of 114 set in 2006-07. Celebrini also tied for fourth in the league with 45 goals and was seventh with 70 assists.

Celebrini’s point total was greater than the Sharks’ second and third leading scorers combined, as forward Will Smith had 59 points this season, and Alexander Wennberg had 55.

Celebrini also scored or assisted on 46.2% of the Sharks’ 249 goals this season. Only McDavid, at 48.9%, was involved in a greater share of his team’s goals, as the Oilers scored 282 goals and finished second in the Pacific Division.

What likely hurt Celebrini’s candidacy for the Hart was that the Sharks missed the playoffs. San Jose finished the season with a record of 39-35-8 for 86 points, four points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference.

The Avalanche won the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s best regular-season team, and the Lightning finished second in the Atlantic Division.

“The season he had this year was unbelievable, and by far exceeded what I thought he might do in his second year,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said of Celebrini last month. “We didn’t get in the playoffs, but if you look at the MVP award, and what it actually means, it’s the most valuable player to your team. I don’t think there was anyone more valuable to their team than he was to ours, and that’s nothing against the other guys who are probably going to be nominated or win it.

“(McDavid) is maybe the best player to ever play this game. Kucherov is a Hall of Famer, and Nate McKinnon is a special, special talent. He’s probably going to end up in the Hall of Fame. But I think what Mack did for us, the fan base, and the group here. I don’t think there was anyone in the league who was more valuable to their team.”

Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux was the last player from a non-playoff team to win the Hart Trophy, as he finished the 1987-88 season with a league-leading 168 points. The Penguins, though, ended the season one point out of a playoff spot.

Thornton remains the only Sharks player to be named a finalist for the Hart Trophy, which he won in 2005-06 when he had 125 points. That year, Thornton had 33 points in 23 games for the Boston Bruins before he was acquired by the Sharks in November 2005, and had 92 points in 58 games with San Jose.

Celebrini last month became just the fourth Sharks player to be named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the league’s most outstanding player as voted by members of the NHL Players Association. Kucherov and McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers are the other finalists.

No Sharks player has won the Ted Lindsay Award. Previous Sharks finalists were Thornton in 2005-06, and defensemen Brent Burns in 2016-17 and Erik Karlsson in 2022-23.

Celebrini, if he won, would become only the second teenager to capture the award after Penguins center Sidney Crosby in 2006-07.

DICKINSON OFF TO WORLDS

Both Celebrini and Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson were named to Canada’s roster for the IIHF World Championship later this month in Switzerland. It had been previously reported that Celebrini agreed to be on Canada’s World Championship team for the second straight year.

Dickinson had 14 points in 72 games as a rookie for the Sharks this season, averaging 16:45 of ice time. Dickinson and Celebrini were part of the Sharks’ 2024 draft class, with Celebrini going first overall and Dickinson picked at No. 11.

The tournament runs May 15-31 in Zürich and Fribourg, Switzerland. The United States, with Smith and Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky, won the gold medal last year, with Canada eliminated in the quarterfinals.