Teenager Macklin Celebrini is doing his utmost to become only the third teenager to win the NHL’s Hart Trophy.
Celebrini broke out in a big way this season, recording 24 goals and 70 points in the first 45 games. He already has more points than the 63 he had in 70 games last season, and he has more than double the number of points as the second-highest scorer on San Jose.
Unfortunately for him, the 19-year-old phenom has Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon standing in his way.
While Celebrini has his work cut out to join the exclusive teenager Hart Trophy club, his quest provides the perfect platform to discuss the NHL’s five youngest-ever MVPs.
Five youngest Hart Trophy winners in NHL history
5. Bobby Orr (22 years old)
Bobby Orr won his first of three straight Hart Trophies in his fourth season after turning 22 late in the season. He finished the 1969-70 campaign with 33 goals, 87 assists and 120 points. That was 21 more points than second-place Phil Esposito.
Orr had 125 penalty minutes, the second-most in his venerable career. He put up 51 power-play points, one fewer than his career-best 52 in 1974-75.
4. Eric Lindros (22 years old)
Eric Lindros won his only Hart Trophy in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign. He notched 29 goals and 41 assists for 70 points in 46 games, tying the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Jaromir Jagr for the scoring lead.
Lindros, who turned 22 in February 1995, scored the most points per game (1.52) en route to winning MVP honors in his third season. Lindros’ storied career was cut short due to repeated concussions, with the star retiring in 2007. He reportedly sustained six concussions from 1998 to 2000.
3. Connor McDavid (20 years old)
McDavid won his first of three Hart Trophies in 2016-17, his second year in the NHL. McDavid also won the Art Ross Trophy, finishing with 100 points (30 goals and 70 assists) in 82 games, 11 points ahead of Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane.
The Oilers captain finished that campaign with a plus-27, the third-best plus-minus rating of his career thus far. He also took MVP plaudits in 2020-21 and 2022-23.
2. Wayne Gretzky (19 years old)
It didn’t take long for people to realize Wayne Gretzky would become the Great One. In fact, Gretzky won his first of a record nine Hart Trophies in his first NHL season in 1979-80.
However, he wasn’t eligible to win the Calder Trophy due to spending a season in the World Hockey Association beforehand. That technicality doesn’t take away from Gretzky’s wondrous first NHL season, where he scored 51 goals and added 86 assists, tying Marcel Dionne for the most points.
It was the first of eight successive Hart Trophies for Gretzky, a record that probably won’t be broken.
1. Sidney Crosby (19 years old)
When he could still be referred to as ‘Sid the Kid,’ Crosby became the second teenager to take home the Hart Trophy, following in Gretzky’s footsteps. The then-19-year-old scored 36 goals and 84 assists for 120 points in 79 games during the 2006-07 campaign, the most of his illustrious career thus far.
Over 50 percent of Crosby’s overall point production came on the power play, with his 61 power-play points being a career high. His first of two Hart Trophies came a year after losing out on the Calder Trophy to Alex Ovechkin.
Crosby also won the Hart Trophy in 2013-14.