One of the league’s stat-based trophies, the Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the player that scored the most points in a given NHL regular season.
With the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs well underway, fans of teams that aren’t in the mix are mostly looking ahead towards this year’s NHL Draft and the following regular season – but there does remain one order of business.
Following the Stanley Cup Final in June, an awards ceremony will be held to hand out individual player awards for the regular season, serving as the final component of the 2025-26 season.
While writers and general managers vote on the awards upon the conclusion of the regular season, the winners remain a mystery until the award ceremony itself – that is, for most of the league’s awards.
Although the majority of the awards are voted on and therefore involve a good deal of subjectivity, there are a small handful of awards that are solely based on statistics – meaning we know the winners of these awards already.
Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon will be taking home the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for leading the NHL with 53 goals scored, while the team’s goalie tandem of Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood will share the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest overall goals allowed.
The other empirically-based award is the Art Ross Trophy, which is awarded each year to the overall leader in points throughout the NHL.
To perhaps the surprise of no one, it was Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers to come away with the award this season on the heels of a 138-point campaign – marking McDavid’s sixth win of the award.
As the award has typically been dominated by the league’s best players, McDavid joined some truly elite company with his Art Ross win this season. The Oilers star has now tied Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe for second-most Art Ross Trophy wins – though he’ll need four more to match Wayne Gretzky’s 10 wins of the award.
Although the trophy was first awarded during the Original Six era after the 1947-48 season, only 15 of the NHL’s 32 teams have had a player win the award before – with the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs still awaiting their first Art Ross win.
Here are the teams that have never had a player win the Art Ross Trophy:
- Buffalo Sabres
- Ottawa Senators
- Florida Panthers
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Rangers
- Minnesota Wild
- Utah Mammoth
- St. Louis Blues
- Nashville Predators
- Winnipeg Jets
- Vegas Golden Knights
- Seattle Kraken
- Anaheim Ducks
The award has seen a remarkable lack of parity within the last decade, as Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov have accounted for nine of the last 10 Art Ross wins – with the lone outlier going to McDavid’s teammate, Leon Draisaitl.
Therefore, you’d have to go all the way back to the 2015-16 season to find a year where the Art Ross wasn’t won by Edmonton or Tampa Bay, with Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks winning the trophy that season.
For the teams that have had a player win the prestigious award, here’s a look at the last time it happened:
- Edmonton Oilers: 2025-26, Connor McDavid (138 points)
- Tampa Bay Lightning: 2024-25, Nikita Kucherov (121 points)
- Chicago Blackhawks: 2015-16, Patrick Kane (106 points)
- Dallas Stars: 2014-15, Jamie Benn (87 points)
- Pittsburgh Penguins: 2013-14, Sidney Crosby (104 points)
- Vancouver Canucks: 2010-11, Daniel Sedin (104 points)
- Washington Capitals: 2007-08, Alex Ovechkin (112 points)
- Boston Bruins: 2005-06, Joe Thornton (125 points)*
- San Jose Sharks: 2005-06, Joe Thornton (125 points)*
- Colorado Avalanche: 2002-03, Peter Forsberg (106 points)
- Calgary Flames: 2001-02, Jarome Iginla (96 points)
- Los Angeles Kings: 1993-94, Wayne Gretzky (130 points)
- New York Islanders: 1978-79, Bryan Trottier (134 points)
- Montreal Canadiens: 1977-78, Guy Lafleur (132 points)
- Detroit Red Wings: 1962-63, Gordie Howe (86 points)
*denotes a split season. Thornton amassed 32 points with the Bruins and 92 points with the Sharks in 2005-06.

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