McDavid Wins Fifth Ted Lindsay Award, Matching Wayne Gretzky’s Record

Connor McDavid has done it again.

The Edmonton Oilers superstar was named the winner of the Ted Lindsay Award for the fifth time, further separating himself from his peers and cementing his place among the most decorated players in NHL history. Wayne Gretzky and McDavid each have five Ted Lindsay Awards to their name. That’s it. No one else is on the list.

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The award, voted on by members of the NHL Players’ Association, is widely regarded as one of the sport’s most meaningful individual honours precisely because of who does the voting. It’s the players who line up against McDavid every night — the ones who know better than anyone how hard it is to try and stop him.

Five times, they’ve determined that there is no one better.

McDavid, 28, has been the dominant force in the NHL for the better part of a decade. His combination of skating, vision, and playmaking ability has no modern comparison, and his consistency at the highest level of the sport has been nothing short of remarkable. The only knock on his career thus far, is that he’s yet to win a Stanley Cup.

In any given year, the league’s best talent can walk away with a Hart Trophy or Rocket Richard, including names like Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, and a generation of young stars pushing at the door. Still, to be seen by your peers as the best time and time again speaks to the legacy he’s building.

The Ted Lindsay Award has been handed out since 1971. Only a handful of players in that entire span have won it multiple times. McDavid only needs one more win to hold the all-time record.

As for individual awards, McDavid now has five Ted Lindsay awards, three Hart Trophies, 1 Conn Smythe, one Rock Richard, and six Art Ross wins.

Next: The Oilers Shot Themselves in the Foot Yet Again