At the conclusion of the regular season, the Professional Hockey Writers Association submits their ballots for its picks for a number of trophies. One of those trophies is the Hart Memorial Trophy, which goes "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team."
This is an award that has been dominated by the Edmonton Oilers, the team that just knocked the LA Kings out of the playoffs for the fourth straight season, over the past few seasons. In fact the Oilers have had a player win the award four times in the past eight seasons with Connor McDavid winning it three times and Leon Draisaitl winning it once.
Recently, the finalists for the award were announced, and once again, a player on the Edmonton Oilers is included with Leon Draisaitl. However, it also includes Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and goalie Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.
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Leon Draisaitl, Connor Hellebuyck, and Nikita Kucherov are finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded annually "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." 🏆 pic.twitter.com/udt1LXhSQP
If Hellebuyck was to win the award, he would be the first goalie to win the award since Carey Price in the 2015-16 season.
When was the last time the LA Kings had a player win the Hart Memorial Trophy?
It has been a long time since the Kings have had a player win the award, and fans would have to go all the way back to the 1988-89 season when Wayne Gretzky was announced as the winner. This was Gretzky's first season with the Kings after the Oilers traded him, and he would lead the league in assists with 114.
After Gretzky won the award, he would be a finalist in 1990-91 but the Kings wouldn't even have a player be a finalist until 2017-18 when Anze Kopitar would be named as a finalist. That season he would lead the Kings in points with a career-high 92 points. However, he would finish third behind Taylor Hall and Nathan MacKinnon.