Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid was snubbed by his fellow players for this year’s Ted Lindsay Award.
The award, which McDavid has won four previous times, is given to the best player in the league during the season as voted on by players. The former 2015 first-overall pick has become synonymous with the award, having been nominated six times.
This is the third time he hasn’t cracked the top three in voting in his career. Instead, the award will be won by one of Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, or Nikita Kucherov.
Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews are the three finalists for the 2023-24 Ted Lindsay Award.
#NHLAwards: https://t.co/5fD9ok95mz pic.twitter.com/bCtcjTqW2M— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 8, 2024
McDavid certainly had a case to make the final cut again this season. After a rather slow start to the year, the Oilers captain turned things around dramatically and helped the team go from the basement of the NHL standings in November to one of the best teams in the entire league by season’s end.
While doing so he became the first player in 33 years to record 100 assists in a single season, which Kucherov also accomplished a few nights later. He ended the year third in points with 132, which was behind both Kucherov and MacKinnon.
Though Matthews finished the season with the most goals by a player (69) since 1995-96, McDavid still cleared the Toronto Maple Leafs superstar’s point total of 107 points. McDavid also made the final cut for the Hart Trophy, while Matthews did not.
Some hockey fans on social media were not happy with the apparent snub.
McDavid fatigue is real
— Matt 👉🏻🤪 | 🥀 (@FBR_MC) May 8, 2024
Mcdavid?
— Alexis Jetté (@AlexisJett4) May 8, 2024
I want MacKinnon to win, but it’s kind of surprising not seeing McDavid here
— AMacliciousWatermelon (@DeFiWatermelon) May 8, 2024
I wouldn't want to play Connor McDavid on the day his peers told him he wasn't a top 3 player this season https://t.co/w8VoasXCVn
— Agrippa (@AgrippaFerda) May 8, 2024
McDavid might just take this out on the Canucks round 2. https://t.co/QEVz24ijUj
— Nik 🎷 (@NikLynam) May 8, 2024
On the other hand, plenty of hockey fans took some delight in not seeing McDavid’s name pop up for yet another individual award.
Lmao McFraud left out
— nhlmemecentral (@nhlmemecentral) May 8, 2024
https://t.co/hIG6J03yDB pic.twitter.com/YIaKI7Z8QZ
— big william specialist (@avslegend) May 8, 2024
This is a big one. McDusty doesn’t make the cut as voted on by the players. The Dogg could be taking home more hardware. https://t.co/WozdtRG81B
— Mat Smith (@RealMatSmith) May 8, 2024
As some have already suggested, maybe this lights a fire under McDavid, who is gearing up to open up his second-round playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks tonight. Either way, the Oilers captain has much higher aspirations than a fifth Ted Lindsay Award.
We’ll see if he proves his doubters wrong.