Hockey Outsider
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- Jan 16, 2005
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This table shows the winner of the Hart trophy (1948-2023) and where they ranked in the scoring race.
Over the past 75 years, the Hart trophy winner was a forward 64 times (85%), a goalie 7 times (9%) and a defenseman 4 times (5%), with three of those four defensemen being Bobby Orr.
The Hart trophy winner led the league in scoring 42 times (56%). I'm counting Gretzky as leading the league in scoring in 1980 (he scored 137 points, as did Dionne, but he lost the Art Ross due to the tiebreaker as the Oiler had fewer goals). Same with Lindros in 1995.
In total, the Hart trophy winner was one of the league's top three scorers 58 times (77%). If you exclude the seasons where a goalie won the Hart, this rises to 85%.
Only five times has the Hart trophy winner finished worse than 5th in scoring (excluding, obviously, the goalies):
| Year | Hart winner | Rank in scoring |
1948 | Buddy O'Connor | 2 |
1949 | Sid Abel | 2 |
1950 | Chuck Rayner | Goalie |
1951 | Milt Schmidt | 4 |
1952 | Gordie Howe | 1 |
1953 | Gordie Howe | 1 |
1954 | Al Rollins | Goalie |
1955 | Ted Kennedy | 11 |
1956 | Jean Beliveau | 1 |
1957 | Gordie Howe | 1 |
1958 | Gordie Howe | 4 |
1959 | Andy Bathgate | 3 |
1960 | Gordie Howe | 5 |
1961 | Bernie Geoffrion | 1 |
1962 | Jacques Plante | Goalie |
1963 | Gordie Howe | 1 |
1964 | Jean Beliveau | 3 |
1965 | Bobby Hull | 4 |
1966 | Bobby Hull | 1 |
1967 | Stan Mikita | 1 |
1968 | Stan Mikita | 1 |
1969 | Phil Esposito | 1 |
1970 | Bobby Orr | 1 |
1971 | Bobby Orr | 2 |
1972 | Bobby Orr | 2 |
1973 | Bobby Clarke | 2 |
1974 | Phil Esposito | 1 |
1975 | Bobby Clarke | 6 |
1976 | Bobby Clarke | 2 |
1977 | Guy Lafleur | 1 |
1978 | Guy Lafleur | 1 |
1979 | Bryan Trottier | 1 |
1980 | Wayne Gretzky | 1 |
1981 | Wayne Gretzky | 1 |
1982 | Wayne Gretzky | 1 |
1983 | Wayne Gretzky | 1 |
1984 | Wayne Gretzky | 1 |
1985 | Wayne Gretzky | 1 |
1986 | Wayne Gretzky | 1 |
1987 | Wayne Gretzky | 1 |
1988 | Mario Lemieux | 1 |
1989 | Wayne Gretzky | 2 |
1990 | Mark Messier | 2 |
1991 | Brett Hull | 2 |
1992 | Mark Messier | 5 |
1993 | Mario Lemieux | 1 |
1994 | Sergei Fedorov | 2 |
1995 | Eric Lindros | 1 |
1996 | Mario Lemieux | 1 |
1997 | Dominik Hasek | Goalie |
1998 | Dominik Hasek | Goalie |
1999 | Jaromir Jagr | 1 |
2000 | Chris Pronger | 45 |
2001 | Joe Sakic | 2 |
2002 | Jose Theodore | Goalie |
2003 | Peter Forsberg | 1 |
2004 | Martin St. Louis | 1 |
2006 | Joe Thornton | 1 |
2007 | Sidney Crosby | 1 |
2008 | Alex Ovechkin | 1 |
2009 | Alex Ovechkin | 2 |
2010 | Henrik Sedin | 1 |
2011 | Corey Perry | 3 |
2012 | Evgeni Malkin | 1 |
2013 | Alex Ovechkin | 3 |
2014 | Sidney Crosby | 1 |
2015 | Carey Price | Goalie |
2016 | Patrick Kane | 1 |
2017 | Connor McDavid | 1 |
2018 | Taylor Hall | 6 |
2019 | Nikita Kucherov | 1 |
2020 | Leon Draisaitl | 1 |
2021 | Connor McDavid | 1 |
2022 | Auston Matthews | 6 |
| 2023 | Connor McDavid | 1 |
Over the past 75 years, the Hart trophy winner was a forward 64 times (85%), a goalie 7 times (9%) and a defenseman 4 times (5%), with three of those four defensemen being Bobby Orr.
The Hart trophy winner led the league in scoring 42 times (56%). I'm counting Gretzky as leading the league in scoring in 1980 (he scored 137 points, as did Dionne, but he lost the Art Ross due to the tiebreaker as the Oiler had fewer goals). Same with Lindros in 1995.
In total, the Hart trophy winner was one of the league's top three scorers 58 times (77%). If you exclude the seasons where a goalie won the Hart, this rises to 85%.
Only five times has the Hart trophy winner finished worse than 5th in scoring (excluding, obviously, the goalies):
- In 1975, Clarke was 6th in scoring. He was just five points out of third place and was far superior defensively the players ranked immediately above him. Still, it's puzzling as to why Orr didn't win (he won the Art Ross - the second time he, or any defenseman in NHL history, had done so).
- In 1955, Kennedy was 11th in scoring. As has been discussed in a few threads here, this is widely speculated to be a "lifetime achievement" award. Kennedy announced his retirement prior to the start and had contended for the Hart in a few prior seasons, but never won it. The only semi-legitimate reasons for Kennedy`s victory is that he benefited from vote splitting (three of the top five players were Canadiens).
- In 2000, Pronger was 45th in scoring. If anything, I was surprised he ranked that high in scoring, given that he's defensive defenseman (with solid, but not outstanding, offensive talent). It was the first time since 1969 that the league didn't have a 100 point scorer (excluding the 1995 lockout year), and perhaps this caused the voters to conclude that no forwards were deserving. (Jagr, Sakic, Bure and Turgeon were all on pace to hit the century mark but missed time to injuries).
- In 2018, Taylor Hall was 6th in scoring. He probably got credit for helping the Devils significantly improve in the standings (up to 97 points, from 70 the year before); significantly outscoring his nearest teammate (93-52 point lead over Nico Hischier); and having a really long point scoring streak. His biggest competitor (Nathan MacKinnon) faltered down the stretch.
- See commentary in post #42 regarding the 2022 season (Hart winenr Auston Matthews finished 6th in scoring).
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