Leon Draisaitl, Ted Lindsay Award
Draisaitl is in the opposite position that Mackinnon is in -- the writers believe his 2024-25 campaign was worthy of an MVP nod, but his peers in the NHLPA instead voted to nominate MacKinnon, Makar and Kucherov.
After finishing as the NHL's leading goal scorer with 52, it's not a stretch for him to be considered one of the "most outstanding players" as this award entails. Draisaitl tied for the league lead with 11 game-winning goals, including an NHL record-breaking six overtime winners.
Only Kucherov and MacKinnon tallied more points than Draisaitl's 106 this season -- and he managed to accomplish all of this in 71 games. If he hadn't missed a handful of matches with a lower-body injury, the 60-goal mark was well within reach.
Draisaitl also recorded the longest point streak of the season with 14 goals and 13 assists over 18 games. That's not to mention the other massive run he went on, with 27 points across 14 consecutive games. In fact, there were only 11 times all year that Draisaitl did not record a point.
Even further, Draisaitl managed to step up when Connor McDavid went down with injuries at two different times, then again during the captain's three-game suspension in January. Draisaitl put up 16 points in the nine games that he played during McDavid's absence.
The German national was truly a scoring machine in his fourth straight 100-point season. Though he still has a shot at claiming the Hart, Draisaitl could easily have been in the conversation for the most outstanding player of the 2024-25 season.