NHL announced the nominees for the best player - featuring a 19-year-old teen sensation!

The NHL announced the nominees for the Ted Lindsay Award on Tuesday. This is an award voted on by the players themselves – and therefore it is considered the most prestigious of individual honors.

The finalist trio consists of Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers), Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning), and young sensation Macklin Celebrini (San Jose Sharks).

McDavid continued at his usual level, dominating the scoring race: in 82 regular season games, he recorded an impressive 48+90=138 points. The Oilers’ captain has already won the Ted Lindsay Award four times before.

Kucherov was breathing down the neck of the scoring leader, just behind the Canadian. The Lightning’s Russian star racked up 45+91=136 points in 80 games, finishing second in the scoring race. Kucherov has won this award twice in his career.

However, the biggest story of the season is Celebrini. The 19-year-old top prospect amassed an incredible 45+70=115 points in his second NHL season, practically carrying the San Jose Sharks’ offense on his own.

The gap to his teammates says it all: the Sharks’ second most productive player Will Smith finished the regular season with 59 points.