One day after Auston Matthews won the Hart Trophy as league MVP, Gretzky’s award ballot and the almost 200 others that the Professional Hockey Writers Association submitted were made available to the public on Wednesday.
Here are the people Gretzky named to receive hockey’s highest individual honors.
Gretzky’s choice: Cale Makar, Leon Draisaitl, Jonathan Huberdeau, Auston Matthews, and Connor McDavid
Auston Matthews was the victor.
The argument about who the best active player is won’t be much quieted by Gretzky’s choice. In spite of Matthews scoring 60 goals, the league’s first 60-goal player in ten years, McDavid continued to rule the league this season and won his fourth Art Ross award in his seventh season. Hockey fans should expect both of these talents to continue to wow us for years to come, regardless of which side of the argument you’re on.