Wayne Gretzky knows a thing or two about the Hart Memorial Trophy.
He won nine of them.
And he had his hands on a 10th Wednesday night at the NHL’s postseason awards show at T-Mobile Arena. But that one was for a different Edmonton Oilers center.
Second-year phenom Connor McDavid.
The 20-year-old McDavid, hockey’s most prized prospect since Sidney Crosby, validated the lofty expectations that have accompanied him since his adolescent years and accepted the Hart Memorial Trophy from the Great One himself to stake his claim as the league’s MVP.
McDavid, who led the league in points with 100 and guided the Oilers to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, beat out fellow finalists Crosby and Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to become the youngest Hart Trophy winner since a 19-year-old Crosby won the award in 2007.