3 biggest snubs for 2025 Ted Lindsay Award ft. Leon Draisaitl

On Wednesday, the NHL announced the finalists for the 2025 Ted Lindsay Award. It is essentially the MVP award in hockey, as it's given to "the most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA." It is the only award voted on by players.

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The league named Nikita Kucherov, Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, the reigning winner, as the three finalists, but the NHLPA will ultimately decide the winner. With only three finalists, there were bound to be snubs. It's worth noting that two of the top three scorers in hockey were included.

2025 Ted Lindsay Award snubs

3) David Pastrnak

David Pastrnak should've been a 2025 Ted Lindsay Award finalist (Imagn)

David Pastrnak deserves some recognition. Not only was he third in points this year, but he also played every game for the Boston Bruins. Pastrnak scored all those points with little help around him on a disappointing team, and as one of the main threats. Opposing defenses knew they had to shut Pastrnak down to beat Boston, but they were largely unable to do it.

2) Mitch Marner

Mitch Marner might've been snubbed (Imagn)

Mitch Marner had 102 points this year, the fifth-most in the NHL. He also earned those points on a good team. It's one thing to score a lot of points on a bad team (which is a different type of challenge), but to score 102 points on a first-place team that has genuine Stanley Cup hopes is another. Marner carried the Toronto Maple Leafs all year with stars going down or not playing as well, and he could've easily been named a finalist.

1) Leon Draisaitl

Leon Draisaitl could've been a 2025 Ted Lindsay Award contender (Imagn)

Leon Draisaitl was deserving of being described as the "most outstanding player" in the league this year. The forward didn't miss as much time as his counterpart, Connor McDavid, and Draisaitl, who just signed a record extension, recorded an impressive 106 points in 71 games. It was the third-most points in the NHL, so he was easily one of the best players in hockey.

About the author

Zachary is a journalist covering NFL, Professional Golf, esports, and Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda. He has a degree in writing/editing from Southern Adventist University (USA), and in his spare time, he likes to play games such as Minecraft, Pokémon and Fortnite, or watch sports.

Ever since he was a youth football wide receiver, Zachary has been an avid NFL fan. He loves the Carolina Panthers, with Cam Newton being his all-time favorite player (with respect to the close second, Steve Smith). If you ever meet Zachary, prepare to hear all about how underrated Newton was and how he single-handedly dragged the Panthers to Super Bowl 50.

Zachary is also a big fan of top golfers like Tiger Woods, Wyndham Clark, and Scottie Scheffler. He enjoys watching them and hopes that Woods can return to form soon and win again.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez