Fantasy Hockey Award Winners for 2025-26

After a few weeks of incredible NHL playoff hockey, it’s time to unveil the fantasy hockey award winners for 2025-26. With the NHL draft just over a week away, this seems like the perfect time to reveal the best and worst of the fantasy hockey season.

I’ll be giving out awards for best fantasy forward, defenceman, goalie, and surprise breakout player of the year. My criteria are pretty straightforward. It is a combination of consistent performance throughout the year, peripheral contributions (I can’t ignore multi-caters), and fantasy playoff impact.

I will also hand out two awards for the most disappointing fantasy performances. I can’t ignore the players that cost us championships either.

Fantasy Hockey Award Winners of 2025-26:

Most Valuable Fantasy Forward:

Connor McDavid (C, Edmonton Oilers)

Honourable mentions: Nathan MacKinnon (C, Colorado Avalanche), Nikita Kucherov (RW, Tampa Bay Lightning)

Honestly, it wasn’t that close. He led the league in points (138), third in goals (48), second in shots on goal, and first in power-play points by 13 (58).

Was anyone more consistent? Month by month, he averaged at least 1.5 points per game. Only a slow start in October made the scoring race any sort of race (14 in 12 games). In February, he dipped to 1.25 points per game (5 points in 4 games), which was due to the Olympic break. He lacked in hits (18), but the offensive numbers are too monstrous to ignore.

In April, when we needed McDavid the most, he delivered 13 points in his final seven games.

McDavid should be drafted first in every format again next year.

Most Valuable Fantasy Defenceman

Evan Bouchard (D, Edmonton Oilers)

Honourable Mentions: Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets), Moritz Seider (Detroit Red Wings)

Unlike the Norris Trophy, I don’t care about defence. Bouchard had the best offensive season since Erik Karlsson in 2022-23 (101 points).

Bouchard put up a career high with 95 points, 14 more than Werenski. His 33 power-play points were one less than Quinn Hughes’ 34. And his 221 shots were third behind Werenski’s 260 and Matthew Schaefer’s 222. He also scored 21 goals, which was fifth among defencemen. Side note: It’s crazy that six defencemen scored 20 or more goals this year. The league has changed so much in the past 10 years.

He didn’t hit much, but it’s hard to find a defenceman over 60-points that does lay the body. Seider with 60-points is the obvious exception. I couldn’t ignore the monstrous season Bouchard put up. Every offensive number, Bouchard’s name is at or near the top. The 101 blocks place him amongst his elite offensive defencemen peers.

He also produced 26 points over his final 21 games, with 9 on the power play. The two game-winning goals to boot.

Most Valuable Fantasy Goalie:

Scott Wedgewood (G, Colorado Avalanche)

Honourable Mentions: Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning), Ilya Sorokin (New York Islanders) 

Some of you might be wondering how I took Wedgewood over Vasilevskiy. Well, the numbers are just better. Sure, Vasilevskiy had more wins, 39-31. In large part, because he played 13 more games, but that’s where the statistical advantage ends.

Wedgewood only lost 6 games. He also posted a 2.02 goals against average (GAA) and a .921 save percentage (SV%). His 4 shutouts were two more than Vasilevskiy’s two.

When it mattered most for fantasy owners, Wedgewood went lights out. In five April starts, he went 4-1 with a 0.68 GAA and a .968 SV% and two shutouts. If you made the finals with Wedgewood in net, the odds were good that you won the title.

Fantasy Breakout Player of the Year

Matthew Schaefer (D, New York Islanders)

Honourable Mention: Macklin Celebrinit (C, San Jose Sharks) 

The entire hockey world was shocked by the season Schaefer put up. Considering that he missed almost his entire draft year due to injury, his 23 goals and 59 points are even more unfathomable. His 222 shots were the second most amongst all defencemen. This was one of the greatest offensive seasons by a rookie defenceman in NHL history.

Usually, breakouts are given to players who have played in the league for at least a season, like Celebrini. He was probably the choice of many of you. But Schaefer was also an 18-year-old for the entire season. He only turned 18 on September 5th. Let that sink in, Schaefer entered his first NHL training camp as a 17-year-old. He’s still 18.

Fantasy Disappointment of the Year:

Elias Pettersson (C, Vancouver Canucks)

Pettersson produced an abysmal 55 points in 74 games. Not to mention, he only took 132 shots on net all season. That is barely half of his career high, 257.

So many teams drafted him far too high for what he delivered. In salary cap leagues, it was exponentially worse. I mean, his salary is $11.5 million.

He finds himself on the trade block in real life. The hope amongst fantasy owners is that a fresh start will help him reset, and he can regain his elite offensive form. The comments about Pettersson out of Vancouver over the past three years are a bit concerning. They can be summarized as such, ‘it’s up to Petey what type of player he wants to be.’ These are pure lack-of-effort comments. Time to put in the work, ‘Petey.’

He’s a good buy-low candidate if the price is low enough.

Fantasy Disappointment of the Year #2

Connor Hellebuyck (G, Winnipeg Jets)

How can I have this award and not hand it to Hellebuyck? After winning back-to-back Vezina Trophies, Hellebuyck put up a below-average season. His 2.86 GAA and .895 SV% are staggeringly out of character.

He was one of the first three goalies taken in drafts. We expect elite things from elite goalies. Look, Connor Ingram had a 2.60 GAA for the Oilers this year. Joseph Woll had a .899 SV% on the Maple Leafs, and the Leafs were one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL.

The good news, Hellebuyck should slide an extra round or two in drafts this coming season. It is unlikely he’s viewed as a top-3 goalie going into 2026-27. He should return to his regular, elite, all-world form. Draft him with confidence.