I recently posted this in another thread. Since 1980, there have been eight seasons where a player took 95%+ of the first-place votes for the Hart trophy:
Season | Player | Max | 1st place | Percentage | Notes |
1982 | Gretzky | 63 | 63 | 100.0% | Only unanimous Hart in NHL history |
1993 | Lemieux | 50 | 49 | 98.0% | 1x 2nd place vote |
1992 | Messier | 69 | 67 | 97.1% | 2x 2nd place votes |
1984 | Gretzky | 62 | 60 | 96.8% | 2x 2nd place votes |
2012 | Malkin | 149 | 144 | 96.6% | 4x 2nd place votes, 1x third place vote |
2019 | Kucherov | 171 | 164 | 95.9% | 3x 2nd place votes, 2x third place votes, 2x fourth place votes |
2008 | Ovechkin | 134 | 128 | 95.5% | 4x 2nd place votes, 1x third place votes, missing from one ballot |
1985 | Gretzky | 63 | 60 | 95.2% | 1x 2nd place vote, missing from two ballots |
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I don't think McDavid wins unanimously. It's only happened once in all of NHL history (going back to the 1920's). And there were far fewer voters in the 20th century - you're more likely to get a contrarian or shameless homer in a pool of around 150 voters, as opposed to a pool of around 60 voters.
Still, I expect McDavid will end up in the top five on the list, making it the most decisive Hart trophy of the 21st century.