SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that forward Mavrik Bourque of the Texas Stars has been voted the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player for the 2023-24 season.
The award was voted on by coaches, players, and members of the media in each of the league’s 32 cities.
A second-year pro from Plessisville, Que., Bourque led the AHL with 77 points on 26 goals and 51 assists in 2023-24 – becoming, at 22, the league’s youngest scoring champion in 12 years. He also registered a league-high 256 shots on goal and helped Texas rank first in power-play efficiency at 21.9 percent by recording four goals and 20 assists with the man advantage.
Bourque, who went three games without a point on only one occasion all season, had an eight-game scoring streak that helped him win AHL Player of the Month honors for November. He totaled 19 multiple-point outings on the year, highlighted by a four-goal performance in Texas’s 4-3 overtime win over Grand Rapids on Dec. 19.
Bourque was voted a First Team AHL All-Star and participated in the AHL All-Star Classic this season. Dallas’s first-round choice (30th) overall in the 2020 NHL Draft made his National Hockey League debut with the Stars on Apr. 6. Bourque, a 20-goal scorer as a rookie in 2022-23, has totaled 47 goals and 82 assists for 129 points in 147 career games with Texas.
The AHL’s most valuable player award honors the late Les Cunningham, a member of the AHL Hall of Fame who was a five-time league All-Star and three-time Calder Cup champion with the Cleveland Barons.
Previous winners of the award include Carl Liscombe (1948, ’49), Johnny Bower (1956, ’57, ’58), Fred Glover (1960, ’62, ’64), Art Stratton (1965, ’74), Dick Gamble (1996), Mike Nykoluk (1967), Dave Creighton (1968), Gilles Villemure (1969, ’70), Doug Gibson (1975, ’77), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Paul Gardner (1985, ’86), Tim Tookey (1987), Jody Gage (1988), John Anderson (1992), Don Biggs (1993), Brad Smyth (1996), Derek Armstrong (2001), Jason Spezza (2005), Keith Aucoin (2010), Tyler Johnson (2013), Travis Morin (2014), Chris Bourque (2016), Gerry Mayhew (2020), T.J. Tynan (2021, ’22) and Dustin Wolf (2023).
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
