National Post (National Edition)
Crosby showing he’s still got Hart
Points gap with Kucherov narrowing
As of Wednesday morning, Sidney Crosby had 21 fewer points than Nikita Kucherov. But as the season comes to a close, I’m not sure that the gap between the two is as big when it comes to the Hart Trophy.
That’s not to say that Crosby (90 points) will overtake Kucherov (111 points) as league MVP or even pass Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau (90 points) in the voting. But these final three weeks of the season could be important in determining the final order.
That’s not a knock on Kucherov, who is on pace to hit the 130-point mark, which has not happened in the NHL in 23 years. Rather, it’s a tap of the stick to just how good Crosby has also been — especially in the second half of the season.
In the first four months of the season, Kucherov led all scorers with 79 points in 50 games. Crosby was tied for 14th with 58 points in 47 games.
But since the All-star Game, in which Crosby was named MVP, the Penguins captain has 11 goals and 32 points in 20 games. Kucherov also has the same number of goals and points in the same number of games since then.
If this keeps up, Crosby could finish with 105 points — his highest point total since scoring 109 in 200910. He still won’t catch Kucherov or even come close. But he could cause voters to look his way, especially if he ends up with more goals (they are currently tied with 33 each) and the Penguins continue to climb up the standings.
That last part is important.
Pittsburgh, which had the worst record in the Eastern Conference standings at U.S. Thanksgiving, is not Tampa Bay. The Penguins aren’t as deep or as dominant as the Lightning. Take Kucherov off Tampa Bay’s roster and this is still the best team in the NHL. That’s not the case with Pittsburgh, which have relied on Crosby — he scored his 32nd and 33rd goals of the season in a 5-3 win against Washington on Tuesday — to get into a playoff spot.
The other difference is Crosby does not have Brayden Point (37 goals and 83 points) and Tyler Johnson (24 goals and 42 points) as his linemates. The best he’s got is Jake Guentzel, who is having a breakout year with 35 goals and 66 points, while Jared Mccannn has nine goals and 13 points in 20 games since coming over in a trade from Florida.
That’s not necessarily Kucherov’s fault.
No question, he has been the best player this year. That’s not debatable. That’s going to change. But if you go by the Hart Trophy definition — something that voters are familiar with after snubbing Connor Mcdavid for the award last year — then you could make the argument that Crosby has been the “most valuable to his team.”
At the very least he deserves to be a finalist.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
If Crosby doesn’t win the Hart Trophy, could he end up settling for the Selke? It’s one of the few awards he still hasn’t won, though Patrice Bergeron is going to make it tough. One thing to consider: Crosby’s plus-23 rating is seven points higher than Pittsburgh’s nextbest forward. Phil Kessel is a minus-20 and Evgeni Malkin is a minus-24 ... File under the department of strange: The Lightning have a league-best plus-89 goal differential this season. But Steven Stamkos, who has 79 points, is a minus-3. The next-worst player on the team is plus-5 ... It looks like Kessel, who is on pace for 82 points, won’t reach the 30-goal mark this season. And if the Penguins fail to advance past the first or second round, it sure looks like he — along with the three remaining years on a contract with a US$6.8million cap hit — could be traded at the end of the season. I wonder if a return to Boston could be in the cards ... Has anyone seen Anze Kopitar? He had 35 goals and 92 points a year ago. He’s on pace for 22 goals and 57 points this year
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
For the first time this year, the Coyotes are in a playoff spot. And their leading scorer, Clayton Keller, has 13 goals and 44 points. If he played in Toronto, he’d be ranked fifth ... Defenceman Quinn Hughes (seventh overall, 2018) is expected to make his debut with the Canucks this week. But the player I’m most excited about is defenceman Cale Makar (fourth overall, 2017), who has 13 goals and 42 points in 34 games for Umass-amherst compared to Hughes’ five goals and 33 points in 32 games for Michigan. Makar’s season is still going on, but if the Avalanche make the playoffs, he could be a post-season addition.