Here’s why Burns is the MVP favourite
One of the best seasons by a defender in NHL history
Brent Burns’ Civil War re-enactor beard, multiple tattoos and free-spirited personality sometimes make his NHL dominance hard to recognize.
He’s such an engaging character, overflowing with impishness and charisma, that it has been easy to overlook that he has become one of the top difference-makers. But that has changed this season because Burns, 32, is having one of the best seasons by a defenceman in NHL history.
With just under a month to go in the regular season, Burns is the favourite to win both the Hart Trophy as the league’s Most Valuable Player and the Norris Trophy as its top defenceman.
If Burns accomplishes that rare double, he would be the first defenceman to win both since Chris Pronger did it in 2000. Before then, incomparable Bobby Orr was the last to do it. He won the Hart three seasons in a row from 1970-72.
Burns has been the league’s most impressive player, scoring 27 goals with 43 assists in 69 games. He is six points away from the scoring lead and has been the best player on a contending San Jose Sharks team.
The Sharks are a 13th in scoring with 192 goals, meaning Burns has factored in 36 per cent of those goals. They would not be seventh in the standings without Burns, who is one of four Sharks with more than 20 goals.
Burns owns 20 even-strength goals, the same number as Connor McDavid and six fewer than Auston Matthews and Michael Grabner, who share the league lead. Burns has scored 11 more goals than the next defenceman, the Montreal Canadiens’ Shea Weber.
The Sharks defenceman ranks 34th in points per 60 minutes at five-on-five play, according to stats.hockeyanalysis.com, at 2.10, a mark that is .51 points higher than the No. 2 defenceman, the Calgary Flames’ Dougie Hamilton.
Burns leads forwards and defencemen with 272 shots on goal, and his shots are primarily industrial strength blasts. According to Corsica.hockey, he has attempted 446 shots, which is 140 more than Montreal’s Max Pacioretty who is second. The No. 2 defenceman is the Ottawa Senators’ Erik Karlsson at 290 attempts.
According to Corsica.hockey, Burns has a Corsi of 53.4, 4.18 per cent better than the Sharks on a whole.
At one point in his career, Burns was considered a defensive liability to the extent that former Sharks coach Todd McLellan preferred him at forward. Current Sharks coach Peter DeBoer decided immediately that he wanted him at defence.
Today, it’s clear that Burns’ willingness and ability to lead a cavalry-like charge into the offensive zone makes the Sharks more dangerous. He’s six-foot-five, 230 pounds, but he skates impressively.
When Burns is on the ice, the Sharks always seem to have the puck. That’s another form of defence.
Considering how challenging it is to score in this era, Burns’ 27 goals thus far represents an amazing season by a defenceman.
All of this explains why Burns is the favourite to win the Hart Trophy. It may also help Burns that Patrick Kane, who leads the league with 76 points, Sidney Crosby and McDavid will steal votes from each other. It’s such a wide-open race that it will help Burns. The notoriety of a defenceman being in contention also strengthens Burns’ candidacy.
When Pronger was selected MVP in 2000, it was because he always was in charge when he was on the ice. Everyone was talking about Pronger that season. That same can be said of Burns now.