PLAYING WITH HART
Early-season MVP candidates
It was only six and a half minutes — not 37 games like last season — but the effect was pretty much the same.
When a concussion spotter pulled Connor McDavid from the game after drawing a tripping penalty against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, the Edmonton Oilers were not the same team. With the NHL’s leading scorer sitting in the quiet room, Edmonton failed to convert on a glorious man-advantage opportunity — they didn’t even get a shot on net for the rest of the second period — and eventually lost 2-1 in overtime.
“S----- time in the game too, I guess,” McDavid told reporters. “It’s a little bit of a partial five-on-three and a power play late in the second period where if you capitalize, it could change the game.”
It was the ninth time this season that McDavid did not record a point and the sixth time the Oilers lost in that scenario. It’s another way of saying that McDavid is the difference between winning and losing. Whether that makes him the early favourite for the Hart Trophy is another question.
By its definition, the trophy is awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team. But each team’s needs are different every year.
Are McDavid’s league-leading 34 points more valuable than Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price’s .942 save percentage? In the absence of Tampa Bay Lightning teammate Steven Stamkos, are Nikita Kucherov’s 13 goals more valuable than Winnipeg Jets winger Patrik Laine’s 16 goals? Is Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson more valuable now that the Senators are winning?
With the season nearly two months old, let’s take a look at the early favourites:
CONNOR McDAVID, EDMONTON GP 27, G 11, A 23, PTS 34
McDavid received the Oilers captaincy before his 20th birthday. If anyone was wondering if he was old enough to lead, his production has answered those questions and more. McDavid, who has five more points than the next-highest scorer, leads the league in assists and six times this season has scored three points in a game. He is a big reason why the Oilers have climbed out of the basement and are tied for the most points in the Pacific Division.
SIDNEY CROSBY, PITTSBURGH GP 20, G 17, A 10, PTS 27
Crosby missed the first six games of the season because of a suspected concussion, but with 1.37 goals per game, he’s made up for lost time. He already has nine multi-point games, but the number that sticks out is his 16 goals. Crosby has managed more than 40 goals only once in his career, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy with 51 goals in 2009-10.
CAREY PRICE, MONTREAL 14-3-1, GAA 1.82, SV% .942
Price won the MVP two years ago, but you could argue he really deserved the Hart Trophy last season when Montreal dropped out of the playoff picture after losing their No. 1 goalie to injury. With Price healthy again, the Canadiens have piled up the most points in the league.
And yet, they are only the best because of Price. Only one other playoff team allows more shots per game than the Canadiens (31.7), who have the fourth-best goals-against average (2.20). That number would be even lower if Price, who has two shutouts and seven other games where he gave up just one goal, never had to take a day off. With leading scorer Alex Galchenyuk (23 points) out indefinitely, keeping the puck out will be more important than ever.
PATRIK LAINE, WINNIPEG GP 28, G 16, A 7, PTS 23
In each of the three seasons that Alex Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy, he led the league in goals. But he never did it as a rookie. That is why what Laine is doing has been so special — it’s not that he has been tied for the league lead in goals, it’s that he’s doing it as an 18-year-old. With two hat tricks, three game-winners and a one-timer that is already causing goalies to flinch, the Jets have relied on Laine to score 46 per cent of their power-play goals and have won only four out of the 15 games where he has not recorded a point.
NIKITA KUCHEROV, TAMPA BAY GP 26, G 13, A 16, PTS 29
Before his injury, Steven Stamkos (20 points in 17 games) would have been on this list. He might even have been the early Hart Trophy favourite. But when the Lightning captain went down with a torn meniscus, a familiar face once again stepped up.
Kucherov, who had only one goal in October, scored 10 goals and 18 points in 15 games in November. He is second in league scoring, tied for third in goals and his plus-10 rating is better than anyone else’s in the top 10 in scoring.
ERIK KARLSSON, O T TAWA GP 26, G6, A 18, PTS 24
It might seem a bit of a reach to include Karlsson’s name here, since he is not having the same kind of offensive season he did a year ago when he finished in the top five in overall scoring with 82 points. He’s the top-scoring defenceman this year, but is probably behind Montreal’s Shea Weber in the early Norris Trophy voting.
But like last year’s Norris Trophy snub, the points tell only half the story. Unlike last year, the Senators are holding down a playoff spot. And Karlsson, who leads the league in blocked shots, is a big reason why the team is averaging fewer shots against.