So many worthy Hart Trophy candidates
Connor Mcdavid is on the verge of a 100-assist season.
That hasn’t been done in 33 years. The only 100-assist seasons in NHL history have been accomplished by Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr.
In a hockey season unlike any before it, Mcdavid is a candidate for the Hart Trophy as most valuable player to his team. He is no sure thing to win the award.
Auston Matthews is one the verge of a 70-goal season or close to that.
That hasn’t been done in 31 years. Matthews is a candidate for the Hart Trophy. He is no sure thing to win the award.
Nikita Kucherov currently leads the NHL in scoring. Three players will score more than 130 points this season, the first time that’s happened in 31 years.
Remarkably Kucherov has 48 more points than anyone on his Tampa Bay team. That is a Lemieux-gretzky kind of number from days gone by, when NHL scoring was out of control.
Kucherov is a candidate for the Hart. He is no sure thing to win the award.
David Pastrnak in Boston is somewhere near Kucherov with dominance on his own team. He has 41 points more than anyone other teammate.
Pastrnak is a candidate for the Hart. He is no sure thing to win the award.
And not far behind them is New York’s Artemi Panarin, fresh off the reference to him on Curb Your Enthusiasm, with 36 more points than any other Ranger.
Panarin is a candidate for the Hart. He is unlikely to win the award.
And this isn’t mentioning, until now, the possible favourite, Nathan Mackinnon, the powerhouse centre from Colorado, just behind Kucherov in scoring. He has 20 points more than he’s ever scored before.
He’s more than a candidate for the Hart. He’s been in the conversation all year long.
So how do you pick a winner from this group?
In any given season, Mcdavid, Mackinnon, Kucherov, Matthews, Pastrnak and Panarin would all be good enough to win the Hart.
There has never been a season like this one, with this array of individual greatness, with this difficult a choice to choose an MVP.
THIS AND THAT
And what happens if the Pittsburgh Penguins rally and make the playoffs? Does Sidney Crosby then enter the MVP conversation as well? … Voting for the Hart is complicated. Voting for the Norris Trophy is almost as difficult. On eye test alone, every time I see Cale Makar play I think Norris Trophy. And every time I see Quinn Hughes play, I think Norris Trophy. And the same is true for Roman Josi. There are three Norris candidates, all of them identified the other day by Victor Hedman in the Tampa dressing room. Try picking a winner or any order. I change it almost daily. And on my ballot, I’m voting Hedman fourth … It’s easier to vote for the Selke Trophy as best defensive forward. For me, it used to be Patrice Bergeron and everyone after that. And now it’s Sasha Barkov in Florida and everyone else after that … Matthews will get votes for the Hart, the Selke and the Lady Byng. He will win the Rocket Richard. He might win the Byng.