The Daily Faceoff Show: Is Kirill Kaprizov a Hart trophy candidate?

Kirill Kaprizov had a dominant month of March, leading the NHL in goals with 14, while helping the Minnesota Wild to a 10-4-3 record.

After a summer of intense contract negotiations which resulted in Kaprizov getting a lucrative deal at five years and a $9-million AAV, he certainly gained some doubters who were skeptical of whether he deserved that much money so quickly. He’s proved them wrong again this season, as he’s very close to the 40-goal plateau and has already passed 80 points on the year.

On The Daily Faceoff Show, Frank Seravalli and Matt Larkin revealed whether they were buying or selling Kaprizov as a Hart Trophy candidate.

Matt Larkin: I am buying. And when I think of why, I go back to a couple conversations I had with scouts the year before he came that still resonate today. One was a scout that was so high on him, saying he’s going to be a ready-made product when he arrives, “He has the brain of Brad Marchand, the body and physicality of Vladimir Tarasenko and the hands of Artemi Panarin.”

The other scout was a little bit more bearish, and said, “He’s going to be great, but is he going to be good enough to make others around him better?” And that ties to this Hart conversation. Look at the numbers of Ryan Hartman and Matt Zuccarello this year. Look at the numbers of Victor Rask last year, compared to this year. He’s no longer on the line, and was pretty much a castoff (traded). That’s the difference of playing with Kaprizov and not.

We know the offensive skills are amazing. He’s a great goal scorer, he’s so dynamic with the puck, but I think the underrated part of his game is he is showing he’s that guy who can make others around him better. If you look at the analytics at 5-on-5, he’s seventh in the NHL in primary assists per 60 minutes, ahead of Mitch Marner, for example. So to me, that’s what puts Kaprizov over the top. And I say yes, absolutely, I’m buying it. He’s a Hart trophy candidate.

Frank Seravalli: Yeah, I’m buying it. I don’t know where Jonathan Huberdeau fits on my Hart trophy ballot. I don’t know about Igor Shesterkin, his play has kind of dropped off a little bit for the New York Rangers, his numbers have been down a bit. I think there’s a whole separate argument to made about goalies in the Hart trophy discussion. You should be voting goalies every year theoretically, if you think about the most value that they bring to a team.

But I can tell you this. Kirill Kaprizov is going to be somewhere on my top five, because he’s dynamic, he’s fun to watch, and he’s backed up and done everything that the Minnesota Wild asked him to do, in what was probably a pressure packed situation, getting that somewhat unprecedented second contract in the NHL.

You can watch the full video here…