Who is the current Hart Trophy frontrunner?
We’re close to the halfway point of the NHL season. A year ago, our Roundtable topic jokingly asked who had the second-best chance to win the MVP because Connor McDavid was so far ahead that the award was already decided. This year, though? The Hart Trophy race is wide open.
So, Roundtable members: who is your current MVP frontrunner and why?
MATT LARKIN: I tend to skew toward the purist Hart definition more than most and think hard about the “most valuable to his team” element given the Ted Lindsay Award covers off the “best player” angle (it goes to the most outstanding player as voted by the players, not the MVP). Which is a roundabout way of saying that, while I’m blown away by the efforts of Nathan MacKinnon and Quinn Hughes this season, they’ve had some elite help. I wonder where the Tampa Bay Lightning would be without Nikita Kucherov, though. They’re only on the periphery of the playoff race despite having the NHL’s co-leading scorer. That’s how much they’ve regressed defensively. I shudder to imagine how low they’d sit in the standings without him. In less than half a season, he’s already 24 points ahead of his closest teammate. Unreal.
SCOTT MAXWELL: I’m going to agree with Matt on the principle that the award should lean more towards the player most valuable to his team, but I think there’s another player that is in that conversation, and it’s the most obvious: Connor McDavid. Yes, there are other talented players on the Edmonton Oilers that should be able to carry the load without him, but early this season they didn’t. I think we already forget how bad this team was while McDavid was hurt and then struggling afterwards while his injury clearly wasn’t fully healed. While goaltending played a factor in their early-season struggles, players like Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard also played less like their usual selves, and it was so bad that they’ve only just gotten back into the playoff race. This team with and without McDavid is night and day, and he’s probably going to catch up and retake the scoring lead eventually anyways, so it seems likely that the award will be his. It may be a boring pick, but I think the Oilers’ struggles without him have made him earn the MVP part of that award again. If the Oilers surviving without McDavid can give Draisaitl a Hart Trophy, I think them struggling without McDavid probably means it’s his to lose.
STEVEN ELLIS: It’s really difficult to go against the grain here, because Kucherov and MacKinnon are both so worthy. But I’m going Quinn Hughes here. It’s difficult to get serious consideration for this as a defenseman, but he’s playing close to 25 minutes a night, leads all defensemen in points, and I don’t think the Canucks are even close to sniffing the playoffs without him. I get the team’s first-half schedule was quite favorable, but Hughes’ career year is having ripple effects all over the lineup. I think defensemen deserve more love, simple as that.
COLBY COHEN: How come defensemen never win the MVP? Let’s change that. For me, Quinn Hughes is currently the MVP. He logs more minutes than the forwards in this discussion therefore he impacts the outcome of a game more. His team leads their division and he’s playing at a +25 which means he’s not just on the ice for power play goals. Anytime a ‘D’ is able to produce at more than a point a game while still playing well defensively (hence the +25) they deserve major consideration for MVP. I think Quinn heard the noise that the two Hughes’ playing in New Jersey we’re supposed to be the better brothers… well for now Quinn sits on the throne.
FRANK SERAVALLI: I have to agree with Scott, for me right now, the frontrunner for Hart is Connor McDavid. The Oilers didn’t take flight this season until McDavid started doing McDavid like things again. The numbers are ridiculous: Since Nov. 20, McDavid has 40 points in 19 games, meaning he has averaged north of two points per game. Edmonton is 14-5-0 in that span. The only player with more points in that span is Nathan MacKinnon, but only by virtue of playing four additional games than McDavid. We just had McDavid hit 900 career points this week. It’s not entirely out of the question that he hits 1,000 points this season if he continues at his current 2.11 points per game pace. Mix in a couple five-point nights and it is entirely doable. If I had to fill out my ballot today, it would likely look like: 1. McDavid, 2. MacKinnon, 3. Artemi Panarin, 4. Nikita Kucherov, 5. Quinn Hughes.
MIKE GOULD: To me, it’s not even close. It’s Sidney Crosby. At 36 years of age, Sid is carrying an outgunned Penguins team back into the playoff picture. He flat-out willed the Penguins to their victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. For my money, Crosby is still the guy I’d take over all others to start a playoff series. He is the Steve Yzerman of his generation — an outstanding leader who is unbelievably skilled and only gets better with age. My finalists would be MacKinnon, Kucherov, and Crosby, but I’d lean toward the older Bluenoser on that list. ____
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