Kukla's Korner Hockey
Why Connor McDavid Will Not Win The Hart Trophy
by Paul on 03/13/18 at 08:00 AM ET
Comments (5)
from Michael Traikos of the National Post,
It’s not because of something nefarious. But in the minds of potential voters, his season is tainted. Call it guilt by association.
McDavid is ranked third in the Art Ross Trophy race with 84 points in 68 games. Since the All-Star break, he is tied for first in goals (18) and second in points (30). He’s having as good an offensive year as he did in 2017-18 when he finished with 100 points and won the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award.
The problem is that while McDavid is having another MVP season, his team is having a forgettable one.
The Edmonton Oilers are not a playoff team. As of Monday, they weren’t even close. For this reason — and pretty much this reason alone — McDavid won’t come close to winning an award that by definition is awarded annually to the “player judged most valuable to his team.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: connor+mcdavid
Comments
McDavid could absolutely win MVP on a terrible team… but he has to still be better than he is this season. He has to be the top scorer n the league by a decent margin, and right now he’s not even the league’s leading scorer by any metric.
Posted by Primis on 03/13/18 at 10:27 AM ET
I know if I could have one impact player in the league right now, it might be Barkov. He’s playing at a very hight level right now.
Posted by duhduhduh on 03/13/18 at 12:19 PM ET
To me, you’d have to be head and shoulders above in terms of production if your team isn’t in the mix at the end of the season. Its not a skills competition award. Plus, there are probably 4 or 5 guys on teams that will be in the playoff that you can make an argument for the Hart. Kucherov, Hall, Malkin, McKinnon…That being said, I fully expect McDavid to win it because the NHL would change the puck to a basketball if they thought it would help marketing. I’m surprised they haven’t.
Posted by PMP5030 on 03/13/18 at 12:39 PM ET
Trivia- last player to win the Hart from a non-playoff team, Mario Lemieux in 1988.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 03/13/18 at 12:41 PM ET
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As he shouldn’t. It’s a difficult argument to make that he’s valuable because they would be more not in the playoffs without him.
My vote would be for Nate if the Avs get in.
Posted by HaHasek on 03/13/18 at 09:47 AM ET