In news that should surprise nobody, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid was named one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy for the player “adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.” McDavid is the reigning Hart Trophy Winner and would be looking to win back-to-back Harts for the first time since Alexander Ovechkin did it in 2007–08 and 2008–09.
This was a massive campaign for McDavid, who finished third in the league scoring with 132 points in 76 games. The crowning personal achievement for him was becoming the fourth NHL player in history to record 100 assists in a season and the first since Wayne Gretzky did it in 1990–91. He’s also the first player to produce back-to-back 130-point seasons since Mario Lemieux did it back in the early 90s and the first to produce back-to-back-to-back 120-point seasons since Gretzky in the same era.
These numbers are obviously outstanding, but what makes his contribution so massive is how he was able to will the Oilers to the playoffs after the abysmal 2–9–1 start to the year. In the next eight games, McDavid put up 26 points to lead the Oilers to win each of those games. You simply cannot look at this Oilers team’s success and not point to him as one of the biggest reasons why.
Who else is in the Hart conversation
McDavid is joined in this category by Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, and both have reasonably good cases to win the award. Kucherov finished with a handful more points than McDavid and also factored into half of all goals scored by the Lightning this season.
MacKinnon also had an outstanding season, recording 140 points for the Avalanche. What sets him apart is that he scored 50 goals and also was on the scoresheet in 69 games this season, the most of any NHLer this season.
The Hart is one of the toughest trophies to predict a winner for because all three candidates have such outstanding resumes this season, however, McDavid’s case should stand out simply because of how bad the Oilers were to start the year and how he pulled the team out of what could have been a disaster and willed them to a second-place finish in the Pacific Division. He’s our Hart pick!
