By Jordan Long
The NHL announced the Hart Trophy Finalist for MVP. The three skaters the NHL Professional Hockey Writers Association will vote on are Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, and New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin. All of them deserve the chance to win it.
Draisaitl could be the favorite to take home the award. Before the NHL stopped playing due to the COVID19 Pandemic, he led the league in points. Draisaitl totaled 43 goals and 67 assists for 110 points. The next closest total to him was Connor McDavid with 34 goals and 63 assists for 97 points. Draisaitl was second in the league on power play goals with 16. He probably deserves to win it. The Oilers went 37-25-9 for a total of 83 points, second in the Pacific Division.
Panarin was 4th in the league in total points. He scored 32 goals and added 63 assists for a total of 95 points. Sure Draisaitl has the edge in points but Panarin is was better in +/-. He was a plus 36 while Draisaitl was -7. New York ended at 37-28-5 for 79 points with his play.
MacKinnon led the Avalanche in scoring. He totaled 35 goals and 58 assists for 93 points. He appeared in in 69 games for the Avalanche. Colorado finished with a better record than New York and Edmonton with MacKinnon on the ice. Colorado went 42-20-8 for 92 points, 2nd behind the St. Louis Blues for 1st place in the Central Division. The Hart trophy will be given out at the NHL awards. With the COVID19 Pandemic everything is pushed back. It is expected the winner will be announced sometime in early September. The writers will take a hard look at all of them. If they go by total points then Draisaitl is the winner. They should go by which player made the team better and that would be MacKinnon.
Leave a Reply