Who is the most valuable player in the NHL? In 2018, it will be one three forwards who finished in the top seven in scoring. However, it won’t be any of the names at #1-#4. Instead, the league announced that the finalists for the Hart Trophy are the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon, the New Jersey Devils’ Taylor Hall, and the Los Angeles Kings’ Anze Kopitar, who finished fifth through seventh in points this season, respectively.
The three nominees, as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, will come as no surprise. All three were considered top candidates for the award this season after outstanding campaigns. MacKinnon and Hall each notched 39 goals en route to leading their teams back from the basement of the league last season to unlikely playoff berths. MacKinnon’s 97 points in 74 games was second only to Connor McDavid in per-game production among full-season players, while Hall’s 93 points – 41 more than the next-best player in New Jersey – was the largest proportion of team points in the league. Meanwhile in L.A., Kopitar bounced back from a down 2016-17 season personally with 92 points, while also playing Selke-caliber defense.
As always, there were deserving candidates who did not get the nod as a Hart finalist. McDavid obviously stands out as the reigning MVP and the league’s top scorer at 108 points. However, the struggles of McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers made it unlikely he would get a second consecutive shot at the award. The other top-four scorers – the Philadelphia Flyers’ Claude Giroux, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin – did not share those same struggles, but their Hart resumes weren’t helped by the other talented players on their teams, such as top-15 scorers Jakub Voracek, Steven Stamkos, Phil Kessel, and Sidney Crosby. Other snubs include Rocket Richard winner Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, NHL assists leader and the captain of the upstart Winnipeg Jets, Blake Wheeler, and a player who may have pushed McDavid for the scoring title if not for injuries and suspensions, the Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand. However, it is hard to argue that the three finalists picked by the PHWA are not the three most deserving players to be up for the Hart this season. The winner of hockey’s MVP award will be revealed at the NHL Awards on June 20th.
Taylor Hall
Giroux got robbed
Giroux had a great season & would’ve been a worthy finalist, but he had Courtier & Voracek who both had great seasons offensively. He also had Gostisbehre who was one of the top scoring d-men in the NHL. Hall had 41 more points than the guy who was 2nd in scoring on his team. MacKinnon only had had Raantanen to help. Kopitar literally carried the Kings with Carter out. He did everything for that team. He was their best offensive player & their best defensive forward. All three finalists were definitely deserving. Giroux would have been deserving as well (as Kucherov, Malkin, Wheeler or Marchand would’ve been), but he wasn’t robbed. He was just a victim of there being a lot great candidates.
I give my vote to MacKinnon. This is really a 2 man race between Hall and MacKinnon. MacKinnon had more points in fewer games, and his team went from last in the league to playoffs. Jersey benefited from having weak competition going for the second WC compared to the battle the Avs had with St Louis. Neither team is where they finished without the respective players but Colorado had less in my Mine for MacKinnon to work with then Hall
Hall. McKinnon has Lando and Rantanen
Hall has a pile of sticks
There’s so many worthy guys this season. Not everyone is going to be happy
This is true…can’t have everyone as MVP. I like McKinnon for how he took control of the Avs after Duchesne left and led them to the playoffs after such a disastrous campaign the year before. I like Taylor Hall just for the point that I’m a Flames fan lol.
i put hall or kopitar as the finalists with mack and giroux behind them.
mack and giroux had some high scoring teammates but their teams would have been significantly worse and would not have made the playoffs without them. giroux’s run at the end put the flyers in the playoffs.
All of them very deserving of the recognition in their own rights. It will be interesting to see who is considered top dog :-)