On Tuesday, the final five NHL awards are being handed out. Last up for the night was the Hart Memorial Trophy, given to the most valuable player as voted by the PHWA. After receiving the Ted Lindsay Award for the same honor as voted by the players, Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews was this year’s recipient. The other finalists were Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin and Oilers center Connor McDavid.
It was a career year for Matthews in terms of goals (60), assists (46), points (106), and shots on goal (348) with his goal and shots totals leading the league despite only playing in 73 games. His goals per game rate (0.82) was the highest in the NHL since Mario Lemieux back in the 1995-96 campaign. That helped lead Toronto to the second spot in the Atlantic Division and their most successful season in franchise history in terms of points. Matthews is the third Maple Leaf to win the Hart and the first to do so in quite some time as Toronto’s previous winner was Ted Kennedy back in 1954-55.
Matthews received 61% of first-place votes among the 195 ballots cast while appearing on all but two of them. That helped him finish more than 500 points ahead of McDavid to take home the award with Shesterkin coming a distant third. Four other players received a first-place vote – Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau, Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau, Nashville’s Roman Josi, and Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov.
The full voting results can be found here.
So does McDavid need to have 150 points to top 60 goals? I get 60 is rare air, but there’s an award for winning the goals title. SMH.
There’s also an award for winning the points title.
This stuff seems to confuse you. Hint: this is not a playoff award.
Could hear your head rattling from here.
If it was just the Hart maybe you have an argument, but the Ted Lindsay award is pretty telling that he deserves this recognition.
Seems like this dig about his confusion would have been more effective if you hadn’t replied to the wrong post, Dog.
MVP his team can’t make it past the first round of the playoffs
1. This doesn’t include the playoffs.
2. The team he and his team lost to is in the cup final.
The Leafs must be so excited that the guy already making almost $12 million a year whose contract expires in two years when his hometown team will be beginning the upswing of their rebuild won the Hart. And Lindsay.
My tout was Shesterkin — eliminate Matthews, and Toronto still would’ve made the playoffs, eliminate Shesterkin, and the Rangers would’ve been contending for a lottery pick — but Matthews ain’t a bad choice.
Take away Mathews and leafs do not make the playoffs cuz they’d be a 1 trick pony. Jt, nylander and marner and that’s it.
… and Campbell, and Rielly, and Bunting, and Mikheyev, and guys like Kase having unexpectedly decent seasons.
Seriously, dude. Do you think a Matthews-less Leafs would’ve been a worse team than the Islanders?