NHL.com Trophy Tracker - Hart Trophy

[CokenoPepsi]

McDavid is definitely more important to his team than Matthews but 60 goals hard to ignore...but the Leafs also have Marner who has been just as great with Matthews hurt

 

[NigerianNightmare]

I. Shesterkin

II. Huberdeau

III. Josi


PS. However, I'd give the Hart to Ovechkin taking into consideration his age and value to the Caps franchise

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

"Matthews is having a great year, so I think I’d probably give it to him,” Huberdeau told the assembled media ahead of Saturday’s meeting between the Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs. “He’s special. … You give him the puck and he’s going to score every time. Not a lot of guys can get close to 60 goals.”

- Huberdeau

Huberdeau would vote for ‘special’ Auston Matthews for Hart Trophy – Sportsnet.ca

A bit humble this guy.

 

[McFlash97]

Over + 60 ..probably Hart Fav now.

Johnny hockey

 

[onetweasy]

It’s a solid method, but JT Miller’s been close, being in on 42.1% of the Canucks goals

And he would be considered if the Canucks were not sitting in 10th….

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

It has to come down to Gaudreau and Huberdeau now. Mathews won’t have enough games and McDavid just won’t get it.

 

[Darren McCord]

I. Shesterkin

II. Huberdeau

III. Josi


PS. However, I'd give the Hart to Ovechkin taking into consideration his age and value to the Caps franchise

How can you say that and ignore a guy like Crosby who is just as or if not more important to his team and putting up a better ppg than Ovi. Just curious.

And no I don’t think either of them deserve it.

 

[Darren McCord]

I pick josi or kaprizov.

Neither of those teams are in the playoffs without those guys.

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

I pick josi or kaprizov.

Neither of those teams are in the playoffs without those guys.

They’re deserving but I can’t see either of them getting many 1st place votes. The top point getters have too much attention, especially as two out of the three have lead their team to division championships.

 

[NigerianNightmare]

How can you say that and ignore a guy like Crosby who is just as or if not more important to his team and putting up a better ppg than Ovi. Just curious.

And no I don’t think either of them deserve it.

I value his goal scoring talent

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I’m not going to pretend I’m not a homer on this matter, but I think if you take a look at scoring trends, none of the forwards are doing anything that historic and they are completely advantaged this season, while goalies are completely disadvantaged.

Shestyorkin is having a top 10 goalie season ever. It’ll probably go to Matthews because if it’s close expect it goes to the player in the market most of the voting media lives, but I’d go with Igor.

 

[Straight Fire]

Ridiculously close Hart race down to the wire. I hate it. I love it.

 

[TheHudlinator]

I’m not going to pretend I’m not a homer on this matter, but I think if you take a look at scoring trends, none of the forwards are doing anything that historic and they are completely advantaged this season, while goalies are completely disadvantaged.

Shestyorkin is having a top 10 goalie season ever. It’ll probably go to Matthews because if it’s close expect it goes to the player in the market most of the voting media lives, but I’d go with Igor.

I don't think goalies should be included because almost every teams goalie is the most valuable on the team because the drop off to the back up is usually big but since they are it's really hard to make an argument against shesterkin

 

[FDBluth]

I think Matthews missing games has hurt his Hart momentum. I think Connor is gonna eek it out, just like the scoring title.

 

[authentic]

McDavid is definitely more important to his team than Matthews but 60 goals hard to ignore...but the Leafs also have Marner who has been just as great with Matthews hurt

Matthews has played more games than Marner and Draisaitl has played more games than McDavid.

 

[wetcoast]

Matthews has played more games than Marner and Draisaitl has played more games than McDavid.

Is it just me but what does this have to do with the hart race?

 

[duul]

Matthews being 14 points behind means he has no chance at the Hart anymore.

McDavid/Huberdeau/Gaudreau as the three. Replace Huberdeau with Josi/Makar if you want.

Huberdeau and Gaudreau play on FAR deeper teams. Their offence is worth a lot less to their teams than McDavid's is to Edmonton, and I've proved this in an earlier post in this thread a couple weeks back.

Nothing has changed.

McDavid's offence is still the most important to his team out of anyone in the NHL, with JT Miller being close.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

If matthews wins the rocket I still think he will win. Writers who vote on this trophy LOvE rocket winners and they love centers, matthews is both. I don’t care who wins, just on what I think will happen.

I mean, do they, though? Ovechkin's won like 100 Rockets but only has 3 Harts. And all those Hart trophies were when he was leading or close to leading the league in points, not just goals. Ovechkin's barely got a sniff at the Hart when he started turning into a 50 goal, but only 80 point player.

If anything, voters have traditionally tended to favor the guys who have highest point totals. So unless Matthews can close the gap between him and the leaders in points, it might slip through his fingers.

 

[wetcoast]

I mean, do they, though? Ovechkin's won like 100 Rockets but only has 3 Harts. And all those Hart trophies were when he was leading or close to leading the league in points, not just goals. Ovechkin's barely got a sniff at the Hart when he started turning into a 50 goal, but only 80 point player.

If anything, voters have traditionally tended to favor the guys who have highest point totals. So unless Matthews can close the gap between him and the leaders in points, it might slip through his fingers.

I guess time will tell but his suspension and then the injury might mean another narrowly missed Hart in what could have been Hart wins most seasons.

 

[BurnabyJoe7]

So many good candidates and it's literally a die roll. I think if a forward is going to win it it should be McDavid (obviously bias) but Matthews, JG, Josi, Igor and even some guys not in the discussion (Kaprizov, Miller) are deserving of it. The only candidate I don't agree with is Huberdeau. He isn't even the most valuable forward on his own team.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Stamkos was a distant 2nd in his 60 goal year and he was the 2nd highest point getter too. Malkin also didn't quite have a McDavid season.

That being said, if Matthews does hit 60 goals, it's more "unique" since there's just so many 100+ point guys this year. Thats a narrative driver. I think McDavid needs to hit 120. Josi also could win it since he's already at 90 for a dman, also unique.

 

[Gnome17]

Think McDavids stock has gone up quite a bit lately, not so much because of his own play, he is basically doing what is expected, and when it comes to scoring he might be a bit below what people expected beforehand. He has upped his defensive game in the past few weeks though.

But all of Matthews, Shesterkin and Josi has fallen a bit in the past 2 weeks.

-Matthews missing games, now 15 points below the nr1 scorer.
-Josi;s crazy pace has dropped off, most likely not hitting 100 points, hype has died down.
-Shesterkin had a little bit of a tough stretch.

Theres Hubby and and Johnny Hockey, but I just cant see it for either.

Regardless of all this, it is a very close race this year.

 

[t0nedeff]

118 for Mcdavid now.

 

[daver]

Stamkos was a distant 2nd in his 60 goal year and he was the 2nd highest point getter too. Malkin also didn't quite have a McDavid season.

Tampa didn't make the playoffs that year. Malkin was well above McDavid's performance this season. If he didn't miss any games, it may be the best since 2005/06.

Not a good comparable at all.

Matthews missing games probably will cost him the Hart but his per game performance is arguably the best of everyone.

 

[kevsh]

"Despite going head-to-head against Aleksander Barkov — one of the sport’s premier shutdown pivots — in his return game, Matthews tilted the ice to the tune of 84 per cent expected goals, made two takeaways, and registered a game-high six shots."

Source

Just one game, but that's the type of thing the Leafs' need to highlight to Hart voters.
When an elite player in his first game back from an injury has a dominant night analytics-wise against one of the best defensive forwards in the game, that should count for something.

Of course a goal or two for #34 and a win would've been a more convincing headline, but that's my point: If a team wants to push their guy for the Hart in what will be a very competitive season it's the underlying stats that may make the difference over just who scored the most goals, etc.