Nikita Kucherov is the clear favorite for the Art Ross Trophy

[Video Nasty]

What’s funny about this thread is that McDavid and the Oilers turnaround started the day it was created.

71 points in 36 games for McDavid and a 28-7-1 record for the Oilers.

The lead continues to get chipped away. Been saying it all season. McDavid is the only player capable of going on 60 game stretches of 2 PPG.

Once those games are made up…

 

[ricky0034]

McDavid has 19 assists and 0 goals in his last 8 games now

 

[Oscar The Grouch]

If Matthews scores 75 goals while providing Selke level defense, it won't be so clear cut.

Maybe he'll score 75 goals, but Selke level defense? That's a joke right? He's constantly getting beat on the boards and being last in his own zone to watch a goal scored. He's soft as butter. It's the reason he disappears in the playoffs.

He's a skating wrist shot.

 

[Winger74]

AM and Selke in conversation? I appreciate AM as an exceptional goal scorer, but talking about his game as selke level, it is out of my mind... Selke level is Carbonneau, Datsyuk, Bergeron, Kopitar and others, not Auston

 

[Seras]

Maybe he'll score 75 goals, but Selke level defense? That's a joke right? He's constantly getting beat on the boards and being last in his own zone to watch a goal scored. He's soft as butter. It's the reason he disappears in the playoffs.

He's a skating wrist shot.

Soft as butter with 60 takeaways and had more Selke votes than Mark Stone last season.

Don't let facts get in the way of your delicious narrative tho, fiction is fun to read once in awhile

AM and Selke in conversation? I appreciate AM as an exceptional goal scorer, but talking about his game as selke level, it is out of my mind... Selke level is Carbonneau, Datsyuk, Bergeron, Kopitar and others, not Auston

2/4 of those players aren't in the league anymore and it was enough of a Selke level to garner votes last season.

Granted that is votes by people not on this website so what do they know.

 

[Beukeboom]

3 point nights for Kucherov and McKinnon, and 2 points for McDavid. So #97 is 11 points behind with five games in hand. But unless he intends to score 16 goals in those five games, he's 12 points away from the Art.

I dunno...the longer it goes without him catching up the less likely it is. I can't see Oilers playing McDavid for 25 mins a night just before the playoffs, so he can focus on individual hardware rather than resting for a SC run.

 

[bobholly39]

What’s funny about this thread is that McDavid and the Oilers turnaround started the day it was created.

71 points in 36 games for McDavid and a 28-7-1 record for the Oilers.

The lead continues to get chipped away. Been saying it all season. McDavid is the only player capable of going on 60 game stretches of 2 PPG.

Once those games are made up…

McDavid's in-season turnaround, while also leading to an in-season turnaround of the Oilers - has certainly been spectacular. He's the best player in the world and this is going to end up being an extremely worthy season of his prime, possibly his 3rd best - which is impressive considered almost everyone expected it to be a writeoff early in the year.

But in the end - we're down to around ~25 games now. I don't think it'll come down to who the better player is - but rather who wants it more. I have absolutely no doubt that both Kucherov and MacKinnon have it in them to outscore McDavid over a ~23 game stretch. Also - I have no doubt Matthews can continue being spectacular over the last 20 games.

If this was a new season starting, McDavid would 100% be the favorite for both Ross and Hart over full 82 games. But with ~20 games left, it's not going to come down to the better player anymore, but simply who plays the best in those remaining games, and I think all 4 are capable of it.

McDavid has 9 points in his last 5 games
Kucherov 8 points in last 5 games
MaCKinnon 9 points in last 5 games
Matthews 7 goals (11 points) in his last 5 games

I know I said all year - even when McDavid was at its lowest and Oilers were bottom feeders - that McDavid would roar back and sweep Ross and Hart so I'll stick to that guess, but it truly is wide open now. I don't think Kucherov and MacKinnon are going to fall off pace anymore, thy're both going to surpass 130 points, and maybe even flirt with 140. And Matthews is like a hattrick away or so from being on pace for 80 goals, which is insane.

This could go down as the all-time greatest race to the Hart Trophy in NHL history. 4 seasons which I believe are historic in their own rights.

 

[bobholly39]

3 point nights for Kucherov and McKinnon, and 2 points for McDavid. So #97 is 11 points behind with five games in hand. But unless he intends to score 16 goals in those five games, he's 12 points away from the Art.

I dunno...the longer it goes without him catching up the less likely it is. I can't see Oilers playing McDavid for 25 mins a night just before the playoffs, so he can focus on individual hardware rather than resting for a SC run.

If you pace it out to full seasons:

Kucherov 137 points over 81 games
MacKinnon 133 points over 82 games
McDavid 134 points over 80 games
Matthews 111 points and 75 goals over 81 games

McDavid doesn't need to score 16 goals in 5 games to surpass them to the Ross - +/- 4 points with ~28 games to go is plenty of time to catch up still.

As for who should be seen as the favorite for the Hart Trophy among those 4 names - that's anybody's guess. I still say Matthews has to bridge the point gap with leaders a bit more to have a shot, he needs to be within ~15-20 points rather than ~25-30 points back, but we'll see.

 

[Calderon]

This could go down as the all-time greatest race to the Hart Trophy in NHL history. 4 seasons which I believe are historic in their own rights.

I concur, the race is exciting and none of the trio is having a clear outlier of a pace in the sense that we should expect them to fall off ant game. Would be cool for it to stay even down to the wire.

As for historic, if multiple players are having historically great seasons doesn't it mean that none of them is?

Also good point from another poster above about the tie break, McDavid will lose on the Art Ross if it's tied at the end — even 100+ assists won't give you bonus points towards the trophy. We do get a sense that this is a game within a game for McDavid: first stray off from your good level goal scoring to an almost legendary total with 64, then make goal scoring an afterthought and go for a three digit assist total. Next up what, Selke?

 

[authentic]

Maybe he'll score 75 goals, but Selke level defense? That's a joke right? He's constantly getting beat on the boards and being last in his own zone to watch a goal scored. He's soft as butter. It's the reason he disappears in the playoffs.

He's a skating wrist shot.

Anyone who seriously believes this just lost all credibility as a poster. You actually don’t have a clue about Matthews as a player if you truly believe this.

 

[authentic]

Soft as butter with 60 takeaways and had more Selke votes than Mark Stone last season.

Don't let facts get in the way of your delicious narrative tho, fiction is fun to read once in awhile



2/4 of those players aren't in the league anymore and it was enough of a Selke level to garner votes last season.

Granted that is votes by people not on this website so what do they know.

Look at every single category in the playoffs the last 4 seasons if people think he’s soft. He has more hits, blocked shots, takeaways, etc. while actually playing elite defensively in his own zone, than every other elite player offensively. In a game against Tampa last playoffs that went to overtime Tampa recorded O shots on goal while Matthews was on the ice for over 24 minutes. Remember this was the series that the Leafs only won because Vasilevskiy played so bad and Tampa actually outplayed us… I find it amusing that anyone who takes themselves seriously as a poster on this board gave that Oscar The Troll comment a like.

 

[Nemesis Prime]

We need a new advance stats to determine if players are Selke contenders.

Selke Calibre Plays (SCP)/60

 

[Video Nasty]

3 point nights for Kucherov and McKinnon, and 2 points for McDavid. So #97 is 11 points behind with five games in hand. But unless he intends to score 16 goals in those five games, he's 12 points away from the Art.

I dunno...the longer it goes without him catching up the less likely it is. I can't see Oilers playing McDavid for 25 mins a night just before the playoffs, so he can focus on individual hardware rather than resting for a SC run.

I’ve seen quite a few of these posts that seem more fatigued by the idea of him catching up than the player out there performing the feat. It’s the opposite of what you think: he’s more likely now to do it than he was 2-3 months ago.

I warned others of a very simple illusion months ago. It will appear that McDavid stole the Art Ross during the final weeks of the season because that’s how long it would likely take him to catch up due to his slow start combined with having 4-6 games in hand on Kucherov and MacKinnon for virtually the entire season.

Circle your calendars for the final two weeks. By the end of March 28, the Oilers will have played 71 games, the Lightning 72, and the Avs 73.

The Oilers go back to 2 games in hand on the Lightning as late as April 9 and never equal them in games played until the final day of the regular season.

The Oilers also go back to 2 games in hand on the Avs as late as April 14 and then play 2 games in 3 days to back up before they both play on the final day, April 18.

I’ve done my best to make sure people were aware of the games played disparity that McDavid never gets a chance to make up until the final weeks of the season, but people still seem perplexed why it has been a season long catch up.

 

[norrisnick]

100pts

 

[Wester]

 

[GaboriklessWild]

Soft as butter with 60 takeaways and had more Selke votes than Mark Stone last season.

Don't let facts get in the way of your delicious narrative tho, fiction is fun to read once in awhile



2/4 of those players aren't in the league anymore and it was enough of a Selke level to garner votes last season.

Granted that is votes by people not on this website so what do they know.

90% of those who vote probably can't skate, let alone have ever played hockey. And half of them are so fat they could break the ice. So does it matter how many Selke votes he got?

 

[HabsCode]

Sometimes I wonder if age is the only reason Kucherov is never in the discussion for best player in the league.

 

[crowfish]

Sometimes I wonder if age is the only reason Kucherov is never in the discussion for best player in the league.

Either age or the fact that Connor McDavid exists

 

[HabsCode]

Either age or the fact that Connor McDavid exists

I feel like McDavid might be a cheater tho.

 

[Despote]

So fun to see several players having insane seasons.

 

[daver]

Sometimes I wonder if age is the only reason Kucherov is never in the discussion for best player in the league.

Because he hasn't separated himself from MacKinnon for 2nd best player in the league.

 

[HabsCode]

Because he hasn't separated himself from MacKinnon for 2nd best player in the league.

You mean Mackinnon 1 Calder, 1 championship, 111pts career high?

Yeah I could totally see how he beats Kucherov 2 championships, 1 Hart, 1 Art Ross, 128pts, 113pts seasons

 

[hamzarocks]

You mean Mackinnon 1 Calder, 1 championship, 111pts career high?

Yeah I could totally see how he beats Kucherov 2 championships, 1 Hart, 1 Art Ross, 128pts, 113pts seasons

kucherov is blessed with better health outside of 2021

They have been very similar reg season and playoffs from 2018 to now

Kucherov has 593 pts in 417 reg season games = 117 pts per 82 and 118 pts in 97 playoff games = 100 pts per 82

Mackinnon has 649 pts in 468 games = 114 pts per 82 and 90 pts in 70 games = 105 pts per 82 games

Both play on very good/super teams (2020- 2022 Avs, and 2019 -2022 Bolts)

 

[HabsCode]

kucherov is blessed with better health outside of 2021

They have been very similar reg season and playoffs from 2018 to now

Kucherov has 593 pts in 417 reg season games = 117 pts per 82 and 118 pts in 97 playoff games = 100 pts per 82

Mackinnon has 649 pts in 468 games = 114 pts per 82 and 90 pts in 70 games = 105 pts per 82 games

Both play on very good/super teams (2020- 2022 Avs, and 2019 -2022 Bolts)

Exactly so what is your point? How has Mackinnon clearly separated himself as the second best player before Kucherov? Name something beside age or reputation?

 

[hamzarocks]

Exactly so what is your point? How has Mackinnon clearly separated himself as the second best player before Kucherov? Name something beside age or reputation?

He hasnt that is the pt

Kucherov doesnt get talked about as the best player in the league b/c he, Mack, Drai, Matthews (2021, 2022 and 2024) are hard to decide who the best player is between that group after Mcdavid

He won't get thought as best player in the league when there are 3 guys pretty comparable with him vs Mcdavid who has seperated himself