Nikita Kucherov is the clear favorite for the Art Ross Trophy

[Despote]

McDavid has been held back a bit by the Oilers lack of powerplay opportunities. Also Knoblauch tends to play the top unit less.

McDavid actually leads the league in powerplay points, 5vs5 points, even strength points and all-situations points per minute played. He plays significantly less on the powerplay than MacKinnon or Kucherov. Obviously there's a question of efficiency vs increased time on ice, but powerplay minutes are the least taxing minutes and I think it's fair to say McDavid would be scoring even more if Oilers had the amount of powerplays that teams like Tampa and Colorado have.

 

[Coffey]

McDavid has been held back a bit by the Oilers lack of powerplay opportunities. Also Knoblauch tends to play the top unit less.

McDavid actually leads the league in powerplay points, 5vs5 points, even strength points and all-situations points per minute played. He plays significantly less on the powerplay than MacKinnon or Kucherov. Obviously there's a question of efficiency vs increased time on ice, but powerplay minutes are the least taxing minutes and I think it's fair to say McDavid would be scoring even more if Oilers had the amount of powerplays that teams like Tampa and Colorado have.

He wanted someone else to hold the PP Merchant title this year.

 

[kevy9999]

Like who?

People wrote Matthews off last year
People wrote MacKinnon off as being "definitely worst than Makar" couple years ago
People are always writing Kucherov off, and undervaluing him
And let's not get started on Draisaitl.

People just have very short memories. I agree it was stupid for everyone to write Oilers and McDavid off back in November, but it's not like the same thing doesn't also happen to other top players.

The point is mcdavid standard is much higher than those you mentioned. He has to do way way more than them to even considered for mvp. Mcdavid has been best player in nhl for 8 years. He is still the best but he is not looking for the glory. If McDavid doesn't win mvp the is year then I hope kuch or mack gets it. They do things to make their team better like mcdavid and they are the top 3 in scoring 20 points ahead or so of that guy from Toronto with the embarrassing media

 

[Matsun]

Contrary to what we’ve been conditioned to lately, a hockey player doesn’t need to stop winning individual hardware to win the Cup.

Since 1990 only Sakic in 01 and St Louis in 04 has won the Hart and Cup in the same season. So a player doesn't have to stop winning hardware to win the cup, but it very rarely happens and no one has done it post lockout, It's the same in the NBA were the scoring champions and assist champions never win the title were if a player has to be good enough to be the best player in the league his team is probably not good enough to win.

 

[BallardEra]

Kucherov 10 points up and McDavid has 5 games in hand.

 

[Gnome17]

McDavid is now for the first time this season I believe leading the league in points per game.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

Since 1990 only Sakic in 01 and St Louis in 04 has won the Hart and Cup in the same season. So a player doesn't have to stop winning hardware to win the cup, but it very rarely happens and no one has done it post lockout, It's the same in the NBA were the scoring champions and assist champions never win the title were if a player has to be good enough to be the best player in the league his team is probably not good enough to win.

To go even further, Wayne Gretzky is the last player to win the CS+Hart in the same season.

In the NBA, only lebron (twice) has done it in the same year over the last 20 years.

It's extremely rare to win the MVP and playoffs/finals MVP in the same season. It's basically reserved for all-time great mount Rushmore type players. I think it's only Gretzky, Orr, and Lafleur in the NHL history. In the NBA before LeBron it was Duncan, Shaq, and Jordan.

 

[um]

Since 1990 only Sakic in 01 and St Louis in 04 has won the Hart and Cup in the same season. So a player doesn't have to stop winning hardware to win the cup, but it very rarely happens and no one has done it post lockout, It's the same in the NBA were the scoring champions and assist champions never win the title were if a player has to be good enough to be the best player in the league his team is probably not good enough to win.

It’s like there’s lots of teams and parity and winning the cup is a very difficult task.

 

[authentic]

The point is mcdavid standard is much higher than those you mentioned. He has to do way way more than them to even considered for mvp. Mcdavid has been best player in nhl for 8 years. He is still the best but he is not looking for the glory. If McDavid doesn't win mvp the is year then I hope kuch or mack gets it. They do things to make their team better like mcdavid and they are the top 3 in scoring 20 points ahead or so of that guy from Toronto with the embarrassing media

Matthews doesn’t do things to make his team better? Scoring almost a goal a game as a two-way center must not be everyone’s cup of tea I guess.

 

[Video Nasty]

To go even further, Wayne Gretzky is the last player to win the CS+Hart in the same season.

In the NBA, only lebron (twice) has done it in the same year over the last 20 years.

It's extremely rare to win the MVP and playoffs/finals MVP in the same season. It's basically reserved for all-time great mount Rushmore type players. I think it's only Gretzky, Orr, and Lafleur in the NHL history. In the NBA before LeBron it was Duncan, Shaq, and Jordan.

Finally someone gets it.

 

[solidmotion]

To go even further, Wayne Gretzky is the last player to win the CS+Hart in the same season.

In the NBA, only lebron (twice) has done it in the same year over the last 20 years.

It's extremely rare to win the MVP and playoffs/finals MVP in the same season. It's basically reserved for all-time great mount Rushmore type players. I think it's only Gretzky, Orr, and Lafleur in the NHL history. In the NBA before LeBron it was Duncan, Shaq, and Jordan.

going back a long way, beliveau would have won both in 56 but the smythe didn't exist yet.

 

[kevy9999]

Matthews doesn’t do things to make his team better? Scoring almost a goal a game as a two-way center must not be everyone’s cup of tea I guess.

You're

Matthews doesn’t do things to make his team better? Scoring almost a goal a game as a two-way center must not be everyone’s cup of tea I guess.

He doesn't do things to make his teammates better. He should not be in any mvp conversation but tsn and toronto media push it like they push the narrative He is a 2 way player lol he is horrible defensively and always slow on back checking. Only thing he does well is shoot and score when set up by teammates.

 

[thegazelle]

He doesn't do things to make his teammates better. He should not be in any mvp conversation but tsn and toronto media push it like they push the narrative He is a 2 way player lol he is horrible defensively and always slow on back checking. Only thing he does well is shoot and score when set up by teammates.

I agree and have this argument with my sons every game. It is true about the media bias. But full disclosure - I am not a fan of Matthews in the least. At one point yesterday the lead article on TSN was how will Matthews get out of his mini slump. He didn't score for two games and that makes front page sports headlines? Only on TSN and Sportsnet. I will concede that he will win the Rocket Richard this year but I don't understand the rationale behind considering him for the Hart. He reminds me of a lot of Ovechkin (who I liked then and still like now). Great scorer, but not really Hart material as his contribution is more on an individual basis. Nothing wrong with that, but as I told my kids, just calling a spade a spade. Guys like McDavid and Crosby, and I think MacKinnon and Kucherov as well improve their team's performance by their offensive prowess, yes, but they also set up a decent amount of goals and also aren't a defensive liability.

 

[authentic]

You're

He doesn't do things to make his teammates better. He should not be in any mvp conversation but tsn and toronto media push it like they push the narrative He is a 2 way player lol he is horrible defensively and always slow on back checking. Only thing he does well is shoot and score when set up by teammates.

You’re either a troll or don’t watch him play, and if you do you clearly have no idea what’s going on infront of your eyes. He’s been the best defensive forward among offensive superstars for quite some time now, nearly half a decade.

 

[kevsh]

I agree and have this argument with my sons every game. It is true about the media bias. But full disclosure - I am not a fan of Matthews in the least. At one point yesterday the lead article on TSN was how will Matthews get out of his mini slump. He didn't score for two games and that makes front page sports headlines? Only on TSN and Sportsnet. I will concede that he will win the Rocket Richard this year but I don't understand the rationale behind considering him for the Hart. He reminds me of a lot of Ovechkin (who I liked then and still like now). Great scorer, but not really Hart material as his contribution is more on an individual basis. Nothing wrong with that, but as I told my kids, just calling a spade a spade. Guys like McDavid and Crosby, and I think MacKinnon and Kucherov as well improve their team's performance by their offensive prowess, yes, but they also set up a decent amount of goals and also aren't a defensive liability.

Matthews has scored close to 1/4 of the Leafs goals, and that Toronto total includes Nylander who is in the top 10 in goal scoring himself.

I get the "Toronto" media can be heavily biased in their coverage. It's a business, and more people are going to read a Matthews article than most other Canadian players. But by your own post it seems your playing down Matthews' success in part because you dislike the attention he gets.

And this is obvious by your absolute asinine comparison to Ovechkin. Matthews isn't an elite defensive player overall but he's one of the best at creating turnovers in the league, and so that alone destroys this "individual contribution" nonsense. By comparison Ovi didn't even know what the inside of his own blueline looked like.

And even the notion that individual contribution takes away from Hart consideration: Just think about it: How is scoring goals for your team an "individual" contribution? Again, asinine. You seem to believe he has to not only score goals but contribute a lot of assists as well or else it's just, for himself? Don't get it.

Lastly, although we all know that +/- isn't the best stat to determine overall contribution it's not completely useless, and Matthews +22 is higher than Mack, McDavid's and Kucherov. So, yeah, where were we?

 

[Dust]

Guys this isn't a discussion about the Hart Trophy or MVP, it's the Art Ross race. Auston Matthew is not in this race, his name should not keep coming up in this thread unless we're talking about who is going to finish 8th-10th in it.

 

[Video Nasty]

I expect the race to tighten up over the next 6 days.

All three play tomorrow.

After that, Kucherov won’t play again until Thursday the 7th. McDavid and MacKinnon will play 2 more by then.

If Kucherov were to register 2 points against the Kraken, and MacKinnon and McDavid also get 2 PPG in their 3 games, we might be looking at point standings like this through the 6th.

1. Kucherov 106 points in 62 games (63 team games)

2. MacKinnon 106 points in 64 games (64 team games)

3. McDavid 100 points in 58 games (60 team games)

Then Kucherov and McDavid both play on the night of the 7th. Kucherov and MacKinnon will both have 18 games left and McDavid will have 21 by the end of that night.

Can’t wait to see what happens.

 

[snag]

.....

Can’t wait to see what happens.

I hope this happens....

 

[Video Nasty]

I hope this happens....
View attachment 827774

Hopefully.

I kept my projections so they were even for all three players, but if Kucherov goes scoreless or notches “just” a point tomorrow, it could really open it up.

If McDavid goes supernova (3 PPG), it’s possible he picks up 7-9 points over the next 6 days on Kucherov.

 

[wetcoast]

I agree and have this argument with my sons every game. It is true about the media bias. But full disclosure - I am not a fan of Matthews in the least. At one point yesterday the lead article on TSN was how will Matthews get out of his mini slump. He didn't score for two games and that makes front page sports headlines? Only on TSN and Sportsnet. I will concede that he will win the Rocket Richard this year but I don't understand the rationale behind considering him for the Hart. He reminds me of a lot of Ovechkin (who I liked then and still like now). Great scorer, but not really Hart material as his contribution is more on an individual basis. Nothing wrong with that, but as I told my kids, just calling a spade a spade. Guys like McDavid and Crosby, and I think MacKinnon and Kucherov as well improve their team's performance by their offensive prowess, yes, but they also set up a decent amount of goals and also aren't a defensive liability.

It's not a media bias it called running a business, Ontario and Toronto more specifically is the epicenter of Hockey and the NHL in Canada and it's not even close.

Even out of market the Leafs still have a strong historical following and I just wish people could get over it, it is what it is.

 

[North Cole]

So, yeah, where were we?

Hopefully back to taking about the Art Ross, for which Matthews has no business being mentioned.

I expect it will finish McDavid - Kuch - Mack, all three within 6 points.

 

[Satire]

Guys this isn't a discussion about the Hart Trophy or MVP, it's the Art Ross race. Auston Matthew is not in this race, his name should not keep coming up in this thread unless we're talking about who is going to finish 8th-10th in it.

I actually double checked the thread title to make sure I didn't click the wrong thread... Lol

Pretty open still. McDavid has been slowly but surely closing the gap but could end up running out of runway. What's crazy to me that offensively this is probably a down-season by his standards. I still think Kuch is the favourite, but it's probably going to be a photo finish.

 

[Kerberos]

Manifesting one of those dominant 5 point McDavid games today. Feels like he's due.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

If McDavid goes supernova (3 PPG), it’s possible he picks up 7-9 points over the next 6 days on Kucherov.

Guys, if McDavid hits 3 PPG stat over the next couple of games he will pick up a bunch of points in the next couple of games

Presses, I believe I have an action that you need to take…

 

[cupface52]

Hopefully back to taking about the Art Ross, for which Matthews has no business being mentioned.

I expect it will finish McDavid - Kuch - Mack, all three within 6 points.

He's got no business being mentioned for the Hart either when he's being outscored by a teammate, and only up 5 more than 3rd, where he may end up on his team by the end of the year.