The puck drops this week for the 2022-23 NHL season, with the reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche red-hot favorites to go back-to-back.
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As per usual with the NHL, there’s also a huge run of contenders vying for a shot at the greatest trophy in sports, but that also means with so many quality teams, there’s an equally wide open field for the NHL’s MVP: the Hart Memorial Trophy. .
The last two winners, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs are obviously still two of the very best players in the world… but one of the curious aspects of Hart voting is voter fatigue.
SO! Who are the five best picks heading into this season?
| PLAYER | ODDS |
| Connor McDavid | $4 |
| Austin Matthews | $5 |
| Leon Draisaitl | $10 |
| Nathan McKinnon | $12 |
| Kirill Kaprizov | $15 |
| Cale Makar | $15 |
| Nikita Kucherov | $21 |
| Igor Sheshterkin | $21 |
| David Pastrnak | $26 |
| Mikko Rantanen | $26 |
| Sidney Crosby | $26 |
| Artemi Panarin | $31 |
| Johnny Gaudreau | $31 |
| Alexander Barkov | $31 |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | $34 |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy | $34 |
| Mark Stone | $34 |
| Mika Zibanejad | $34 |
| Patrick Kane | $34 |
| Sebastian Aho | $34 |
CONNOR McDAVID
Despite being one of the greatest hockey players the game has seen, McDavid has only managed two Hart Memorial Trophy nods, despite topping the Art Ross Trophy for most points in an NHL season a ridiculous four times in six years.
The two times McDavid didn’t win? He was second.
Just a few accomplishments in Connor McDavid’s (@cmcdavid97) career so far… ???? pic.twitter.com/mpVCdD0gmm
— NHL (@NHL) August 7, 2022
That’s how the Hart goes though: Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are the only other players to win multiple Harts since 1998 when Dominik Hašek went back-to-back. It’s testament to the nature of hockey that voters will balance out legacy with rewarding year-on-year standout players.
McDavid was also probably not helped by the fact that Edmonton just couldn’t win a playoff round: but that changed at the end of last season, with the Oilers making the Conference Finals… and McDavid putting on an otherworldly display that left no doubt. as to his jaw-dropping talent.
With that reputation, McDavid is still an absolute monster: last year he topped 123 points, winning the Art Ross Award and coming in second in the Hart voting.
Then that was that playoff run: 10 goals in 16 games and a ridiculous 33 total points. McDavid put a slew of doubts to bed – now it’s up to him to see if he can win a landmark third MVP.
AUSTON MATTHEWS
But McDavid now faces real competition for the title of the game’s best player: Auston Matthews.
Last year Matthews won the Hart and scored 60 goals in 73 games, a goals-per-game rate that put him in the rarefied air of Mario Lemieux (who had 69 goals in 70 games in 1995-96).
60 goals! That was literally only the third time THIS CENTURY that anyone has scored 60 in a season after Steven Stamkos 60 in ’11-’12 and Ovechkin’s 65 back in ’07-’08.
Matthews is at his peak and absolutely special. He can do it all as well: his defensive numbers last year showed his true two-way impact and mean that no matter how good McDavid is, Matthews will be right there breathing down his neck.
LEON DRAISAITL
The 2020 MVP and Art Ross winner, Draisaitl is coming off yet another incredible year.
McDavid’s Edmonton teammate had a wild 55-goal regular season, then ripped off a run in the playoffs where he was clearly on one leg… and scored 32 points in 16 playoff games.
Draisaitl landed ninth in voting last year, but is the third favorite this season and if you look at his run over the last few seasons, it’s obvious why.
The German had 84 points in ’20-’21 and added 55 assists to his 55 goals for 110 last season, meaning he’s gone 110-84-110 the last three seasons.
He’s an absolute menace: it’s just that he has the tough ask of trying to outshine his own teammate
NATHAN MACKINNON
MacKinnon is now an NHL champion AND the highest paid player in the league, as befits one of the NHL’s signature stars.
EIGHT MORE FOR NATE THE GREAT!#GoAvsGopic.twitter.com/BzQmrdIk6w
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 20, 2022
This is the guy who had six points in six games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in leading his team to their first Stanley Cup in 21 years.
He has an incredible 648 points in 638 career regular-season games, and coming off a stop-start season – which put an end to a run of four straight Hart Top-6 finishes – MacKinnon will be looking to make the most of what looks to be a wildly talented and dominant Avalanches squad.
Could he pull off a Stanley Cup-Hart double?
CALE MAKAR: HOW ABOUT A DEFENSEMAN!?
MacKinnon would have to get past his own Avalanche teammate Cale Makar, who came eighth in Hart voting, while staking a claim to also being one of the very best players in the league.
Last year Makar was a force of nature, scoring 28 goals and 86 points in 77 games and playing while providing elite defense.
He won the Norris Trophy (his first Top Defenseman nod) over Roman Josi, and in putting up a 5.8-win pace, Makar topped the records for a defender during the analytics-era.
Makar also took it to another level in the playoffs, scoring a legitimately ridiculous 29 points in 20 games, and took out the Conn Smythe Trophy.
That points-per-game rate? The highest for a defenseman since 1994 and Bryan Leetch.
The problem is, no defenseman has won the MVP since the beginning of this century.
The last to do so was the St Louis Blues’ Chris Pronger in 2000.
Roman Josi finished sixth in Hart voting last year, but Makar is 23 years old, coming off a 12th placed finish in 2021 and landing eighth last year, has proven to be one of the most impressive players the NHL has seen.
Could he pull it off this year?
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin and Calgary Flames winger Johnny Gaudreau finished 3rd and 4th last season respectively, while the Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov is coming off an insane year where he scored 47 goals and had 108 points. They could all feature heavily in the Hart voting again this year.
THE PICK:
As much fun as it would be to see Makar win it, this will likely come down to the last two winners, McDavid and Matthews. With the Oilers and McDavid coming off that Western Conference Finals run, they have a track record of success that will play in McDavid’s favor.
— CONNOR McDAVID: $4
[all odds via BlueBet – as of October 6]
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