Welcome to my bi-annual blog entry – where I share my
thoughts when I have a problem with the NHL that nobody else is talking about.
You know what problem nobody seems to be talking about? The
fact that there isn’t a clear consensus on who’s supposed to be awarded the
Hart Memorial Trophy.
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| Photocred: usatoday.com |
The Hart is easily the most prestigious trophy among those
awarded to individual players. And each year members of the Professional Hockey
Writers’ Association vote on who wins it. But before we get into the criteria,
let’s differentiate between two important concepts: (1) Player of the Year, and
(2) Most Valuable Player.
Player of the Year: The
best overall player. If you could return to the beginning of the season, and
sign any player to a one-year-contract, knowing in advance how he would
perform, and money was not an issue, who would you sign? That player is, in
your opinion, the Player of the Year.
Most Valuable Player
(MVP): The player most responsible for his team’s success. Which team would
have been that much worse-off without a specific player’s presence this past
season? That specific player is, in your opinion, the MVP.
Is Connor McDavid the best player in the NHL yet? Maybe not,
but the Oilers are substantially better with him than without him. Drew Doughty
is arguably a better defenseman than Erik Karlsson, but Karlsson pushes the
Senators further up the standings than Doughty does the Kings. Sergei Bobrovsky
may not be the best goalie in the NHL, but where would the Blue Jackets be
without him?
McDavid, Karlsson, and Bobrovsky are therefore, in my humble
opinion, candidates for MVP, even if they’re not quite Player of the Year
calibre.
So to which of the two, MVP or Player of the Year, is the
Hart Trophy awarded?
Patrick Kane, last year’s winner of the Hart, was easily the
best player in the NHL, winning the scoring title by a mile. But was he the most
valuable to his team? I believe that the Chicago Blackhawks would’ve been just
fine, permitted that they retained the services of Jonathan Toews, Marian
Hossa, and Duncan Keith. So from an MVP perspective, Kane should not have won.
But on the other hand, Jose Theodore, who won the Hart in
2002, was not the best player in the NHL. However, the Montreal Canadiens would
have been substantially worse-off had it not been for his outstanding play. So
from an MVP perspective, he was the correct winner.
Evidently the Hart Trophy itself can’t decide whether it’s
awarded to the Player of the Year or MVP.
So then which should it be: Player of the Year or MVP?
MVP seems to have a fairly airtight case as it’s written
right there in the trophy’s definition: “[The Hart Trophy] is awarded annually
to the "player judged most valuable to his team" in the National
Hockey League”.
But that presents a problem. If the Hart Trophy is for the MVP,
then what about the Player of the Year? Isn’t it a greater accomplishment to be
the best player in the NHL? Is it fair that Patrick Kane misses out on the top individual
award because he happens to have talented teammates? It isn’t Kane’s fault that
he plays for a great organization, so why should he lose votes to a lesser
player on an otherwise-crap team?
