My Hart Trophy Winner Today is ...

[Aashir Mallik]

I’ve gotta say Pastrnak’s season has really impressed me. Mixed in with people saying Boston was gonna be at best a 95 point team I’d say he should be high in the race

He’s not pacing for 140 like Mackinnon or kucherov but he also doesn’t have a 110 point rantanen/Makar or even a ppg player like point/hedman. Hes got Marchand at 47 in 49 and then coyle at 42. Coyle would be 5th in scoring on Colorado and 6th on tampa

This is the second year in a row where he’s outpacing his best teammate by around 40 points. Doing that on the leagues best team over the last 2 years

I think if he can stay within 15-20 points of Mackinnon and kucherov I’d be willing to give him
Mackinnon has the most high end support and even good depth scoring
Pastrnak has the least high end support but just as strong depth scoring as Mackinnon
Kucherov has the worst depth but middle high end support of the other two

If I had to pick one I’d say pastrnak.

 

[Cup or Bust]

I will go with Mackinnon right now but lots can change in 30 games.

 

[wetcoast]

I’ve gotta say Pastrnak’s season has really impressed me. Mixed in with people saying Boston was gonna be at best a 95 point team I’d say he should be high in the race

He’s not pacing for 140 like Mackinnon or kucherov but he also doesn’t have a 110 point rantanen/Makar or even a ppg player like point/hedman. Hes got Marchand at 47 in 49 and then coyle at 42. Coyle would be 5th in scoring on Colorado and 6th on tampa

This is the second year in a row where he’s outpacing his best teammate by around 40 points. Doing that on the leagues best team over the last 2 years

I think if he can stay within 15-20 points of Mackinnon and kucherov I’d be willing to give him
Mackinnon has the most high end support and even good depth scoring
Pastrnak has the least high end support but just as strong depth scoring as Mackinnon
Kucherov has the worst depth but middle high end support of the other two

If I had to pick one I’d say pastrnak.

Pasta has had a very impressive season but Mack stands out as the Hart frontrunner right now.

I expect Mack and McDavid to be finalists.

 

[wintersej]

Pasta is a clear level better than he was last year when he finished 2nd in the Hart. A real one man show out there playing with mostly with 2nd and 3rd line talent (he has played less than half his TOI with Marchand), but it’s going to be hard to overcome those extra 10-15 points MacKinnon and Kucherov are going to have. Nevermind McDavid catching up.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

It’s essentially the Art Ross trophy or at least close to it if you look at the award historically. There are occasional exceptions like Matthews crazy scoring year but the correlation between the two trophies is really strong and you need to be either the points leader or very close to it most years.
So it’s a two horse race with Kucherov and MacKinnon.
I also think the narrative of Mack deserving a trophy plays into this as long as the two are close in points.

 

[Buck Naked]

I think basing MVP voting on expectations for the team before the season isn’t a great system. Is Boston overachieving or were the expectations wrong?

Expectations were clearly wrong because Pastrnak.

 

[BertMcDrai]

This is MacKinnons year finally...at this moment he is deserving but if he would finish objective at 2 or 3 at season end he would still get it (cause he was so close so often) and I would be fine with it.

 

[bobholly39]

Voted Kucherov over Mack, because he gets underrated all the time, both on HF and elsewhere.

But truth is they're 50/50, neck and neck, the 2 front runners. I think it's going to come down to the last 30 games to differentiate between them, because as of now you can pretty much flip a coin.

I still really like Quinn Hughes here too, for #3. Still pacing for 104 points, still elads league in +/-, and still leads Vancouver to top of league standings. He's probably slowed down a bit since start of season, and Makar is right there and arguably having an even better season (5 less games played), so I think this will hurt him a lot come season end in hart voting, but as of today still my #3.

I've been saying all year, even when Oilers were 2nd to last and McDavid was slumping, that McDavid will roar back and win Ross/Hart. Sticking to that for now - so come April I predict he overtakes both Mack and Kuch for Ross and also wins hart. But I'd have him #4 as of today.

Probably go Pastrnak#5, and Matthews #6. I also could see Matthews rise up a lot if he ends up with 70 goals or close. Even with 70 goals thought i doubt he'd win the Hart this year unless his points shoot up a lot too, but he could displace one of Kuch/Mack/Mcdavid for a hart finalist, or at worst finish #4.

Expectations were clearly wrong because Pastrnak.

Bad teams find ways to lose (Ottawa, Buffalo) despite expectations, and good teams find ways to win (Boston) despite expectations.

I'm sure Pastrnak has a lot to do with Boston's success, but beating the all-time record for points last year also has a ton to do with it. Winning pedigree tends to carry over year over year.

Pastrnak is having a great season, but there's absolutely no way he's top 3 for hart voting as of today. Maybe top 5.

 

[Buck Naked]

Bad teams find ways to lose (Ottawa, Buffalo) despite expectations, and good teams find ways to win (Boston) despite expectations.

I'm sure Pastrnak has a lot to do with Boston's success, but beating the all-time record for points last year also has a ton to do with it. Winning pedigree tends to carry over year over year.

Pastrnak is having a great season, but there's absolutely no way he's top 3 for hart voting as of today. Maybe top 5.

Last year he was second to the 6th player of all time to reach 150+ points in the Hart race. This year he plays a much bigger part in Boston's success, without any other player running away like McDavid did last year. How is he not in consideration?

 

[bobholly39]

Last year he was second to the 6th player of all time to reach 150+ points in the Hart race. This year he plays a much bigger part in Boston's success, without any other player running away like McDavid did last year. How is he not in consideration?

Because other players are having better seasons? Seems obvious. If you read the rest of my post, you'd see who I had in my top 4. Pastrnak has no case for top 3 atm.

 

[Buck Naked]

Because other players are having better seasons? Seems obvious. If you read the rest of my post, you'd see who I had in my top 4. Pastrnak has no case for top 3 atm.

Then they should rightfully be recognized as the most outstanding players, by recieving more votes for the Lindsay.

 

[Albatros]

Matthews. Vancouver and Colorado have way too many candidates for anyone to win, even if MacKinnon probably does.

 

[bobholly39]

Then they should rightfully be recognized as the most outstanding players, by recieving more votes for the Lindsay.

They will. They will also get more hart votes because they are also more valuable to their teams.

 

[Regal]

Expectations were clearly wrong because Pastrnak.

Or maybe that’s not the case at all and they were wrong because the rest of the team was underrated. It’s not like Pasta is doing any better than last year.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Because other players are having better seasons? Seems obvious. If you read the rest of my post, you'd see who I had in my top 4. Pastrnak has no case for top 3 atm.

It's not a best season trophy, they have a couple different ones for that.
The Hart trophy is awarded to the most valuable player to his team.

Pasta has been dragging a fairly deep if unspectacular Bruins team around offensively. He has a great case not just for top 3 but for the top spot. I wouldn't argue too much if someone had Mack or Kuch ahead, they're both having great seasons and are clearly vital to their teams' success. Hughes would be in there somewhere too.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Not gonna big-brain it.

To me, the Art Ross winner gets the Hart.



And Kuch currently wins the scoring race.

 

[Incognito]

MacKinnon.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Or maybe that’s not the case at all and they were wrong because the rest of the team was underrated. It’s not like Pasta is doing any better than last year.

Except he is.

He's at 1.47 ppg (1.38 last year), has 53% more points than #2 on the team, 37% more goals than #2 and 50% more assists. Hes factored directly in 42% of the Bruins goals. And is carrying Charlie Coyle to massive career highs

For a guy who all we heard was "let's see him do it without Bergeron/Krejci"

 

[Regal]

Except he is.

He's at 1.47 ppg (1.38 last year), has 53% more points than #2 on the team, 37% more goals than #2 and 50% more assists. And is carrying Charlie Coyle to massive career highs

For a guy who all we heard was "let's see him do it without Bergeron/Krejci"

I mean it’s slightly higher overall in PPG, but lower in GPG and his percentage over 2nd in goals and points were both higher last year. He’s been involved in a bit higher percentage of the team’s goals (42 vs 37.5), but not by a significant amount.

But even if we say he’s been better this year, my point is that he’s not so much better as to drastically change the expectations of the team. The poster was suggesting that because a lot of people thought that Boston wouldn’t still be a top team this year that this means Pasta should be the MVP. I said that obviously those expectations were wrong and we shouldn’t base anything off of them. His response was that they were wrong because of Pasta’s play. But in order for that to make sense Pasta would have to be playing so much better than last year that replacing him with last year’s version would drop them to a bubble team.

To me this doesn’t make sense, and it’s clear that the team beyond Pasta is a lot better than some expected. That doesn’t take anything away from Pasta or mean that he isn’t a strong MVP candidate (since similar play last year earned him a runner up). I just think the argument the poster was making is illogical.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Haven’t they also had really good goaltending though? He’s not the most valuable player in the league anyway, doesn’t make sense to give the trophy to him.

The Hart is most valuable to your TEAM. Hence why McDavid doesn’t just win it every season.

He’s not my first pick, that’s Mack, but he’s a close second

 

[authentic]

The Hart is most valuable to your TEAM. Hence why McDavid doesn’t just win it every season.

He’s not my first pick, that’s Mack, but he’s a close second

McDavid has been bested several times when he didn’t win it, he has not always had the best season. The trophy should go to the MVP regardless of team not which team would be worse without their best player.

 

[wetcoast]

Because other players are having better seasons? Seems obvious. If you read the rest of my post, you'd see who I had in my top 4. Pastrnak has no case for top 3 atm.

While I understand your argument and rational Hart voters frequently downplay Damn and that's why I think Pasta has a strong argument for #3 right now.

But all of this is guesswork nothing really matters except at the end of the season.

 

[nbwingsfan]

McDavid has been bested several times when he didn’t win it, he has not always had the best season. The trophy should go to the MVP regardless of team not which team would be worse without their best player.

Who was a better hockey player than him in 2018?

It sure as hell wasn’t Taylor Hall who won because he dominated the rest of his team, kind of like Pastrnak is doing right now. Hall was also 6th in scoring and Pastrnak is 3rd.

As I said, the trophy literally says most valuable to his team, not best player in the league

 

[wetcoast]

Who was a better hockey player than him in 2018?

It sure as hell wasn’t Taylor Hall who won because he dominated the rest of his team, kind of like Pastrnak is doing right now. Hall was also 6th in scoring and Pastrnak is 3rd.

As I said, the trophy literally says most valuable to his team, not best player in the league

Sure but everyone knows that the voters vote for a combination of these 2 things.

To put too much emphasis on "most valuable to their team" would mean most seasons that a goalie would win.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Sure but everyone knows that the voters vote for a combination of these 2 things.

To put too much emphasis on "most valuable to their team" would mean most seasons that a goalie would win.

Not really, when a goalie only plays like 75% of the games at best nowadays.