2020-21 Hart Trophy finalists: Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid

[SotasicA]

Mackinnon seems a bit surprising. I get that he's the best player on that team, but Rantanen had more points and 50% more goals. Makes it hard to say that Mackinnon was more valuable than him, let alone a bunch of other guys.

It's not hard to say at all, if you stop looking at box scores and just watch the games a little.

 

[SotasicA]

Not really. The Hart shouldn't exist, or rather sports journalists shouldn't be allowed to vote. On anything. Ever.

You think any east coast journalist is staying up watching the west? They always vote stats and reputation. Also they frequently give 2nd and 3rd place votes out to guys who don't deserve it so that their 1st place vote counts for more. They also vote for wrong positions on their 1st and 2nd all-star teams and so many other dumb things.

The NHLPWA usually takes their 1st place votes pretty seriously, but it can get ugly with the writers other choices.
Example: guys that vote Kucherov in 2019 1st will vote Mcdavid 4th or 5th and visa versa.

I would say about 1/2 of the 173ish writers take it pretty seriously.

The other thing i noticed is that certain journalists, when you look at voting records over the past 5 years try to correct their records the following years. (I think this is how reputation awards come into play)
PHWA reveals 2020 NHL Awards ballots – Professional Hockey Writers Association

you can find voting history here (the above is just 1 year but you can navigate)

One of the worst journalists for "correcting their record" is Elliotte Freidman, believe it or not. He'll leave deserving players off lists 1 year, maybe trying to be edgy, then the following year give that player a 1st or 2nd place vote when they didn't deserve it.

Meh. HFBoards is a thousand times worse.

 

[Aurinko]

All of the candidates would trade the trophy for ONE deep playoff run.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I'd love to see the top 10.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

I think Draisaitl, Marchand or Rantanen would have been a better pick than Mackinnon for a finalist

Hopefully this motivates Mack to have a huge game tn

 

[jetsforever]

Nothing too surprising here, good choices

 

[jetsforever]

The 3 M's ... M&M&M

Top 5:
McDavid
Matthews
MacKinnon
Marchand
Makar

 

[LaVal]

If it isn't almost a sweep of 1st place votes for McDavid I'll be shocked.

 

[filinski77]

It's not hard to say at all, if you stop looking at box scores and just watch the games a little.

I said in my original comment that I realize that Mackinnon is the best player on the team, but he still had a teammate score more points and 50% more goals than him. At the end of the day, being a great play driver is great, but the most valuable thing to a team is ACTUAL production - which Mackinnon was not the 3rd most valuable at doing.

	Goals	Points
Draisaitl	31	84
Marchand	29	69
Mackinnon	20	65

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

All 3 players are elite players, the only difference between them is what they actually produce (All have world-class ability). Draisaitl produced significantly more, and Marchand is closer (but still significantly more goals and better defensive play). Both of those guys are inherently more valuable to their team because they are producing better. But this is the Hart, and it seems a lot of the focus has shifted towards to your situation within your team:

	Goals	Points			Goals	Points
McDavid	29	105		Marchand	29	69
Draisaitl	23	84		Bergeron	23	48
Barrie		48		Pastrnak	20	48
Nurse/Nuge	16
	Goals	Points
Rantanen	30	66
Mackinnon	20	65
Landeskog	20	52

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

What I see here is that Marchand was more valuable to his team compared to the other 2 (and much more so than Mackinnon was). Draisaitl still has the advantage over Mack here too (both were 2nd in points and goals - but the difference is Draisaitl just produced way more, and also was much more 'valuable' relative to the next bunch of guys on his own team).

An extreme comparison would be like comparing a guy as good as Mackinnon who only puts up 30 points a year (but is very skilled and does a lot, just doesn't produce a lot) vs. a guy like Tom Wilson who is nowhere near as skilled and doesn't drive the play nearly as much but somehow puts up 80 points and way more goals. Doesn't matter who's driving the play, the more valuable person is the one that's producing and putting up the goals/points to help their team win games.

 

[SotasicA]

At the end of the day, being a great play driver is great, but the most valuable thing to a team is ACTUAL production

No, it's not. Offense is only half the game.

 

[BleedWell]

No, it's not. Offense is only half the game.

Rantanen was also the +/- leader in the NHL. Not Mack.

Mack is great player and all but he simply shouldn't be a Hart finalist this year.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Surprised a bit by Mac, but not a lot.

I expected Crosby for Hart finalist, and Mack more likely for Lindsay finalist....ends up being opposite. Wouldn't be surprised to see Crosby 4th or 5th for Hart.

i think the top 2 were never in question to me. McDavid in a landslide win - and Matthews a clear #2

It's kind of weird. I was expecting Crosby to be one of the Hart finalists, but MacKinnon to be one of the Lindsay finalists. Instead it was the other way around.

 

[kaiser matias]

One of the worst journalists for "correcting their record" is Elliotte Freidman, believe it or not. He'll leave deserving players off lists 1 year, maybe trying to be edgy, then the following year give that player a 1st or 2nd place vote when they didn't deserve it.

Not that I disagree that journalists are largely terrible at analyzing the sport, or really doing anything constructive, but do you have any clear examples of the above? It's a fairly strong allegation, and I'm curious if you can back it up.

 

[filinski77]

No, it's not. Offense is only half the game.

It's still by far most important objective for any top-line forward in the NHL.

If you want to bring in 2-way play, you are just hurting yourself because Marchand is a much better defensive player (on-top of having better offensive production, and much better offensive production relative to his team).

 

[Hale The Villain]

Rantanen and Makar were better than MacKinnon on the same team.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Rantanen and Makar were better than MacKinnon on the same team.

Rantanen outscored him by a point in three more games and MacKinnon is a center. Neither should probably be a finalist but it's not a surprise that MacKinnon is the one that got the nod.....or is the center is the more valuable position passe on HF now?

 

[McFlash97]

How does a guy who barely hit 20 goals and finished wth 65 points get a nomination ahead of a 31 goal scorer with 84 points ! lol

I understand hes on the same team as McDavid .. but yikes.

 

[c3z4r]

Mackinnon seems a bit surprising. I get that he's the best player on that team, but Rantanen had more points and 50% more goals. Makes it hard to say that Mackinnon was more valuable than him, let alone a bunch of other guys.

Rantanen had 1 more point in 4 more games, just like Marner had 1 more point than Matthews in 3 more games played.

I would've had Marchand and Kane as my 2 and 3 since I believe both the Leafs and Avs would've made the playoffs this year without Matthews and Mackinnon due to the divisions they were playing in.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Rantanen outscored him by a point in three more games and MacKinnon is a center. Neither should probably be a finalist but it's not a surprise that MacKinnon is the one that got the nod.....or is the center is the more valuable position passe on HF now?

Watch them play. Rantanen makes everyone around him better, MacKinnon does not.

MacKinnon kills plays regularly with his below average IQ. I don't think I've ever seen a superstar with worse hockey sense. His decision making is atrocious.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

It wouldn’t surprise me if McDavid was the unanimous winner.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

It wouldn’t surprise me if McDavid was the unanimous winner.

Well he should be. 2nd or 3rd(depending on where Matthews finish’s)had an amazing goal scoring year. Mcdavid had a legendary season in total

 

[The Moose is Loose]

Well he should be. 2nd or 3rd(depending on where Matthews finish’s)had an amazing goal scoring year. Mcdavid had a legendary season in total

Anyone who votes for Matthews for 1st place should lose their right to vote.

Their seasons weren’t even comparable.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

40 goals in well under 60 games is nothing to sneeze at, no shame in voting for that.
That said, this should be 97's Hart in a landslide, his season is one for all ages.

 

[Paxton Fettel]

None of them deserves it though, give it to Kucherov maybe or some other guy who knows how to play when it matters

 

[Aashir Mallik]

None of them deserves it though, give it to Kucherov maybe or some other guy who knows how to play when it matters

It’s the regular season awards, kucherov didn’t even play. If you think they are useless, that’s fine, but mcdavid and Matthews still had amazing seasons befitting of recognition