nah.
if you have to explain to someone why the mvp isn't the best player in the league than you're doing it wrong.
I don't think he was the most valuable player to his team this season.
I think he's the offensive MOP if it was as the CFL awards, but to me it's a fair debate if he should be the Hart winner.
I would only be ticked by any voters who didn't have McDavid in their top 5. I don't see 5 players you could argue should be the hart winner over McDavid.
considering we have 95 years of history saying it is a playoff based award, it's not shocking, surprising or really that unfair. voting has been consistent in that regard for far longer than any of us have been alive.
If you consider a finalist someone who was top 3 in voting,
18 out of 282 Hart Trophy finalists since 1923-24 did not make the playoffs. Since 1967 expansion, 6 out of 150 Hart Trophy finalists did not make the playoffs.
This is a playoff-driven award. Non-playoff seasons comprise 6.4% of all Hart Trophy finalists' seasons. Since 1967, that number is 4%. (numbers from poster Blade Paradigm)