2020 NHL Awards
Hart Memorial Trophy
- The Hart Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association in all NHL cities at the end of the regular season
Finalists:
- Connor McDavid
- Leon Draisaitl
- Nathan MacKinnon
Winner: Leon Draisaitl
I’ve always hated the Hart Trophy and what it represents because the definition says that it is the most valuable player to his team, but that’s not typically who wins this award, though.
For example, you could argue that Nathan MacKinnon is the most valuable player to his team this year because he has 43 more points than the next player on Colorado. But, since he’s still 17 points away from Draisaitl, how could he more valuable than him?
However, Draisaitl gets to play with McDavid most nights, so because of that, does that make him less valuable than any other player in the league? But as a counterpoint, Draisaitl has played more games than McDavid and is still averaging a higher points-per-game total than him.
Hmm…..
Personally, I think the award needs to be changed to ‘Most Outstanding Player’ instead of ‘Most Valuable’ because if that’s the case, it would be an easier decision to pick Draisaitl.
Regardless, Draisaitl will still win this award because you can’t look past 43 goals and 110 points this year, despite who he’s playing with.