Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews Hart Win Should be a Landslide

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have gotten screwed over in the playoffs this year, but it doesn’t detract from what was one of the best seasons in franchise history.

A year after winning their first division title in recent memory, the Toronto Maple Leafs were among the NHL’s deepest and most talented teams this season, and set a franchise record for wins and points.

The Leafs fell just short of the President’s Trophy, but a fourth overall finish despite posting the 27th best 5v5 save percentage in the league showed that they were likely hockey’s best team.

Unfortunately, they were unable to even have a shot at the Stanley Cup because even though they out-played and out-scored Tampa in the first round, shoddy refereeing and bad luck sent them golfing early.

Though it’s no Stanley Cup, a nice consolation prize would be Auston Matthews winning the Hart Trophy that he earned by having the best individual season the NHL Has seen in 20+ years.

Toronto Maple Leafs Award Drought Ends Tonight

This will not shock anyone, but the Toronto Maple Leafs have won a Cup, scoring title, or major award since the NHL expanded beyond six teams.

Matthews won the Calder, and Doug Gilmour won the Selke, and Pat Burns the Jack Adams, but no Leafs player has taken home one of the three major trophies.

There will be no Vezina or Norris tonight for the Leafs, but unless the voters have completely failed, then Auston Matthews will win his first (of hopefully many) Hart Trophies as the NHL’s MVP.

With all due respect to Connor McDavid’s 120 points, Matthews scored 50 goals in 50 games at one point, and finished with 60 in 73.  Incredibly, Matthews only scored 1 goal in his first six games as he recovered from off-season wrist surgery.

The real reason Matthews is the MVP is 5v5 play where he scored ten more goals than the next highest scorer, who he also played six games less than.

Matthews scored almost 2 goals per 60 minutes of 5v5 ice-time, which is incredible considering 2 points per 60 is first-line production.  He was .3 higher than anyone else.

Matthews also scored 3.37 points per 60 to McDavids 2.62.  McDavid wasn’t even the highest scoring Connor in the NHL on a per minute basis.

Ultimately, McDavid had 44 power-play points to Matthews 29. The power-play is much easier to score on, and much more random. The most valuable player is the best 5v5 player, and as gaudy as McDavid’s point totals are, they are really just padded by power-play points.

McDavid is empty calories.

Matthews is the NHL’s best and most valuable player, and has the best all round game. He is the best at the most important skill – goal scoring, and he is this year’s Hart Trophy winner by a landslide. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

Even a close vote would be an insult to the intelligence of NHL fans.   Auston Matthews would win the Hart Trophy tonight even if he was up against the best season’s of ever player in the last 20 years.  What he did was historic.  He should win the Hart Trophy unanimously, as there isn’t even a slightly reasonable argument for any other player to win it.

Unless McDavid or Shesterkin’s mother have votes, I can’t imagine those guys getting even a single first-place nod.  It would be ridiculous.

It isn’t the Stanley Cup, but at least referees can’t rob Matthews of the Hart.  I must say, I really would have preferred the Cup, but a Hart Trophy is fantastic achievement.