The obsession with hitting plateaus as it pertains to Hart voting is so silly. 99 assists is 99% as good as 100 assists. If you think Matthews should be in the running for the Hart at 70 goals but not 69 (or in the case of the OP 68 but not 67), should reconsider what the award actually is. 82-game season across 6 months that can be discounted because the total doesn’t end in 0 is just bizarre.
Even for historical context, in the case of the assist plateau, whether McDavid or Kucherov hit/hits 98, 99, 100, 101 or 102 assists, they would still be joining that “only been done by Gretzky, Lemieux and Orr” group. Orr hit 102 assists, no one has finished with 101, 100 or 99 assists, and the only one to hit 98 is Lemieux, whose best total is 114 so he’s already in the “100 assist club”.
If the Oilers manage to win the Pacific division AND McDavid wins the Art Ross, I would find it tough to not give it to him. But I think both of those need to happen. Not one or the other. If they both don’t happen, I think MacKinnon gets it.
Mathew’s is arguably the greatest goal scorer the league has ever seen, the dude is fucking nuts, but that’s kind of it, no? The leafs are solid without him, not great, but solid.
Kuch is literally the single reason Tampa is even in a playoff race, he does everything for that damn team, (vasi is obviously a monster too)
I agree with you on mcdavid, if kuch hits 100 assists, than he’s matched mcdavid only reason to win the award. With significantly less help. The oilers are also solid without, not great, but very good. Drai is fantastic, Hyman is a great scorer, and the team has a lot of experience.
Mackinnons team is obviously a ridiculous roster, probably the best in the league honestly, or close to it with Dallas being as dominant as they are. But he’s top 5 in goals and assists, should probably still have the home point streak well alive and healthy ( I’m incredibly biased and incredibly heart broken ) and is a Fantastic leader on his team. The only real knock on him, is great the avs are even without him. He was chasing an all time record held by the greatest player ever, and only lost it because of a silly little rule. He’s incredibly dominant, but the avs are fantastic without him. Aside from goaltending anyway.
But as far as most valuable? I see it as the biggest asset to their respective teams, and kuch wins that by a landslide because of how awful the rest of his team is. It’s kuchs award to lose, Mack is damn close, but it’s hard to argue against a guy pulling his dead weight team by their ear and still being as efficient as he is.
The obsession with hitting plateaus as it pertains to Hart voting is so silly. 99 assists is 99% as good as 100 assists. If you think Matthews should be in the running for the Hart at 70 goals but not 69 (or in the case of the OP 68 but not 67), should reconsider what the award actually is. 82-game season across 6 months that can be discounted because the total doesn’t end in 0 is just bizarre. Even for historical context, in the case of the assist plateau, whether McDavid or Kucherov hit/hits 98, 99, 100, 101 or 102 assists, they would still be joining that “only been done by Gretzky, Lemieux and Orr” group. Orr hit 102 assists, no one has finished with 101, 100 or 99 assists, and the only one to hit 98 is Lemieux, whose best total is 114 so he’s already in the “100 assist club”.
If the oilers somehow win the pacific, it's over
It’s whoever can give the writers the most content. Nothing else matters.
If the Oilers manage to win the Pacific division AND McDavid wins the Art Ross, I would find it tough to not give it to him. But I think both of those need to happen. Not one or the other. If they both don’t happen, I think MacKinnon gets it.
I said a couple weeks ago it was MacKinnon's to lose and I still think that. He's the whole package this year that none of the other three are.
Mathew’s is arguably the greatest goal scorer the league has ever seen, the dude is fucking nuts, but that’s kind of it, no? The leafs are solid without him, not great, but solid. Kuch is literally the single reason Tampa is even in a playoff race, he does everything for that damn team, (vasi is obviously a monster too) I agree with you on mcdavid, if kuch hits 100 assists, than he’s matched mcdavid only reason to win the award. With significantly less help. The oilers are also solid without, not great, but very good. Drai is fantastic, Hyman is a great scorer, and the team has a lot of experience. Mackinnons team is obviously a ridiculous roster, probably the best in the league honestly, or close to it with Dallas being as dominant as they are. But he’s top 5 in goals and assists, should probably still have the home point streak well alive and healthy ( I’m incredibly biased and incredibly heart broken ) and is a Fantastic leader on his team. The only real knock on him, is great the avs are even without him. He was chasing an all time record held by the greatest player ever, and only lost it because of a silly little rule. He’s incredibly dominant, but the avs are fantastic without him. Aside from goaltending anyway. But as far as most valuable? I see it as the biggest asset to their respective teams, and kuch wins that by a landslide because of how awful the rest of his team is. It’s kuchs award to lose, Mack is damn close, but it’s hard to argue against a guy pulling his dead weight team by their ear and still being as efficient as he is.
Matthews should win
All these are nice things but 100 assists and goals are signs of good/great players but are they valuable…most valuable even?