NHL Top 10: Hart Trophy Candidates

The NHL regular season is winding down, and teams have around 10 games left. That also means the race for the NHL’s MVP award, the Hart Trophy is coming to a close and heating up at the same time. The top 10 candidates for the award are as follows and broken into three categories.

The Longshots:

10. Sam Reinhart

Reinhart has somewhat been under the radar because much of the Panthers’ attention has been on Matthew Tkachuk the last two years. Reinhart is their leading scorer however with 85 points this year. He is worthy of MVP conversation being second in the league with 51 goals.

9. J.T. Miller

Miller is the top scorer for the first-place Canucks. He is having one of the best years of his career and is creeping up on 100 points in a season for just the second time in his career. He also has a chance to reach 40 goals for just the first time in his career.

Just Missed:

8. Artemi Panarin

Widely considered one of the best passers in the league, Panarin is helping lead the first-place Rangers who have just clinched a playoff berth. He has reached 100 points for the first time in his career. He also passed 40 goals for the first time in his career.

7. Connor Hellebuyck

It is almost certain that Hellebuyck will win the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league’s best goaltender, which would be his second. Being the best goaltender in the league, especially in a year when goaltending has been down easily puts him in the MVP conversation. Goaltenders rarely win the Hart Trophy, however, and he would be the first since Carey Price in 2015.

6. David Pastrnak

Pastrnak had the best year of his career last year with 61 goals and finishing second for the MVP. He has lived up to that level again this year currently sitting with 101 points in 74 games, and he has a chance to reach 50 goals again.

5. Connor McDavid

McDavid has won the Hart Trophy three times already in his career, and he is having that level of a season again. The problem for him is he isn’t keeping up in goal scoring with those around his point total, and his start to the season wasn’t up to his standards which set him back. He does however have a chance at 100 assists, which would make him the first to do so since Wayne Gretzky in 1991. He’s played well enough to win again this year, but some of his peers have simply been better.

4. Quinn Hughes

Hughes is almost certainly the winner of the Norris Trophy for the league’s best defenseman. He currently has 81 points and the second-highest plus/minus in the league at 39. Defensemen typically get the short end of the stick when it comes to the MVP however, as the last defenseman to win the award was Chris Pronger in 2000.

Likely Finalists:

3. Nikita Kucherov

Putting Kucherov third on this list would be unfathomable in most years. There is no knock against him. It just shows how competitive this year’s race is. He currently leads the NHL with 124 points. He still has a chance, especially if he finishes with the most points in the league.

2. Nathan MacKinnon

MacKinnon is one point behind Kucherov for the NHL lead with 123 points. What helps MacKinnon? He plays on a better team. He also is looking for his first Hart Trophy win, which could carry some favors with voters.

1. Auston Matthews

He doesn’t match up with some of those behind him in points. However, they don’t match up with his goal-scoring. He has 60 goals with 11 games left, and it may be enough to push him over the top as it did in 2022 when he scored 60 in 75 games. Matthews has a chance to score 70 goals, and if he does, he should be a lock. Helping his case is the fact that he also is a contender for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the forward who best demonstrates skill defensively.

Jacob Rudy is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jar7371@psu.edu.