Brent Burns: Legitimate Hart Trophy candidate?
Brent Burns has what it takes to be the eighth defenseman ever to win the Hart Trophy but he has a long road ahead of him.
Historically, the Hart Trophy has been a bit biased against defensemen. While 12 MVPs have been given to blue liners, it’s worth noting Bobby Orr and Eddie Shore combine for seven of them. Only seven defensemen have ever won it, the most recent being Chris Pronger during the 1999-2000 season. However, Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks is set to not only contend for the award, but may be the one to finally give defensemen a bit of credibility in the future.
It isn’t just first place finishes that defensemen haven’t been getting. Nicklas Lidstrom is the only defensemen to finish higher than fifth place in the Hart Trophy voting since Pronger’s win. When arguably the greatest defensemen of the past 30 years can’t finish higher than fourth in MVP voting, that’s a sign it’s hard to get serious consideration.
However, if any defensemen can do it, it’s Brent Burns. The Hart Trophy goes to the player “deemed to be most valuable to his team”. This leads to a lot of debate about how one determines value. Burns, however, is a Hart candidate everyone can agree on because of his unique value.
His MVP case is led by his almost unheard of 62.0 even strength goals for percentage. When Burns is on the ice, the Sharks’ goals for percentage is roughly 20 percent better than it is without him on the ice.. To put things in perspective, San Jose, as of Jan. 18, has a 41.4 percent even strength goals for percentage without him on the ice. If the Sharks without Burns were a team, they’d have the second worst goals for percentage in the NHL. San Jose ranks eighth in goals for percentage as of Jan. 18, making him the difference between contending and tanking.
Last year, Burns relied quite heavily on the power play for his production. 30 of his 75 points from last season came with an extra man on the ice. However, the Sharks power play has been less than stellar this season. The bearded defenseman has 13 power play points this season through 44 games. Burns has made up for this by dominating at even strength. He leads all defensemen with 2.09 points per game at even strength. Burns is also responsible for generating a ton of shots attempts. At even strength, he has 249 shot attempts, 45 more than Jeff Skinner in second place with 204.
Burns also leads the league in shots with 173, though the shot generating legend Alex Ovechkin is just three behind him. Considering Ovie has won 10 of the past 11 shot titles, don’t count on Burns keeping the title. However, if he can hold off Ovechkin (far easier said than done), he’ll be the first defenseman since Ray Bourque in 1986-87 to lead the NHL in shots on goal over a full season.
Even if he doesn’t win the Hart Trophy, Brent Burns is having a historic season. He is on pace to reach the 30 goal plateau after finishing three goals short of it last season. If Burns pulls it off, he’ll be the first defenseman to do so since Mike Green (2008-09).
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Is Brent Burns the only Hart Trophy contender? Certainly not. Connor McDavid is the likely favorite. If he wins, he’ll be an extremely deserving candidate. McDavid is responsible for a lot of the Oilers’ improvements this season. Sidney Crosby might be the best player in hockey, but it’s understandably difficult to call him the most valuable player when Evgeni Malkin is also on his team. Burns will have to match his torrid pace and maybe even better it in order to win the Hart. He will face a group of voters who have historically undervalued his position. But don’t bet against Burns in the Hart Trophy race. He’s good enough to change a lot of minds.