The race for the Art Ross Trophy is heating up. Here are four candidates leading the conversation.
The NHL season has just over a month left to go, and one of the biggest award races that’s sure to come down to the wire is the Art Ross Trophy.
The Art Ross Trophy goes to the player who scored the most points during the regular season. There are some strong candidates this season, as many players have had outstanding seasons. Let’s take a look at the four players who have the best shot to win the award.
Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Nikita Kucherov is far and away the favorite for the trophy, as he’s been leading the league in points for virtually the entire season. He has 33 goals and 86 points so far this season, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he hits 100.
That’s getting harder and harder to do, so for another player to do it would be pretty outstanding. He has a four-point lead over Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin and has four points in his last two games. It’s going to be hard for other players to catch Kucherov, but if he stumbles up, that could open the door for someone like Malkin or maybe Connor McDavid.
Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
This has been Malkin’s best season since he scored 50 goals in 2011-12 and won numerous trophies, including the Hart. He has 37 goals and 82 points this season, and the biggest key is that he’s had a fully healthy year. Over the past few seasons, he’s had some injuries that have made him miss time. That affected his production, as he couldn’t put together a season quite like this.
Malkin has been Pittsburgh’s best player this season (though this isn’t a knock on how good Phil Kessel has been, either). If he can catch Kucherov, he’d have a strong case to win another Hart Trophy for league MVP.
Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
McDavid was going to catch up eventually, right? Arguably the best player in hockey, he has 30 goals and 80 points this season. He’s putting up those numbers on an awful Oilers team that’s going to miss the playoffs this season. He has nine points in his last five games, which had catapulted him up the leaderboard to just behind Malkin.
McDavid is coming off having 100 points exactly last year in his second season in the league when the Oilers made the playoffs. It truly would be quite an accomplishment if McDavid can win the Art Ross this season on such a bad team. He’s carried the Oilers the entire season, even though they have had a disastrous showing. He’d have to be in the conversation for the Hart, even though the trophy doesn’t usually go to a player who didn’t lead their team to the playoffs.
Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche)
One of the biggest surprises this season has definitely been the Colorado Avalanche. They’re in the thick of the playoff race in the West, and the biggest reason for that has been the play of Nathan MacKinnon.
He missed a bit of time during his great season, but he’s still fourth in the league in points. He has 32 goals and 78 points this season in just 58 games. He’s already broken his career high in points, which was 63 before this season. That came during his rookie year.
If the Avalanche do end up making the playoffs, MacKinnon is definitely a strong candidate for the Hart. It’s going to be hard for MacKinnon to catch Kucherov with not that much time left but if he does, he wouldn’t just be a candidate for the Hart; he’d be a favorite.
Next: 25 Most Dominant Offensive Players In NHL History
Honorable mentions in the mix:
Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers): 23 goals, 55 assists, 78 points
Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning): 27 goals, 51 assists, 78 points
Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh Penguins): 27 goals, 49 assists, 76 points