NHL Awards Rankings: New No. 1 in MVP race

2. Artemi Panarin, LW, New York Rangers

With 43 points in 30 contests, Artemi Panarin is well on pace to set a new career high, but more importantly, he’s leading the New York Rangers to a comfortable margin in the current Metropolitan standings. Numbers-wise, we haven’t seen Panarin’s play give the Rangers much defensively, but his scoring prowess, plus the team’s overall consistency lands him into the No. 2 spot. 

We may be nearing the midway point of the season, but opponents still haven’t figured out how to stop Panarin. Until they do, or until the Rangers show some turbulence, don’t expect Panarin to drop out of the top-3 any time soon. 

1. J.T. Miller, RW, Vancouver Canucks

J.T. Miller is one player that seems to get lost in the mix thanks to Quinn Hughes seeking to set new highs in many statistical categories and Brock Boeser going on a goal-scoring frenzy (24 at the moment). But Miller, who leads the team with 46 points, is also their most complete player, and he’s arguably the primary reason the Canucks are one of the league’s best. 

While Miller has just four points and zero goals in his previous five contests, it’s his overall play including defensive numbers of 69 hits and 29 blocks that has him pacing this list. There is a lot of talent in these rankings, but nobody has put together a more complete season and has their team consistently at the top, which was the deciding factor in catapulting Miller to No. 1. 

(Statistics and information provided by Hockey-Reference)