But there are other worthy contenders for the award. Here are four:
1. Center Leon Draisaitl | Edmonton Oilers
Draisaitl, the betting favorite to win the Hart Trophy, per DraftKings, is only five points behind MacKinnon in the points race and leads all NHL players with 46 goals.
In his past five games, Draisaitl only has two goals, but his seven assists in that span — including two against the Oilers’ loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday — have him three points shy of 100 points. With road games upcoming against the New Jersey Devils (Thursday), New York Islanders (Friday) and New York Rangers (Sunday), Draisaitl could easily hit 50 goals by the end of the week.
“Draisaitl is unique,” Allan Mitchell of The Athletic wrote recently. “He is a big-game talent because he’s an every game talent. His progression as an impact player has been shocking since he was drafted in 2014, and this might be his best season ever.”
2. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck | Winnipeg Jets
Goalies aren’t normally in the forefront of the Professional Hockey Writers Association voters’ minds for MVP, but Hellebuyck is giving the writers a reason to make an exception. Of the Jets 44 wins, 37 of them have come while Hellebuyck was in the crease. He has a 2.02 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.
“He’s one of the best in the world right now,” New York Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick told ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark in February. “One easy way to sum that up was that we played them maybe a month or two ago and we do scouting reports on every goalie we’re playing. One of the things that kept coming up is: If he sees it, he’s going to stop it.”
Per DraftKings, he has the second-best odds to win the award.
3. Right wing Nikita Kucherov | Tampa Bay Lightning
Kucherov has 28 goals and 64 assists for 92 points and will likely hit the 100-point mark by the end of March. While he’s not on pace to win his third Art Ross Trophy, awarded annually to the league’s leading scorer, he can make a case for the Hart Trophy with a strong end-of-season run.
Per DraftKings, he has the fourth-best odds to win the award.
4. Center Connor McDavid | Edmonton Oilers
In the race to 100 points, McDavid (82 points) has quite a way to go to catch up to MacKinnon. With 18 regular-season games left, a couple of multi-point finishes will get McDavid to the 100-point mark, but is it enough to give him better contention for the Hart Trophy?
Per DraftKings, he has the fifth-best odds to win the award.
