The 2016-17 season has been the year of Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby. Unsurprisingly, both were named finalists for the Hart Trophy, along with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on Monday evening.
Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Sergei Bobrovsky are the NHL’s Hart Trophy finalists for league MVP
Could the league’s top two scorers split the vote?
Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
The NHL’s MVP award has oftentimes gone to the player with the most points by the end of the season, but this year is a two-horse race with Crosby in the mix.
McDavid, just a year removed from his rookie season with the Oilers, posted 100 points on Edmonton’s roster. The 20-year-old almost single-handedly lifted the Oilers to a playoff position with his 30 goals, 70 assists, and a league-leading 1.22 points per game over a full season.
On the other hand is Crosby, who overcame another concussion at the start of the season to post 89 points in 75 games for the Penguins. His points per game pace of 1.19 is second only to McDavid and his 44 goals on the season are the league’s highest this year and his highest goal total since the 2009-10 season.
Bobrovsky, however, is a bit of a surprise. The Blue Jackets netminder is a Vezina Trophy finalist, and his .931 save percentage led the NHL over 63 games played. Bobrovsky won 41 games in the net for Columbus this year, third overall in the NHL.
There will likely be debates over whether another player could have slotted into Bobrovsky’s slot, such as Nikita Kucherov — who posted 85 points in 74 games.
The Hart Trophy will be awarded at the NHL Awards on June 21 in Las Vegas.
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