Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl is leading the pack in Hart Trophy consideration. That’s not a biased statement. It’s based on objective data.
A ranking published in The Athletic looked at a metric called “Net Rating.” This metric looks at a player’s offensive and defensive contributions and then adds them up to determine the player’s net rating on the ice.
Wouldn’t you know it, Draisaitl leads the ranking. Of the top 10 players listed on the ranking, he leads the pack with 15.1 points. That puts him a full point ahead of second place.
Draisaitl leads players such as Cale Makar (second) and Kirill Kaprizov (third). Quinn Hughes is fourth, with last year’s Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon ranked fifth with 12.5 points.
Any of the abovementioned players is worthy of the Hart Trophy consideration. They are the elite of the elite in the NHL at the moment. So, it makes Draisaitl’s candidacy that much stronger. We’ve seen Draisaitl come up big time and again. He often goes unnoticed during the game just because he flies under the radar so well. But when opponents least expect it, he’s there, making big plays.
There’s also something else that makes Draisaitl seemingly go unnoticed. He plays on the same team as Connor McDavid. If Draisaitl played on any other team, he would be the undisputed most popular player on the team.
While Draisaitl is a fan-favorite, McDavid gets the lion’s share of attention. But then again, it doesn’t seem like that’s something affecting Draisaitl’s game. He’s been money all season long and will continue unless he gets hurt.
Barring injury, Draisaitl looks like a solid case for the Hart Trophy this season despite stiff competition from Colorado Avalanche teammates Makar and MacKinnon.
Leon Draisaitl gets the nod over Connor McDavid
It’s hard to be against McDavid. He’s the best player in the world at the moment. Of course, that’s always up for debate. And, there should be a debate. There are other extremely talented players in the NHL at the moment. One of those players is Draisaitl.
Could there be a case to argue that Draisaitl is better than McDavid? Perhaps when looking at overall career numbers, it may be hard to justify that assumption. But as far as this season’s concerned, Draisaitl gets the nod over McDavid.
Draisaitl is on a torrid pace this season. He’s registered 31 goals and 33 assists in 43 games. He’s on pace to break last season’s 108-point performance, potentially topping his career high of 128. Meanwhile, McDavid has 59 points in 43 games this season. The numbers are nearly identical, as McDavid missed three games due to injury earlier this season.
But that’s precisely where Draisaitl gets the nod. When McDavid went down, Draisaitl stepped up. He carried the team, especially during a time when the Oilers weren’t playing their best hockey. Draisaitl was a crucial component in the team turning things around.
Fast forward to January and the Oilers are humming along. They’ve had a couple of hiccups here and there. But that’s something usual during the course of an 82-game season.
When everything is said and done this year, Draisaitl should get a nomination for the Hart. He’ll be right up there with MacKinnon and potentially Makar. Perhaps another player can barge into the conversation like the Toronto Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner.
Nevertheless, the betting odds are on Draisaitl this season. Of course, McDavid can easily creep up, too. But it seems that Draisaitl is on track to win his second-career Hart Trophy.