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What seemingly started as a one-man race is now probably a sprint between two, and it’s amongst teammates.
Connor McDavid will be a favorite to win the Hart Trophy every year for probably the next decade, but looking at FanDuel Sportsbook, we can see that we shouldn’t ignore fellow Oiler Leon Draisaitl.
Connor McDavid is still the favorite to win the Hart Memorial Trophy, but if you put a bet on him now, you won’t be getting the same value as you would have when we first recommended you should. His only real competition seems to be his teammate Leon Draisaitl, who is on an absolute tear this season. Draisaitl has four more points, but there are still a lot of games to play. The last time we did this, we talked about how McDavid’s previous season was statistically in the same realm of the all-time greats. Unbelievably, he’s doing even better this season. This statistical improvement falls in line with McDavid entering his physical peak, but it’s still pretty hard to comprehend. Regardless of what any other player does this season, expect McDavid to be in the conversation for the Hart Trophy continuously.
No other player has propelled themselves into the top of the Hart discussion as Leon Draisaitl has. His 31 points lead the league, which is pretty unbelievable if you just finished reading the McDavid section. Draistail averages 2.21 points per game and leads the league in goals with 15. Draisaitl isn’t even relying on special teams to get his offense. His 20 even-strength points lead the NHL as well. All of this success means those who grabbed Draisaitl at +2300 are pretty happy right now. If you think he can hold off McDavid, you can still get him at +380.
Nikita Kucherov looked like a great value bet in his return season from injury. Unfortunately, the injury bug has struck him again. We won’t spend too much time on Kucherov because his odds are no longer available. However, we thought it was necessary to point out his removal.
The “Great Eight” is living up to his name this season. As per usual, you can expect Ovechkin to find the back of the net. He currently only trails Draisaitl in goals. However, in his quest to chase down the “Great One” on the all-time goals list, Ovi is putting up one hell of a start to the season. Ovechkin wasn’t even in the Top 10 odds for the Hart Trophy when we did this last time, but now he’s listed as the third most likely to win. We expect Ovechkin to continue putting the puck in the net, but it’s unlikely he can keep pace with the two Oilers.
The Avalanche started the season with arguably the best line in hockey, but all three have had trouble staying in the lineup. Nathan MacKinnon still has ten points in eight games, but he has a lot of ground to cover if he’s going to catch McDavid and Draisaitl. At this point, it seems more than likely an impossible task for MacKinnon to get his name back into the Hart conversation. However, at +2200, MacKinnon is someone to keep in mind, simply because of how talented that Colorado line is.
If you’re looking for a “Dark Horse,” look no further than Aleksander Barkov. Barkov wasn’t in the Top 10 odds the last time we did this, but he has put up 16 points in 14 games for Florida. The Panthers have had a great start to the season, primarily due to its offense. Florida does spread the scoring around, but Barkov is their most talented player. If the Panthers can continue this success over the whole season, Barkov could prove to be a great value play at +2200.