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To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Connor McDavid was named as one of three finalists for the 2020/21 Hart Trophy. The Oilers captain joins Nathan Mackinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs as finalists.
McDavid put together an incredible season for the Oilers this year. He ran away with the scoring lead with a ridiculous 105 points in just 56 games. This was 21pts ahead of, the second-highest scorer, Leon Draisaitl, and 36 ahead of, the closest non-Oiler, Brad Marchand who finished third in scoring with 69pts.
It wasn’t only a great offensive season for the Oilers captain but also a great all-around season. He made strides in the defensive zone and was a much more important factor in all areas of the ice. This is particularly impressive due to how important he has been to this team’s success in recent years.
Hart nominations are out.
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 10, 2021
1. Connor McDavid was next-level this year. The best offensively, the best on the powerplay, put up historic point totals... let's not overthink this. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/Vtwzen4qiu
I think JFresh says it best: don’t overthink this. This is not a shot at either Matthews and MacKinnon, they were fantastic for their respective teams and absolutely deserve the nominations. McDavid was just on a completely different level this season. He put up historic numbers that haven’t been seen in this league in over 20 years.
The winner of the Hart will be revealed at some point during the next two playoff rounds. Considering the Hart is seen as one of the bigger awards the best bet is that we will find out during the Stanley Cup Final.