By: Chris Nosek

Yesterday it was released that Leon Draisaitl, Connor Hellebuyck, and Nikita Kucherov are the top three finalists for this seasons Hart Trophy. This, as expected, has caused numerous discussions about who may or may not have been snubbed in the voting process. Blue Jackets fans bring up Zach Werenski, Quinn Hughes gets a lot of credit for helping carry the Canucks all season, and of course – Bruins fans bring up David Pastrnak. So were any of them actually snubbed? Did they have a strong enough candidacy to be worth considering?

Hughes, Werenski, and Pastrnak all lead their teams in scoring and had significant contributions all season long. Just how good were they though? David Pastrnak registered the goal or assist on 47.7% of the goals scored by the Boston Bruins this season. He finished off the season with 106 points, which was 49 more than Morgan Geekie who was second on the team.

Hughes and Werenski led their teams in scoring despite being defensemen. They also averaged more than 25 minutes per night on ice each night and kept their teams in the playoff race for much longer than they deserved to be. Hughes dealt with massive disfunction in the Vancouver locker room while Werenski had to help the Blue Jackets navigate the season through the unexpected and unimaginable loss of Johnny Gaudreau coming into the season.

However, as far as being snubbed for the Hart Trophy, none of them were. Why? The ultimate goal for a team entering any NHL season is to win the Stanley Cup, and in order to accompish that goal they must first qualify for the playoffs. A feat that is done during the 82-game regular season, the time which the Hart Trophy is awarded to the player who is most valuable to their team. Almost by default, a team that does not qualify for the playoffs does not have someone on it who was more valuable to them than a team that does qualify. So no, none of Werenski, Pastrnak, or Hughes were snubbed from the award.

Karill Kaprisov, however, was snubbed despite only playing half the season. While it is crucial that a player actually play for their team to qualify for the Hart Trophy, a player’s true value is more properly measured by their absense. The Wild were two completely different teams based on Kaprisov’s presense in the lineup. With him, they held a record of 25-13-3 and accumulated 53 of their total standing points. This put the team on a 106 point pace which would have had them fighting for second place in the Central Division.

Yes, it’s true that he missed literally half the season. That half is where his true value is actually seen. Without the 27-year-old in the lineup, the Wild were a team that was barely over .500 and went 20-17-4. Without him in the lineup, the team almost dropped out of their playoff spot and it took a 3-1 record in the teams last four game – his return prior to the post-season – to keep their spot. In that four-game span, all three wins came in overtime and all four games were against non-playoff teams. Without Karill Kaprisov, the Wild earned 44 standings points, which would have been an 88 point pace. An 18-point swing doesn’t sound like much, however, this season the 106 point pace would have had them fighting to be a top 5 team in the league while the 88 point pace would have landed them 21st in the league between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings.

All of this is to say that multiple things can be true. Zach Werenski, Quinn Hughes, and David Pastrnak all had incredible seasons and are most certainly the most valuable player to their team. However, when you weigh their seasons across the league, their values were not enough to help their team acccomplish the first step toward winning a Stanley Cup. The Wild did qualify for the playoffs and clearly would not have without Kaprisov in the lineup.

Other factors are definitely important. The Wild also had to battle through an injury to Joel Ericksson-Ek while Kaprisov was out of the lineup. However, Kaprisov still finished the season fourth on the Wild in assists (31), second in goals (25), third in points (56), and averaged more than two and a half minutes more in ice time than any other forward on the team. His production while he was on the ice made him more valuable to his team than any other player in the league.

So are we really talking about the player who has the most importance to their team? Why are we so quick to write off a player who misses time when their team misses them so drastically?