Yahoo Sports Leon Draisaitl Makes His Case As The NHL's MVP
It takes more than just great play to win an MVP award.
In all leagues, the NHL especially, awards are often driven by narratives. We saw it last season with Nathan MacKinnon, who dominated Hart Trophy voting despite strong competition from Auston Matthews, Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid, and others. He was "due" for his first Hart, and basically had it locked up by Christmas with a hot start.
We're seeing it again with Kirill Kaprizov. Elliotte Friedman brought Kaprizov up as a possible Hart candidate entering the season, and he's dominated early polling thanks to his electric start. Don't get me wrong: Kaprizov has been incredible on a shockingly good Wild team. But he shouldn't have the Hart Trophy locked up just yet.
That's because Leon Draisaitl might be the NHL's most valuable player this year.
The traditional case? He leads a top-ten team with 45 points, tied with Kaprizov for fourth league-wide. He leads the league in goals with 22. His 33 even-strength points are tied for third in the league, erasing any concerns that he's just a powerplay merchant.
He's also doing this with less help than almost anyone else above him. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen get to play with each other, as do Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. Draisaitl spends most of his time centering his own line, flanked by Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen, and Viktor Arvidsson, who have combined for 8 goals this season. All good players, but not exactly elite wingmen.
The narrative case? Draisaitl has been the only consistent performer on the Oilers. He was basically a one-man offence during the team's early struggles, picked up the slack when Connor McDavid was out with injury, and is currently playing his best hockey of the year as the Oilers are heating up.
He's got 13 points during the team's current five-game win streak, and his seven game-winning goals lead the league. Not to mention he's cleaned up his defensive game, becoming a legitimate two-way beast after years of subpar defensive metrics. He might just be the most complete player in the game right now.
The analytical case? Unlike when he won the Hart in 2019-20 Draisaitl is actually driving play in both directions this year. The advanced stats community was skeptical of Draisaitl's Hart candidacy that year thanks to his horrendous defensive numbers and iffy five-on-five play, despite his lofty production.
There are no such concerns this year. His expected goals share of 64.8% is tied for 8th in the league among all players with at least 400 minutes of ice time, and 5th among forwards. As previously mentioned, his defensive and even-strength numbers are sparkling.
No more accusations of being a powerplay merchant or a product of McDavid; Draisaitl's MVP case is airtight. If he keeps this up, he'll have to make some more room in his trophy case by the end of the year.
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