O Canada: First-quarter MVPs for the Great White North's seven NHL teams

Believe it or not, the first quarter of the 2014-15 NHL regular season has already happened. And with that, here are our picks for first-quarter team MVPs for Canada’s seven NHL clubs. Some of them you will believe and some, perhaps, you will not:

Calgary Flames: This one’s a no-brainer, it’s defenceman Mark Giordano. Maybe you could go contrarian and build a case for goalie Jonas Hiller or blossoming blue liner T.J. Brodie or up-and-comers Sean Monahan or Johnny Gaudreau, but … no. It’s Giordano and it’s not close. Not only is he the Flames’ best player, he’s the top Norris Trophy candidate as the league’s best defenceman. He leads Calgary in scoring, he leads NHL defencemen in scoring, and he’s Mr. Do-It-All for the Flames. He plays more than 24 minutes a night against the opponents’ best players, and leads the Flames in shorthanded ice time (2:30) and power-play ice time (3:15). He leads Calgary in PP points (seven) and he’s also scored their only shorthanded goal. His plus-9 rating is second only to Brodie (plus-12), and his 52 shots are second only to Monahan (54). His 22 points are six more than the next-best player (Brodie) and seven more than Calgary’s most productive forward (Jiri Hudler). Oh yeah, and he’s also the captain. What more do you want?

Edmonton Oilers: To expedite matters, we’ll eliminate the Oilers’ goalies and defencemen right off the top. It’s not quite the slam-dunk in Edmonton that it is in Calgary, but that’s just because Taylor Hall missed six of the Oilers’ first 19 games with an MCL sprain. Still, it’s pretty evident Hall is the only legitimate choice. Despite missing nearly one-third of the regular season’s first quarter – don’t worry, that’s about as close as we’ll get to analytics in this column – Hall leads Edmonton with seven goals and he’s practically a point-a-game player with 12 in 13 contests. He’s clearly the engine that drives the Oilers’ offence, and he’s even standing up for oft-criticized coach Dallas Eakins, at least publicly, so he’s doing what he can to be a leader. Could he be better defensively? Of course he could, but he’s got plenty of company in that regard in Edmonton. And it’s worth noting that at plus-4, he’s the only Oilers regular other than defenceman Andrew Ference (plus-1) who’s a plus player. If he stays healthy, he’ll join Giordano as a runaway team MVP by the end of the season.

Montreal Canadiens: Tomas Plekanec got off to a great start and Max Pacioretty has been scoring lately, and Alex Galchenyuk is trending up and Brendan Gallagher is the sparkplug. And of course there’s P.K. Subban, who does so much at both ends of the ice for Montreal. But doesn’t it have to be goalie Carey Price, even though his numbers aren’t that great? Price’s goals-against average (2.49) and save percentage (.917) are barely middle-of-the-pack in the NHL, and they’re not nearly as good as backup Dustin Tokarski’s sparkling stats (1.78 GAA, .937 save percentage). But let’s be real. Any success the Canadiens have starts with their all-world netminder, he’s a proven winner who makes the big saves, and Montreal can play with confidence when he’s in the crease. Hey, if Pacioretty keeps piling up the goals or Subban takes it up a notch, maybe we’ll change our pick by the end of the year. But for now we’re going with Price as Montreal’s first-quarter MVP. Come to think of it, there is one stat where Price is doing alright – he’s tied for the NHL lead in victories, with 12.

Ottawa Senators: Spoiler alert, we’re going with another goaltender. Craig Anderson can’t be denied, even though he’s won just five of 11 starts for the Sens (5-3-3). Anderson’s .935 save percentage is simply too good to ignore, ranking second among NHL No. 1 goalies behind only the Los Angeles Kings’ Jonathan Quick (.938). Clarke MacArthur is a candidate, leading the Senators in goals (eight), points (14) and game-winners (three), as well as captain Erik Karlsson, averaging 27:42 in ice time per game. Or you could even go rogue and argue for rookie Mike Hoffman, with seven goals and a team-leading plus-8 in 15 games. But if not for Anderson, the Sens wouldn’t be holding down a playoff spot, and that’s why we like him.

Toronto Maple Leafs: It’s a goal-scorer, not a goalie. You have to pick Phil Kessel as the MVP, even if he’s not the most talkative player in Toronto. Kessel, of course, speaks with his skating and scoring, leading the Leafs in goals (11) and points (23), and pumping up linemates James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak. There’s no secret to his game, he streaks down the wing and unleashes a wicked wrister, or circles in the offensive zone and ends up with the puck in a scoring position. He’s not going to win the Mark Messier Leadership Award anytime soon, but he’s an elite sniper with a knack for goals like very few other players in the league.

Vancouver Canucks: Ryan Miller is tied for the NHL lead in wins (12) – which is great, of course – but he’s also benefitted from great scoring support, with the Canucks sixth in the NHL at 2.95 goals per game. Otherwise, Miller’s stats (2.74 GAA, .900 save percentage) aren’t exactly MVP-worthy. So if the Canucks are scoring so much, let’s go with one of the scorers. But not one of the Sedins, even though Daniel and Henrik are tied for the team lead (of course they are) with 20 points. We still can’t really tell them apart, and it’ll be one of them at the end of the season anyway, so let’s go with somebody else. But not their linemate, Radim Vrbata, even though he leads the Canucks in goals with nine and sits third on the scoring chart (16 points). Like one of the Sedins he’d also be a credible choice, but the Canucks’ top line has padded their stats with PP points (nine for Vrbata and eight apiece for the Sedins…tied again, of course), so let’s look for someone else. How about Nick Bonino, a key piece in the Ryan Kesler trade? He’s fourth in team scoring (15 points) despite zilch on the power play, he’s got seven goals including a team-high three game-winners, he’s tied for the best plus-minus at plus-7, he kills penalties and he’s a good story on a team that’s been a good story.

Winnipeg Jets: We’d like to pick Ondrej Pavelec, but backup Michael Hutchinson keeps showing up the starter when he gets a chance to play, so … it’s going to have to be Blake Wheeler. The Jets power forward does a lot of good things, not the least of which is lead the team in goals (eight), points (13) and general roughhousing, too (37 penalty minutes). Captain Andrew Ladd is also in the conversation, Brian Little had the early lead but has cooled after a hot start. Tobias Enstrom might be the guy by the end of the season. For now, though, we’ll roll with Wheeler.

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