Top 3 NHL MVP Candidates in the 2021-2022 Season
The NHL has eclipsed its midway point, and as we prepare for post-All-Star Game hockey, some teams and players are establishing themselves as frontrunners in their respective races in this 2021-2022 season.
We are past the point where high-level performances can be classified as flukes. By now, players and teams that are battling for various scoring/playoff races will likely be in contention for the top spot for the remainder of the season.
At this stage of the campaign, our primary focus is the long-term outlook for the season, which includes individual player awards. As the playoffs approach, those players that are leading their teams will garner consideration for one of the NHL’s most prestigious honors: the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player.
Who are the top three candidates so far for NHL MVP?
The MVP conversation is always an interesting one, as we weigh the differences between the most valuable player and the best player. For me, an MVP candidate must get his team into the postseason (how can you be the most valuable if you can’t help lead your team to the playoffs?) and be the primary catalyst for his team’s success.
To win the MVP, a player must be playing at an elite level that elevates his team to heights that it would be unable to reach in that player’s absence. For some, that may mean getting a fringe playoff team into the postseason, or for others, it might mean taking a playoff team to the top of the standings.
Recent winners like Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov have been so overwhelmingly dominant, that to award the MVP to any other player would be absurd, even if that did mean choosing the player that was simply the best.
In those instances, the gap between the player that won the award and the other finalists was insurmountable, but this season is different. With no single player dominating the field, the value that a player adds to his team should be the driving factor in the 2022 MVP race.
With all of those things in mind, here are my top three NHL MVP candidates coming out of the All-Star break.
3. Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild
Kirill Kaprizov took home Rookie of the Year honors last season with 51 points in 55 games, and now a year later, he’s in the MVP conversation as one of the elite players in the league.
On the season, the 24-year-old Russian has 19 goals, 34 assists, and 53 points, all of which are the top marks by any Wild player this year. He also carries a plus-19 rating and has scored three game-winning goals. In terms of NHL ranks, he is eighth in points and tied for ninth in assists.
In turn, the Minnesota Wild have excelled this season, as their 28-10-3 record has them in third place in the Central Division and second place in the Western Conference in point percentage. What’s more, Kaprizov’s club is currently on a ten-game point streak.
The former fifth-round pick is actually in the midst of a 12-game point streak himself, which would tie a franchise record and match that of teammate Kevin Fiala (which is active). However, he missed a game in the middle of his streak, so technically, it does not count as a 12-game streak.
Regardless, Kaprizov has points in his last 12 games, and in the nine games that he has played during the Wild’s point streak, he has six goals and eight assists. In addition, he has five multi-point games in that span.
What makes Kaprizov valuable to me is the fact that he leads an offensively-driven team in all offensive categories. Minnesota is third in the NHL in goals per game with 3.8, and he is one goal, six assists, and 11 points clear of his next closest teammates. Kaprizov has done the heavy lifting, and it has propelled his team.
Without Kaprizov, the Wild would be scratching and clawing just to grab a wild card spot. With him, they’re fighting for a top-two position in the Central.
2. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin did not have his best season a year ago, but that has not been the case during the 2021-2022 campaign. The Great 8 leads the Washington Capitals in goals and points while ranking near the top of the NHL in both categories.
So far this season, Ovi has racked up 29 goals, while adding 29 assists to total 58 points. His 58 points are 13 clear of Evgeny Kuznetsov, who is the second-highest scoring Capital, while Ovechkin’s goal total more than doubles the number scored by any of his teammates.
His team’s performance has been directly correlated to his output, and when he was scoring often, the Caps were at the top of the Metropolitan Division. Now that he has cooled off slightly, Washington has fallen to a wild card position.
The Caps are 5-7-2 since the calendar flipped to 2022, including 0-1 since the captain tested positive for COVID-19. In the 13 contests that Ovechkin has played this calendar year, he has only five goals and three assists, and he has not tallied a point since January 22.
That output is a departure from what his overall body of work depicts this season, and as a result, Washington has suffered. That’s not to dwell on the recent struggles, as that will happen to any player or team in an 82-game season, but it points to how much Ovechkin influences his team, which is the mark of a true MVP candidate.
The Capitals have gotten some scoring from other players, such as Kuznetsov (45 points), but it’s Ovechkin that determines this team’s success or lack thereof. There may not be a player that is more important to his team than number eight in D.C.
So in that case, why is he not number one? Because there is a player in the Sunshine State that is doing it all right now.
1. Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers
Jonathan Huberdeau is the favorite, in my eyes, to win the MVP award this season, because he has left no box unchecked this season for the Florida Panthers.
Like Ovechkin and Kaprizov, Huberdeau is the offensive leader for his club. His 47 assists are 16 better than the next closest Panther, and six clear of the next closest skater across the entire NHL. In terms of points, he’s scored 20 more points than any of his Florida teammates and he’s got a slight edge over 2020 MVP Leon Draisaitl.
It’s crazy to me that on a team that is as explosive as Florida, one player could be so much more productive than the rest. I’m not suggesting that the Panthers would be lost with Huberdeau, but I can’t picture this team being a top-two club in its own division without the masterful season that number 11 has put together.
Further stats to complement his offensive excellence include a plus-19 rating, 19 points on the power play, two game-winning goals, and a career-high three shorthanded points. Again, he is doing it all for the Cats in what could turn out to be the best season in franchise history.
What I believe separates Huberdeau from the competition is that the value of the first two players I’ve included on this list has gotten their teams solidly into playoff positions, but his performance has the Florida Panthers firmly at the top of the postseason bracket.
Florida owns a 32-10-5 record, which not only leads the Atlantic Division, but also the NHL. Huberdeau’s offensive production has led the Panthers’ top-ranked offense in the league, which scores 4.1 goals per game. Further, no team has a better goal differential than Florida, which boasts a +55.
Huberdeau, as the driving force behind a dominant season thus far in Sunrise, should be viewed as the favorite to take home the Hart Trophy.
Related Story. The Top 5 Vezina Trophy Candidates at the Midway Point of 2021-22 Season. light
An MVP case can be made for many players in this NHL season, but these three have started to separate themselves from the rest. They’re well-positioned to be MVP candidates after the first half of the year, and now they have to solidify their resumes down the stretch.