5 players who should be serious Hart Trophy candidates but won’t

Jonathan Marchessault, Vegas Golden Knights

Like almost everyone else on this list, Jonathan Marchessault is playing for either a wild card team or a fringe top-three squad, and it’s why he won’t get much consideration for the Hart. As in the case of most of the players listed in the next slides, it’s not fair since nobody helped carry what became an up-and-down Vegas Golden Knights team for a significant portion of the 2023-24 season. 

Through April 15th, Marchessault has lit up the scoreboard with 42 goals and a 16.4 shooting percentage. With five game-winning goals, Marchessault was one of the go-to guys when Vegas needed to break a tie alongside Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, but you can argue that Marchessault was the Team MVP and that the Knights wouldn’t be in the playoffs this season without him. 

When you look at his points total through the 80 games he’s played heading into the final matchup of the year, he registered just 69 points, and that will keep him out of the running for the Hart. We know how valuable points totals are in these votes, but Marchessault was the key factor to ensure the Knights earned a chance to defend their championship. 

It’s also worth mentioning Marchessault was the key contributor for the Knights in their Stanley Cup Final win over the Florida Panthers, as he won the Conn Smythe Award last season. He’s definitely a great player whose performances were nothing short of underrated in 2023-24.