Multiple MVPs? Canucks have three early candidates for the Hart Trophy
Even though the Vancouver Canucks were clouded by pessimism in recent years, one thing remained true.
They had the franchise pillars to one day, be a contender.
Well, that day may be here now. The Canucks’ core players are in their prime and leading the way.
Centreman Elias Pettersson, defenceman Quinn Hughes and goaltender Thatcher Demko haven’t just led the Canucks to their best start in franchise history, there’s a case to be made that all three of them currently belong in the Hart Trophy conversation.
We’ll break down the early case for them here and rank them in terms of where they should slot in the early Hart Trophy rankings.
1. Quinn Hughes
Among the three Canucks in the early MVP conversation, Hughes likely has the strongest case as top contender.
His uncanny ability to create offence, mixed with his astounding defensive impacts, has Hughes as the clear front-runner for the Norris Trophy in the early going.
Heck, he’s accomplishing stuff that only Bobby Orr has done before.
The Canucks’ defenceman has 21 points in 13 games, and has been on the ice for an astounding 21 goals for and 4 goals against at even-strength.
Based on some models, he’s been the best player in the NHL so far this season.
hockeystatcards.com
The above graphic from Hockey Stat Cards really visualizes the Game Score model from The Athletic, which give scores to players based on both goals and points but also possession metrics.
Because Hughes has been so flawless at both ends of the ice, it’s not overly surprising to see him with the best average Game Score this season.
It certainly helps his early MVP case though.
2. Elias Pettersson
It is crazy to think that Pettersson might have the second-best MVP odds on his own team, considering he leads the league right now with 24 points in 13 games.
And in fairness, the Hart Trophy winner often ends up being the guy who leads the league in points. At least, that’s been the case in seven of the last 10 seasons.
With Connor McDavid off to an uncharacteristically slow start, that’s opened the door for someone like Pettersson to take the early scoring lead.
Pettersson One-Timers ā¢ļø pic.twitter.com/XP4Gc3qQqj
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 10, 2023
The soon-t0-be 25-year-old leads the league with 13 even-strength points. He’s one of only seven NHLers with more than 10 power play points. Among the top-20 NHLers in terms of points right now, only Pettersson and JT Miller have registered a shorthanded point.
Pettersson has been one of the best players in the league for some time. It might be time for the widespread recognition he deserves now that he’s actually leading the league in points.
3. Thatcher Demko
The Canucks might just have the best forward, best defenceman, and best goaltender in hockey right now.
Thatcher Demko also deserves to be in the early MVP conversation because as the stats suggest, he’s been the best goalie in the NHL.
The San Diego native is tied for the NHL lead with seven wins in nine starts. Eight of his nine starts have been “quality” appearances, according to Hockey Reference’s quality start metric.
For the record, the average NHL goaltender will have a quality start percentage of 53%. Demko’s quality start percentage is currently 88.9%.
Based on the Game Score metric, Demko has been the second-best goaltender in hockey so far this season, and the ninth-best player in the NHL.
hockeystatcards.com
He’s also one of only 10 goaltenders with a Game Score average above 0.5, more than tripling that number with a 1.70 Game Score thus far.
It’s worth noting too that Demko‘s performance is impactful considering how six of the top-10 goalies in the NHL this season hail from the Pacific Division.
Despite performing arguably like an early top-10 Hart Trophy candidate, there’s a good argument that Demko has been the third-best player on the Canucks this season.
That’s just a testament to how insanely good the Canucks have been in the early going, and it starts with their best players.