The Montreal Canadiens have had a stud on their first line for a long time now, and it looks like the rest of the league is starting to take notice. Canadiens fans have long sung the praises of Nick Suzuki to anyone that could hear, and it looks like he might be starting to get his dues.
The Winnipeg Jets had a season for the ages, winning the President's Trophy on the back of a fantastic performance from franchise goalie Connor Hellebuyck. It was pretty clear that Hellebuyck would win the Vezina as the league's top goalie, but it was a closer race for the Hart.
The voting was tight, and Hellebuyck won a narrow race, beating Leon Draisaitl by just over 100 points. For reference, Lane Hutson won the Calder Trophy by just under 700 points. Hellebuyck was the first goalie to win the Hart Trophy since Carey Price did it in 2014-15, and was the first Winnipeg Jet to win the Hart.
Suzuki received Hart Trophy votes
After the top four (Hellebuyck, Draisaitl, Nikita Kucherov and Nathan Mackinnon), the drop off in points is pretty big. However, towards the bottom of the top 10, was a familiar face to Canadiens fans, but a new one so far up in the MVP voting, Nick Suzuki.
Suzuki landed below Alex Ovechkin and above Connor McDavid. Those two aren't too shabby company to be in. The greatest goalscorer of all time and the best player of this generation, and the Montreal Canadiens young captain Nick Suzuki.
The way the voting for trophies like the Hart and Calder works is that votes are cast from 1-5, and each voter gives weighted votes for who deserves to win said trophy. Suzuki received votes spread was 1-1-0-0-9.
This means that Suzuki received one vote for the No. 1 Hart candidate. That's more than McDavid, David Pastrnak, and Quinn Hughes.
The thing to remember is that the Hart Trophy is not the league's MVP, but the MVP for the team
It's less about being the best player overall, but the player that their team relies upon the most. No one is saying that Suzuki is better than McDavid, but McDavid was blocked by having an all-star linemate in Draisaitl.
Still, it's a fantastic step for Nick Suzuki and incredible validation for fans that have been pulling for Suzuki for years now. Suzuki has been one of the most consistent, reliable centres in the league. And he has steadily gotten better year after year. This past season was his first scoring above a point-per-game.
Suzuki is also one of the most durable players currently playing. He is currently third in current iron man streaks, behind veterans Brent Burns and Ryan Suter. Since making his NHL debut in 2019, Suzuki has not missed a single game, having played 455 straight games. He still has a long way to catch Phil Kessel, the record-holder at 1,064 games.
Nick Suzuki has steadily gotten better and better throughout his young career, and has a fantastic young core to play around. This seems like a precursor of fantastic things to come.
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