Elliotte Friedman reveals his favorites for Hart Trophy, including Leon Draisaitl, Quinn Hughes and $100,800,000 superstar

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman weighed in on Leon Draisaitl and Quinn Hughes’ prospects in the race for the Hart Memorial Trophy this season. The award goes to the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NHL regular season, voted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.

During Monday’s edition of Sportsnet’s “32 Thoughts: The Podcast,” Friedman spoke about his “long list” of candidates to win the trophy.

“Okay, so for MVP, Hart Trophy, my long list is Draisaitl, in no particular order, MacKinnon, Hellebuyck, Quinn Hughes, Jack Eichel, Zach Werenski and Nikita Kucherov. Kaprizov was big there for me, but injury has ruined his candidacy,” Friedman said.

Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, who signed an eight-year, $100.8 million contract in September 2022, is the reigning Hart Memorial Trophy holder and favorite to win again this season. He is the joint leader in points scored in the league, with 109.

Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl is the leading goalscorer this season. He scored his 50th and 51st goals during Saturday’s 3-2 win against the Calgary Flames. Draisaitl has been one of the Oilers’ most consistent players this season and had earlier won the Hart Trophy in the 2019-20 season.

Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes is the current Norris Trophy holder for best defenseman in the league. He is also a huge part of the reason why the Canucks are still in the hunt for a playoff spot despite the controversy surrounding star forwards Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller and an injury to goalie Thatcher Demko which led to him missing 24 games this season.

Hughes has a points-per-game average of 1.22 this season and his two-way game improvement has seen him emerge as a strong contender for MVP.

"32 Thoughts" co-hosts talk about candidates other than Leon Draisaitl and Quinn Hughes

Elliotte Friedman and his co-host Kyle Bukauskas discussed other candidates on the long list. They touched upon Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who is tied for first in the point-scoring charts with MacKinnon, and Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, whose strong two-way game has elevated his team’s position, as potential winners.

Bukauskas also said that Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck was a strong contender to challenge MacKinnon.

“Hellebuyck’s my guy right now,” Bukauskas said.

The Jets goalie is having a phenomenal season between the sticks, with a GAA of 2.01 and a save percentage of .925. The last goalie to win the Hart Trophy was Carey Price in 2015.