Exploring which players could surprise and win the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP
As the NHL gears up for another thrilling season, the race for the Hart Memorial Trophy is already generating buzz among fans and analysts alike.
This year's competition promises to be fierce, with a blend of seasoned veterans and emerging stars vying for the honour.
At the forefront of the conversation is always Connor McDavid, whose skill and dominance during this past postseason have made him the clear-cut favorite.
However, he's not the only player expected to make a strong case as Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Toronto’s Auston Matthews should remain in the conversation.
As we anticipate another exciting year of NHL action, the Hart Trophy race is shaping up to be one of the most captivating storylines to follow. Besides the obvious choice of McDavid, MacKinnon or Matthews, we explore other players to take at a good value.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Filip Forsberg (+20000)
Smashville had an eventful summer with all of their new additions like forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault who can help the Predators find the goal-scoring they were looking for while also adding key blue-line depth with Brady Skjei.
The overall improvement of the team should help propel Forsberg reach a new level that hasn't been seen from him.
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The 29-year-old from Östervåla, Sweden has been on the cusp of an MVP-caliber season with 42 or more goals in two of the last three seasons and repping a point-per-game average of 1.09 during that span.
He is coming off his best season with career highs in goals (48) and points (94) which should continue to go up with the team's newest additions.
He isn't projected to play with either of Stamkos or Marchessault on a line but will be with the duo on the power play. Nashville finished with a goals-per-game average of 3.24 which was top ten and should possibly improve into the top five next season.
David Pastrnak (+2000)
Pastrnak put up 47 goals and 63 assists for 110 points this season with Pavel Zacha as his centre. When playing in his last season with Patrice Bergeron, Pastrnak put up 61 goals and should see that same level of product when getting an upgrade to his line with Elias Lindholm.
Zacha had a great season with 21 goals and 38 assists for 59 points and regularly finding himself in our Best Bets column.
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Lindholm had a down year in 2023 with just 44 points across time spent with the Canucks and Flames. Over his two prior seasons, he recorded 146 on a dysfunctional Flames team.
Boston has a solid fundamental system that always helps new players hit another level of production. I’m expecting Lindholm to finish with 70-80 points which should translate to 10-20 more points for Pastrnak if everything works out perfectly.
Mitch Marner (+10000)
The Toronto media has been in a constant storm around Mitch Marner and what they will do with him ahead of next season. The consensus is that the Toronto native will stay with the Leafs for the final year of his contract and will play to earn a new one.
Marner has been on the verge of being one of the leagues top players for some time now with 91 goals and 190 assists for 281 points in 221 games over the past three seasons.
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He has more than the likes of Kirill Kaprizov, Sidney Crosby, Jason Robertson and Elias Pettersson during that span. He has eclipsed the 90-point mark four times in his career and is long overdue for a massive 100-point campaign.
He will continue to earn points with reigning-Rocket Richard winner Auston Matthews as his centre and will see get more production out of youngster Matthew Knies, who will get a year older and likely see a bump up to somewhere between 50-60 points next season.
He may not win the award but he will certainly be motivated to put himself in the conversation and could possibly give you an opportunity at odds dropping and providing a decent cash out at some point of the season.