Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers has won the NHL’s Hart Trophy for the 2019-2020 season. The award is given to the player deemed the most valuable in the league. He was chosen over Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and the New York Rangers‘ Artemi Panarin. The league announced the award during its pregame show Monday evening.
43 goals. 67 assists. 110 points.
Leon Draisaitl is taking home the Hart Trophy! #NHLAwards @NHLdotcom has more ➡️ https://t.co/h12DDuIbrR pic.twitter.com/KiyG07fhCi
— NHL (@NHL) September 21, 2020
Leon Draisaitl Wins Hart Trophy
Draisaitl had an outstanding campaign this season. The 24-year-old led the league in scoring with 43 goals and 110 points in 71 games before the NHL stopped play. 2019-20 was an improvement over an already-superb 2018-19. That was the year that the former first-round pick scored a career-high 50 goals and 105 points in 82 games. He received no votes for the award that ultimately went to Nikita Kucherov despite his outstanding production.
The Oilers selected Draisaitl in the first round of the 2014 Draft and he has consistently excelled. Draisaitl has posted 168 goals and 422 points in 422 NHL games. He has over 40 more points than the next most productive skater from his class, David Pastrnak. Nobody will confuse the German skater for a superior defender but there is little he can’t do in Edmonton next to fellow star Connor McDavid. The two are among the most potent duos in the entire NHL and still have years of dominance ahead of them.
What This Means
Some might take issue with Edmonton’s overall performance or the fact that Draisaitl is not a great defensive forward but he still produced at an outstanding rate this season. He won the Art Ross Trophy earlier as the league’s top scorer. This is an even more comprehensive appreciation for all that he did. Draisaitl helped lead Edmonton when McDavid missed a handful of games. The season didn’t end the way the team wanted in the playoffs but this is a huge emotional boost going into 2020-21.
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