seestyle: NHL Hart Trophy race Nathan MacKinnon Taylor Hall hold slim

During the NHL's shootout era (2005-present), a Hart Trophy race has been decided by fewer than 100 votes onfour occasions.Joe Thornton versus JaromirJagr. Henrik Sedin versus Alex Ovechkin. Corey Perry versus Daniel Sedin. Then there wasthat2012-13 showdown that pitted eventual winner Ovechkin against Sidney Crosby against John Tavares against Jonathan Toews, the top four separated by 11 first-place votes in a wild,lockout-abbreviated season.Otherwise, most valuable player has been determined in runaway fashion for the balance of the last two decades. That's going to change this year. JT Realmuto Jersey MORE: No fewer than a half dozen candidates can stake a legitimate claim to hockey's top individual prize in 2017-18. It's a byproduct of an unusually tight scoring race, which feasibly could include at least 10 players with 90 points or moreby season's end for the first time since 2006-07, and alack of consensus on the definition of "most valuable player," with all sides of the argument well representedin this year's grouping.Even in the final weeks of the season, no one has distanced themselves conclusively from the pack, and that'll mean votes galore up and down the board.A case could be made for Winnipeg's Blake Wheeler, Minnesota's Eric Staal, Florida's Aleksander Barkovand so on, but a line has to be drawn somewhere.For the purposes of this articlethat line comes after the top eight. The order below isn't so much a prediction for how the Profe sional Hockey Writers A sociation will vote. Good luck predicting that. No, this isyet another writer (without a vote) weighing in on the free-for-all. Seriously, these eight are separated by the slimmest of margins. Any of them could be MVP in a different year with the seasons they've had. Don't put too much stock into the minutiaeof theirrankings.MORE: 8. Connor McDavid, OilersMcDavid has become the latest poster childfor our age-old "most valuable" vs. "most outstanding" debate a year after ending Edmonton's nagging postseason drought. The Oilers underachieved all season and are back in the lottery by no fault of their captain, whois Pete Rose Jersey chasing another scoring title after cleaningup in the 2016-17 awards races. Doubtle s:he's the world's best player, but his MVP candidacy hinges on the belief a player's value only goes so far if his team finishes a country mile out of playoff contention. What's the difference between mi sing by 15 points with McDavidor 25 without? Is that worthy of MVP consideration? Not this year.7. Brad Marchand, BruinsThe primary knock on Marchandis volume, or the lack thereof. He's mi sed 14 games this season due to injury or suspension. When he's on the ice, only Nathan MacKinnon and EvgeniMalkinaverage more points per 60 minutes than Marchand's4.01. Make no mistake: Boston, for all its talent,isn't near the top of the standings without the polarizing star, but the fact he shares the ice with Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnakis likely to hurt Marchand's"most valuable" case. 6. ClaudeGiroux, FlyersThe Flyers were one of the most erratic teams in the NHL this John Kruk Jersey season, with prolonged winning and losing streaks on their record. Thanks by and large toGiroux's steadying presence, Phillysucce sfully navigated these ebbs and flows intoplayoff position.The Flyers captain isn't going to win any scoring races (his 87 points rank fifth and translate to a 1.18 per-game average, good for sixth), but he's in the mix. And not for nothing, Giroux's willingne s to move to wing has contributed to a . It's Giroux'seven-strength numbers(3.7 goals-for at five-on-fiveper 60 minutes) that palein comparison to others ahead of him on this list.STEELE: 5. AlexOvechkin, CapitalsThe Capitals captain isplaying like a man who desperately wants to ditch the Stanley Cup shortcomings label. At 33, and has some contemplating a reality Sean Rodriguez Jersey where Wayne Gretzky's impo sible career goal-scoring record is now po sible. Not to mention, he's practically willed the Capitals, gutted by the salary cap over the summer, into inside position for their fourth division title in six years.Ovechkin has won the Hart three times previously, but not since 2013. Adding a fourth would place him in the elite company of Gretzky (nine), Gordie Howe (six) and Eddie Shore (four). The hangupthis year seems to be that Ovechkin'sunderlying numbers, specifically at even strength, don't stack up to those ahead of him on this list. His 53 points at five-on-five are well off the pace set by MacKinnon, Kucherov and McDavid. His 8.7 offensive point shares rank behind MacKinnon, Kucherov and Malkin.In other words, Ovechkin's been great, just not quite MVP great by 2017-18 standards. 4.EvgeniMalkin, PenguinsThe greatest travesty of this convoluted MVP race is that there's only room for three finalists and Malkinalmost certainly won't be among them.Blame a sleepy start to the season for the 31-year-old and his Penguinsfor a lack of attention. But as soon as thecalendar flipped, so did the switch that set Malkinoff on Tommy Hunter Jersey one of the season's hottest tears. In 34games thusfar in 2018, Malkinhas 27goals and 55points, includinga five-game stretch in which he binge-scored nine times. He's at 41 goals and 91 pointsand reached 70 games played for the first time in six years. Even Phil Ke selhas received some MVP chatter for a career year because he gets to ride shotgun to Geno.So what's keeping Malkin from a second Hart Trophy? It's probably some combination of Penguins fatigue and the fact Sidney Crosby is around for a full season, which wasn't the case in Larry Andersen Jersey 2011-12. He'll just have to settle for a Conn Smythe when the Penguins go on their pre-ordained run to a Stanley Cup three-peat.Finalists 3. Nikita Kucherov, LightningA rigid interpretation of "most valuable" (ie: the best player on the best team) would makeKucherov, the NHL's season-longscoring leader,an easy choice. The Lightning wingshould be able to hold offMcDavid, Malkin and MacKinnonforthe Art Ro s. That won't translate into an automatic MVP, though.Kucherovdrives the league's best offense, has already set anew career high in points and will score 40 goals for a second consecutive season, but he's done much of it playing alongside fellow star Steven Stamkoson a team that's loaded acro s the board.It would surprise no one if Kucherovtakes home thehardware. All things considered,he deserves it. Except it so happens this year includes two other players who are slightly more deserving, considering their overachieving playoffteams would becaput without them. 2. Taylor Hall, DevilsHall has done more with le s than any player in the NHL. That's fact.The Devils wing