By : Mike Rifkin
As we come down the stretch of the NHL season one of the most interesting debates is who should win the Hart Trophy as league MVP. There are cases to be made for a lot of players including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers, Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs, Sidney Crosby of the Penguins among others. But the front runner should be Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers.
In what was the game of the night Tuesday the Florida Panthers came back from a 5-1 deficit to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-6 in overtime. Huberdeau led the way with two goals including the game winner and three assists and in the process became the first Panther ever to have 100 points in a season. Huberdeau currently sits second in the NHL with 102 points only behind McDavid. McDavid has Leon Draisaitl who sits third with 101 points, Matthews who has 54 goals and 95 points has Mitch Marner who is sixth with 88 ponts. Aleksander Barkov is the next closest Panther to Huberdeau at 18th in the league in scoring.
Something else that should be factored into Huberdeau’s case is that he has played all 70 games the Panthers have played. Auston Matthews has missed five games and the Leafs are 4-1 without him. But the most important thing is that the Panthers are in first place and if they win the Atlantic Division I don’t know how you can deny Jonathon Huberdeau the Hart Trophy.
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