NHL Power Rankings: Identifying the MVP for each team

The Hart Trophy race has been a wrap since about 12 hours after Connor McDavid laced up his skates for the first morning skate of the 2022-23 season.

There’s just zero drama around who will win the MVP in a season where McDavid will almost certainly become our first 150-point player since Mario Lemieux put up 161 in 1995-96.

There’s only one McDavid and only one team lucky enough to have him. But what about the 31 other burghs in the NHL? We’re in a golden era for top-flight talent in hockey, so for the final regular-season power ranking of the year — we’ll have a special playoff edition to kick off the second season — let’s identify a team MVP for every club in the league.

1. Boston Bruins (60-12-5) There’s no shortage of candidates on a team that wins 60 games, but it’s hard not to give the nod to 56-goal man David Pastrnak.

2. Edmonton Oilers (47-23-9) When McDavid wins his third Hart in June, he’ll have one more than Sidney Crosby and the same number as Alex Ovechkin, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr.

3. Carolina Hurricanes (50-18-9) The answer is probably do-everything centre Sebastian Aho, but serious honorable mention to first-year Cane Brent Burns, who plays in every situation, averages more ice per night than any other Hurricane and could well register 60 points this season.

4. Vegas Golden Knights (48-22-8) Alex Pietrangelo had to miss nearly a month of action to be with his family while his four-year-old daughter endured a terrifying health scare. Thankfully, the outlook for young Evelyn brightened considerably just before Christmas and her dad got back to playing fantastic hockey. Pietrangelo’s 0.75 points-per-game clip this year is the best of his highly distinguished career.

5. Colorado Avalanche (46-24-6) Mikko Rantanen is one tally away from his first 50-goal season, he’s tied with Pastrnak for the most even-strength goals in the league (38), his possession numbers are marvelous and on a team devastated by injuries to major players, he hasn’t missed a contest.

6. New York Rangers (46-21-11) Adam Fox plays more minutes than every other Ranger and thrives in all situations.

7. Toronto Maple Leafs (46-21-10) Mitch Marner set a new Leaf record with a 23-game point streak earlier this year, but his game is so much more than offence. No. 16 just continues to get better as a puck-hounding menace who can do magical things with the disc once he strips it from you.

8. New Jersey Devils (49-21-8) If this was an actual weighted vote, the first-place finisher might win by a single point. Dougie Hamilton could finish with more points than every defenceman not named Erik Karlsson; Nico Hischier has officially entered the conversation about the very best two-way centres in the league, but how do we not give the nod to offensive wizard Jack Hughes?

9. Los Angeles Kings (45-23-10) Nearly 10 years after the Kings won their second Cup in 2014, this is still a conversation centred on Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. We’ll give it to the latter, whose 26:19 of ice per game is second (and just seconds) behind only Cale Makar (26:23).

10. Minnesota Wild (44-23-10) He hasn’t even played half the Wild’s games, but Filip Gustavsson has the second-best five-on-five save percentage in the league (.940) this year. That’s good enough for us, especially with scoring dynamo Kirill Kaprizov sidelined by an injury.

11. Dallas Stars (42-21-14) Oh you thought last year was Jason Robertson’s breakout? Please. The California kid is already at 101 points and has entrenched himself in the discussion about the best wingers in the game.

12. Tampa Bay Lightning (45-27-6) Brayden Point is two goals away from the quietest 50-goal campaign in the league. He’s the all-situations heartbeat of the Lightning.

13. Seattle Kraken (43-26-8) Pending-RFA Vince Dunn is having, perhaps, the biggest breakout campaign in the league. What a season from the 26-year-old, who has more points (44) than every D-man in the league save Erik Karlsson (45) since Jan. 1. His previous career high is 35.

14. Florida Panthers (40-31-7) Matthew Tkachuk was so instantly at the centre of all things Panther that it’s almost hard to believe this is still just his first season there.

15. New York Islanders (39-30-9) Ilya Sorokin was getting buzz as a Hart candidate at different times of the season. He’s hands-down the MVP of an Islanders club that would not be in a playoff position without him.

16. Calgary Flames (37-27-15) Somehow, some way the Flames are still very much in the hunt for a playoff spot and the two biggest reasons why have to be Tyler Toffoli up front and Rasmus Anderson on the blue line. (This is our one co-MVP cop out).

17. Winnipeg Jets (43-32-3) Josh Morrissey is having a Norris-worthy season, but Connor Hellebuyck is the Jets’ MVP.

18. Pittsburgh Penguins (38-30-10) Sidney Crosby is doing all he can, but it still may not be enough to drag the Pens into the playoffs.

19. Nashville Predators (39-30-8) Only Connor Hellebuyck has played more minutes in the crease this season than Juuse Saros.

20. St. Louis Blues (36-35-7) It’s easy to forget Jordan Kyrou actually got off to a slow start, with just five points in his first 13 contests this season. He’s got 33 goals and 67 points in 62 outings since.

21. Buffalo Sabres (37-32-7) A late-season injury probably cost Tage Thompson a shot at 50 goals, but he may still have more highlight-reel tallies than anybody — including 97 — in the league this year.

22. Ottawa Senators (37-34-7) Oh man, is Tim Stützle starting to look like the steal of the 2020 draft. That said, for at least one more season, we’ll give Brady Tkachuk the nod because he brings so much emotion to the Sens every single night.

23. Detroit Red Wings (35-33-9) Between tough contract negotiations and saying good-bye to cherished teammates at the deadline, it hasn’t been an easy year for

Dylan Larkin. Still, the Wings captain is tracking the first point-per-game campaign of his career.

24. Vancouver Canucks (34-36-7) Okay, this is cop-out No. 2; we just can’t pick between Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.

25. Philadelphia Flyers (29-35-13) There have been a lot of losses in Philly this year — and there would have been even more without Carter Hart doing all he can in the crease.

26. Washington Capitals (34-34-9) Alex Ovechkin, who missed time after the death of his father, scored at a 49-goal pace this season. He’s still coming for you, Wayne.

27. San Jose Sharks (22-39-16) Erik Karlsson is as certain to win the Norris as McDavid is to win the Hart. The DEFENCEMNAN is only one even-strength point behind McDavid (72 to 71) for the NHL lead.

28. Arizona Coyotes (27-38-13) Clayton Keller became an elite-level scoring winger in the second half of this season, full stop.

29. Montreal Canadiens (30-42-6) I’m still curious to see what captain Nick Suzuki is at his NHL apex. But there’s no doubt ‘Slick Nick’ is the Habs’ MVP in this injury-demolished season.

30. Columbus Blue Jackets (24-45-8) Well, we certainly know how valuable Zach Werenski is to this team because look how it fared without him. It’s understandably completely buried under more grim headlines in Columbus, but Johnny Gaudreau is nearly still a point-per-game player in his first year there (71 in 75).

31. Chicago Blackhawks (25-46-6) You know what, come on down, Taylor Raddysh. He’s the only Hawk to appear in every game this year and has already nearly doubled the 11 goals he scored as a rookie last season with a 20-goal sophomore campaign.

32. Anaheim Ducks (23-45-10) Cam Fowler hasn’t missed a game this year, is averaging over 24 minutes a night and set a new personal best with 44 points.