George Richards, FHN Publisher
SUNRISE — Andrew Brunette has not been shy about talking about his players when it comes to individual NHL awards and he has especially been banging the Jonathan Huberdeau drum for the Hart Trophy, which goes to the league MVP, pretty hard.
On Tuesday night, after Huberdeau extended his scoring streak to 12 games with his sixth game-winning goal of what is a career season, Brunette said “it’s probably a shame he hasn’t been talked about enough for the Hart Trophy.’’
That simply is not correct.
Plenty of folks around the NHL have talked about Huberdeau being a legitimate MVP contender this season.
Most of those conversations revolve around how Huberdeau will not win the Hart, sure, but they’re still talking about him.
As well they should.
Jonathan Huberdeau is a candidate to be the NHL’s Most Valuable Player.
But will he win?
Can he win?
Should he win?
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In talking about Huberdeau’s candidacy, one should start with the favorites to win the award.
Huberdeau, if the season were to end right now, would probably finish among the top three.
The favorite is Toronto’s Auston Matthews as he has evolved into a dominating scorer — he currently set the Maple Leafs’ franchise record for goals in a season with 58 (and counting) with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Rangers’ goalie Igor Shesterkin also in the mix.
Of course, the season is not coming to a close today; Huberdeau has nine more games to continue padding the best statistical season of his career.
So do the others.
Coming into Wednesday night’s games, McDavid leads the NHL in scoring with 108 points; Huberdeau is second, three points back.
With 28 goals, Huberdeau is tied for 40th in the league — and third on the Panthers — although he leads the NHL with 77 assists.
If Huberdeau were to get 14 more assists in the next nine games, he would hit 91 which would put him into the top 25 for a single season all-time.
The last player in the NHL to hit 90 assists in a season was Joe Thornton, now of the Panthers, who had 92 in 2006-07; Jumbo Joe had 96 the season before.
Will that be enough to put him past the likes or Matthews or Shesterkin?
Perhaps.
He is putting up staggering numbers, setting the Florida single-season scoring mark with 14 games left on the schedule.
The way the Panthers are playing right now is being watched by those around the league each and every night.
Huberdeau is a driver of the Panthers’ success — although with so much talent on one team, sometimes he does get lost in the shuffle.
Some have also suggested that Sasha Barkov, who missed a substantial amount of time earlier in the season, is Florida’s best player on a nightly basis. Barkov, for what it’s worth, is in the running for his second consecutive Selke Trophy.
It cannot be discounted how much Huberdeau plays a factor in the Panthers’ success each and every game.
Huberdeau not only leads the Panthers in scoring (and does so by a lot), he has had some of his biggest games when the spotlight has been on his team.
Last week, for instance, he helped fuel the Panthers’ incredible comeback against the Maple Leafs.
While Matthews did not score any of Toronto’s six goals, Huberdeau not only scored twice in the 7-6 overtime win, but he ended with five points.
There were a lot of potential Hart Trophy voters watching that game who may now view Huberdeau in a different light than before.
”If he’s not (a candidate) he should be right now,” Barkov said after the Toronto win. “I think he has been unbelievable. He has been leading this team the whole season. He takes no nights off at all. He is solid every time he shows up and does his thing. It is incredible how good he is and how he does those things. It’s a lot of fun to see.’’
Said Claude Giroux: “Every night he brings it. He plays the right way, makes a lot of plays. He makes everyone around him better. He is feeling it right now and we’re just trying to follow him. It’s more than just the points; it’s how he plays offensively and defensively. People who know the game know defensively, he is a great checker.”
Regardless of whether Huberdeau wins the Panthers’ first-ever Hart Trophy, it has still been a season to remember.
And, just being in the conversation this year is nothing to discount, either.
Pavel Bure is the closest Panther to winning the award, finishing third in voting in his incredible 1999-2000 season.
“Night after night,” Brunette said, “he continues to amaze you. … He’s a great player on a great team right now. He should have a little more recognition in my opinion.”