Auston Matthews Has Played Too Good This Season To Not Win The MVP
The NHL is loaded with a variety of talented players this year such as Johnny Gaudreau, Patrick Kane, or even Jack Eichel, but one player has to win the MVP. The MVP race is always a very tough award to win since you are competing against all three positions, goalies, forwards, and defenseman.
Connor Mcdavid won the award last year and is still very much in contention to win the award again this year, but I think there may be a new top contender, Auston Matthews.
Auston Matthews Statistics
Auston Matthews who is entering his sixth season in the NHL, playing for the Toronto Maple leafs, has taken the league by force this season. Matthews has always been a game changer and has never had a problem putting the puck in the back of the net. Matthews has tallied 253 goals and 190 assists for a total of 443 points in 398 games played in his career.
Matthews this season is up for the league MVP and personally I think he deserves it with the numbers he has recorded this season. Matthews currently has a career high 54 goals and 38 assists for 92 points this season in only 64 games played. Matthews has contributed to the Maple Leafs success and has pushed the team to a different level this season.
Now I understand that there are other great players who are MVP candidates such as Johnny Gadreau, Igor Shesterkin, or Connor Mcdavid, but Matthews I believe has contributed to his team’s success the most this season.
Matthews currently leads the league in goals this season with an absurd 54 goals and what is better than a player that can put the puck in the net every night?
Matthews has also sparked the Maple Leafs offense this season which has transformed into one of the best offenses in the league, they currently sit in second place for goals for this season with 262 goals in 69 games.
Why Matthews Deserves The MVP
Matthews should win the MVP this season and here are several reasons why. Matthews currently leads the league in goals, meaning that this season he is the best goal scorer. Every team in the league would love to have a player like Matthews who can consistently score every night. Matthews also has 12 games where he has scored more than 2 goals and on top of the goalscoring he can also pass the puck as he has recorded 38 assists this season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs without Matthews would be in complete shambles. Just like in Edmonton who has McDavid to spark the offense, Matthews is that game changer in Toronto. Matthews on top of the excellent season he has been having, he just tied the Maple Leafs franchise record for goals scored in a single season.
Matthews has also shown his excellence in the defensive zone as well as he has recorded a very impressive +17 plus/minus rating this season.
Matthews, who is currently the favorite to win the award this season, does have some competition and will need to continue to produce down the final stretch if he wants to claim the league MVP. Matthews currently sits at +170 odds to win the award, but goalie Igor Shesterkin, and forward Connor Mcdavid are not far behind.
Shesterkin currently sits at +400 odds to win, while Mcdavid sits at +450 odds to win. All of these players have had phenomenal seasons and each contributes to their teams in different ways, but none of them can contribute to their teams success more than Matthews has this season.
Auston Matthews deserves to win the MVP this season and I hope he will be the one to claim the award when the season is finished.
If you are looking for dark horses who have an outside chance at awards, Hockey Takes is the place for you.
