Honestly, bias aside, I think McDavid has a good shot of getting it, and he probably will get it, but I don’t think he should. I know a lot of oilers fans would say McDavid, or Draisaitl, but I think there are others that deserve it more than they do. Those guys are, Igor Shesterkin, Johnny Gaudreau, and Austin Matthews.
Igor Shesterkin: Shesterkin has 93 games under his belt, and we have never seen him play this well before. Last season he had an impressive .916SV%, and the year before a very good .932SV%. This year, he is continuing his good stat career, and he has a .933SV%! I believe without Shesterkin’s great work ethic, and without his very good numbers he is putting up, the rangers wouldn’t be this good at all. I think the rangers would be close to the bottom. I know guys like Fox, Kreider have stepped up, and took their game to the next level, but Shesterkin has done the same thing, but in a major way! With how he is carrying this team, he should be one of the finalists.
Johnny Gaudreau: The Calgary flames did not play well last year in the north division. Last year, Gaudreau got 49 points in 56 games with a +2. Now he has 95 points in 69 games with a +50! We have never seen this before from Gaudreau. He also had a 99 point season, and right now he is blowing that out of the water! This is very impressive especially for a small forward, as they are forgotten a lot of the time, and they get targeted by a lot of the other teams players. Without him, I don’t think Calgary would be first in the pacific this season. They would be in a playoff spot, but not as good. With that being said, this is why he should be one of the finalists.
Austin Matthews: Some people believe I hate Matthews, just because he plays for the leafs. Yes I don’t like the leafs, just like I don’t like the flames, but Matthews is a good player and you can’t dislike a player just because he plays for a team you don’t like. Last year, he played very well with the leafs at the top of the north, he posted 66 points, 41 goals in 52 games. That is very good, and just like the oilers are with McDavid, the leafs wouldn’t be as good without Matthews. He helps get that team to succeed, and it is funny, but sad that they can’t make it passed the first round. I believe if Matthews plays this well next year, and they upgrade they can finally get out of that first round. This year, Matthews is hungry for that second round, and hungrier than ever! He wants to finally get to the second round for the first time in his career, and is showing that with his 95 points, 54 goals, +12 in 65 games. 54 goals is insane, especially since he only played 65 games this season. I hope he crushes it and goes for 60 goals! We don’t want Ovechkin to win the Richard trophy anymore.. and instead, we want a new young face this year! I believe Draisaitl, and Matthews will be fighting for that award for years to come and it will be entertaining. Bringing two awards to Toronto may show the fans, and the roster that he wants to win now! With that being said, that’s why I put him on he list, and he should be a finalist!