A 60-goal season in hand, Maple Leafs star center Auston Matthews was named one of the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player.
Matthews joins Michael Bunting as the second Maple Leaf nominated for an end-of-season award in voting by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Assocation. Bunting, his left winger, is a finalist for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.
It’s not lock that Matthews — the Rocket Richard Trophy winner for leading the league in goals — will win what would be his first Hart. Oilers captain Connor McDavid — who won the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in points — is also up for the award. McDavid won the Hart last year.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, one of the three finalists for the Vezina as the NHL’s top goalie, is the other finalist.
Matthews posted career highs in goals (60), assists (46) and points (106) in 73 games to power the Maple Leafs to a fourth-place finish in the league standings as well as franchise records for wins (54) and points ( 115).
Matthews became the 21st different player in NHL history — and first in a decade — to register 60 goals in a season, breaking Rick Vaive’s Toronto record (54 in 1981-82) and Jimmy Carson’s record for US-born players (55 in 1987- 88). He did so by averaging 0.82 goals per game — the highest rate by any player in a single campaign (minimum: 50 games played) since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 (0.99) — and scoring 19.23 per cent of the Maple Leafs’ total goals (60 of 312).
Matthews finished second in Hart voting in 2020-21, and is seeking to become the third Toronto player to win the award and first since Ted Kennedy in 1954-55.
McDavid established career highs in goals (44), assists (79) and points (123) in 80 games to lead the Oilers (49-27-6, 104 points) to their most wins and points in a season since 1986-87 ( 50-24-6, 106 points).
Shesterkin compiled a 36-13-4 record, 2.07 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and six shutouts in 53 appearances to help the Rangers finish second in the Metropolitan Division with 110 points — their third-best season in franchise history behind only 2014-15 (113 points) and 1993-94 (112 points).
The three finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award will be unveiled Friday.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Torstar account holder. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free)