Why John Tavares Should Win the NHL's Hart Trophy

The NHL released the nominees for the Hart Memorial Trophy, given each season to the "player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team", this past Friday. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin - two former winners of the award - were both nominated this year. The third player? Fourth year forward and New York Islanders alternate captain John Tavares. While the easy choice is to give the award to Crosby or Ovechkin, the right choice is Tavares.

John Tavares (Photo from lastwordonsports.com)

It's very easy to make a case for either Crosby or Ovechkin, and both are deserving candidates. When Crosby had his jaw broken by a Brooks Orpik slapshot at the end of March, he led the league with 56 points. After missing the rest of the season, he still finished tied for third in the league. While those were impressive numbers, it helped negate his campaign for the Hart. With Crosby out of the lineup for April, the Penguins won eight of their final 12 games. His absence showed the depth Pittsburgh has in their organization. So, while he is arguably the best player in the world and valuable to his team, he isn't the MOST valuable.

A similar case can be made for Ovechkin, except he has a stronger claim for the Hart. Washington was floundering during the first half of the lockout-shortened season. The same could be said for Ovechkin, who many thought he wasn't the same player that won two previous Hart trophies. Then, he caught fire and quickly closed the gap in the race for the Maurice Richard Trophy, awarded to the player with the most goals in the league. As he closed that gap, the Capitals closed the gap on the Winnipeg Jets for the division crown. Both eventually overtaking the leader, with Ovechkin leading the league in goals (32 - the only player in the league to reach 30 goals) and the Capitals winning the Southeast Division title.

So, if I make a case like that for Ovechkin, how can I say that Tavares deserves the Hart?

To start, most  preseason predictions found the Islanders in the bottom third of the NHL. There were questions whether they could compete with the rest of the powers in the Atlantic Division. John Tavares made the team relevant this season, leading to their first playoff appearance in six years.

In terms of numbers, the Mississauga-native put some up. Tavares lit the lamp 28 times this season. During his three 82 game seasons, he scored 24, 29, and 31 respectively. While he only had 19 assists this year, he made his line mates better. He assisted on 8 of Matt Moulson's 15 goals. That's not counting all of the goals that Tavares scored assisted by Moulson or other winger Brad Boyes. Taking his offense off of the Islanders would mean they miss the playoffs. Not taking away anything from Moulson or Boyes, but they wouldn't have come close to their numbers without Tavares either setting them up for finishing off their pass.

Now, you might make a similar argument about Ovechkin. But, he has legitimate help on the team. With  Mike Riberio, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green to name a few, the Capitals can still make the playoffs with the roster they have. The Islanders would be in the bottom five without Tavares.

So, when the 2013 NHL Awards take place, John Tavares deserves the Hart Trophy. Whether he wins it or not, that's another matter all together.