Did you know that the 1993-94 Rangers of the Presidents Trophy did not have a player in the top five in voting for the Hart Trophy? Adam Graves, eighth, and Mike Richter, tenth, were the only two Blueshirts to receive a vote for the MVP award captured by Sergei Fedorov of Detroit.
Or that, in the 12 seasons from 2007-08 to 2018-19, the Rangers had only three players who received as much as a single vote in the vote? They were Henrik Lundqvist, who came in third place in 2011-12, 14 in 2010-11, 17 in 2015-16 and 23 in 2009-10 and 2012-13; Marian Gaborik, who was 16th in 2011-12 and 17th in 2009-10; and Rick Nash, seventh in 2014-15.
But this is 2019-20, yes, still, and the Blueshirts not only have an MVP to get votes, they also have a finalist. His name, of course, is Artemi Panarin, who was the accelerator in his team’s development and escalation into a legitimate playoff contender a year or two before ETA.
“I’m really amazed, to be honest,” Panarin said via interpreter Nick Bobrov of his revealed status as a finalist on Tuesday alongside Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl and Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado. Even after the season ended, I never thought I would be nominated for anything.
“It is very important to me and very surprising to me, but it is much more important to my family and loved ones.”
Ballots are inside, issued by selected PHWA members by June 15. There are all kinds of numbers, traditional, peripheral, and even esoteric, that can be cited as evidence in good faith to support the vote of any one of the three players, who are also finalists for the NHLPA Ted Lindsay Award for Outstanding Player in the League According to voted for by his peers.
For example, Panarin: 32 goals, 63 assists and 95 points in 69 games, good for fourth place in Art Ross’ scoring race. Plus-36, second best in the NHL. A better NHL goal share of 66.37 percent five-on-five and a 70.72 percent win overall for players with at least 1,000 minutes.
Russian Rockette led the league in strength points and assists. He was at 128 of the 233 goals scored by the Rangers, or 54.9 percent. Those are the numbers, or some of them. But Panarin, of course, was more than numbers.
The 28-year-old brought an easy sense of excellence to the room along with a captivating personality. He raised his teammates, even by osmosis. Elite players thrive around their peers. Mika Zibanejad’s rise was not just by chance.
Draisaitl led the league in scoring with 110 points (43-67), 13 better than runner-up Connor McDavid, with whom Draisaitl played 53 percent of the time with five-on-five. MacKinnon finished fifth in Art Ross’ career with 93 points (38-55).
But MacKinnon’s Avalanche finished second in the West, two points behind St. Louis, and Draisaitl’s Oilers were well in the hand of a playoff spot, fifth in the West when the season erupted, while Panarin’s Ranar They were looking for a place but looking out at and they were 18 overall by winning percentage.
He can argue that a team’s history should have no relation to the award, that Hart should go to the “best player”, as if there was an objective and accepted metric measure of that. But team success has always mattered in Hart’s vote.
Only four players in NHL history have won the non-playoff team award, Mario Lemieux was last in 1987-88, along with Rangers’ Andy Bathgate of 1958-59, Chicago goalkeeper Al Rollins in 1953-54 (12-47 -7 with a GAA of 3.21 for a team that finished in last place, 37 points for fifth place and 43 playoff points) and Brooklyn American defender Tom Anderson in 1941-42.
So did Panarin get demerits from the fact that the Rangers didn’t rank in the traditional top 16, or did he gain support due to his importance in improving his lottery fodder team to the dispute? The Blueshirts were not in the playoffs at the time of the vote, but they could have won the Cup by the time the winner was announced.
A Ranger has won the Hart four times, the least amount of any Original Six club. Mark Messier won it in 1991-92, Bathgate in 1958-59, goalkeeper Chuck Rayner in 1949-50, and center Buddy O’Connor in 1947-48.
Panarin, who has a chance to turn five, spent part of Monday’s day off with former Ranger Alex Kovalev. No. 27, a pilot, took Panarin for a spin on his plane.
“[Alex] He’s definitely a great pilot, but I brought a parachute just in case, “Panarin said.” Thank God I didn’t need it. “
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