The NHL officially passes the halfway point of the 2024-25 campaign on Thursday night and it feels like we all better strap in for what could be a wild second act.
Alex Ovechkin is 23 snipes away from becoming the greatest goal-scorer of all-time; both of the Canucks’ top centres are being mentioned in trade rumours and two guys tied for third in the scoring race are pending-UFAs.
Beyond the ‘Gr8 Chase,’ the Elias Pettersson/J.T. Miller drama and contract-extension watch for Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen, there’s also the question of whether Nathan MacKinnon — who leads the league with 66 points — could become just the third back-to-back Hart Trophy winner in nearly 30 years and the first to claim consecutive MVPs since Ovechkin nabbed his second-straight in 2009.
Of course, there’s also all kinds of playoff chase intrigue — six points separate seven teams vying for two Eastern Conference wild card spots — a host of non-Canucks trade rumours to monitor between now and the March 7 deadline and the first best-on-best international hockey we’ve had in nearly 10 years in the form of the 4 Nations Face-Off in mid-February.
Today, though, we’ll focus on micro-MVP talk and use this week’s power rankings to identify the first-half most valuable player for all 32 clubs.
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1. Vegas Golden Knights (28-9-3) Even understanding how trying the Buffalo chapter of Eichel’s career was at times, it’s crazy to think he’s only received Hart votes in one season, when he finished eighth in balloting after the 2019-20 campaign. That’s also the only year he received any votes to be a first- or second-team all-star. That’s all going to change in a big way this season.
2. Los Angeles Kings (23-10-5) Adrian Kempe is tracking a 40-goal season and plays in all situations, but it’s hard to say anyone other than first-line centre and captain Anze Kopitar — the team’s leading scorer with 39 points — is the MVP of the Kings. Kopitar can become the first player since Joe Sakic in 2006-07 to record 82 points in an age-37 season (though another guy born in August, 1987 who we’ll talk about later can say the same).
3. Washington Capitals (27-10-4) Honestly, the Caps probably have more feel-good individual stories going than any team in the league. But has anybody been more vital to the team’s surprising success than first-year Capital Logan Thompson. Among goalies who’ve played 20 games, Thompson has the league’s best goals-saved above expected/60 mark.
4. Edmonton Oilers (25-12-3)
Leee-on him! When you’re not stroooong. And he’ll get a goal!
Sorry. No apologies necessary from Leon Draisaitl, though, the NHL’s leading goal-scorer who could win his first-career Rocket Richard and second Hart in 2025.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs (27-13-2) Mitch Marner has 97- and 99-point seasons on the books, but he’s tracking 113 this season.
6. Winnipeg Jets (28-12-2) Connor Hellebuyck finished sixth in Hart voting last year, could finish just as high or higher this time out and has been absolute nails since inking his big extension ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.
7. Minnesota Wild (26-11-4) Kirill Kaprizov hasn’t played since the final game before Christmas and still has 13 more points than anybody on the Wild and as many five-on-five points (30) as anyone in the league.
8. Dallas Stars (25-13-1) Miro Heiskanen plays in all situations and sees three more minutes of ice time per night than anybody on the Stars.
9. Colorado Avalanche (25-16-1) Nathan MacKinnon has not one, but two five-point games on the books this season. What a player.
10. Florida Panthers (25-15-2) Sam Reinhart has nine more goals (23) and points (47) than any other Panther while playing PP and PK for the Cats.
11. Carolina Hurricanes (24-15-2) Martin Necas has cooled from a scorching start, notching just one goal and four points in his past 13 outings. Sebastian Aho — the team’s point-per-game, all-situations No. 1 centre — is Carolina’s MVP.
12. New Jersey Devils (25-15-3) Let’s give Jesper Bratt some shine. The guy hasn’t missed a game since 2021-22, plays in all situations for the Devils and is tied with Jack Hughes for the team scoring lead at 48 points.
13. Tampa Bay Lightning (21-15-2) Brayden Point is scoring at a 58-goal clip; Victor Hedman is the heartbeat of the club; Andrei Vasilevskiy is having a solid bounce-back year; Brandon Hagel hasn’t missed a game while playing in all situations and scoring at a 93-point pace. But how do you not give the nod to Nikita Kucherov, who could post a second straight 130-point year?
14. Montreal Canadiens (19-18-3) Nick Suzuki is doing it all, Lane Hutson is exploding expectations as a rookie on the back end and Sam Montembeault — despite imperfect numbers — has been Montreal’s saviour on more than one occasion. That said, Cole Caufield’s 15 goals at five-on-five lead the NHL and that makes him the MVP of a team that — especially when Patrik Laine isn’t in the lineup — still needs all the finish it can find.
15. Calgary Flames (19-14-7) We’re only calling one freshman his team’s MVP and it’s Flames stopper Dustin Wolf with his .914 save percentage.
16. Ottawa Senators (19-17-3) Linus Ullmark was cementing his case before getting hurt, so Brady Tkachuk — on a 38-goal pace and tied with Josh Norris for the team lead with four game-winning tallies — is Ottawa’s MVP.
17. Columbus Blue Jackets (18-17-6) Only Cale Makar (49) has more points among blue-liners than Zach Werenski (46) and nobody in the league averages more ice than his 26:32 per night during this glistening gem of a season from a guy who — perhaps most critically — hasn’t missed a game this year after several injury-marred campaigns. *Knocks on wood*
18. Detroit Red Wings (18-18-4) Moritz Seider is one of eight players in the NHL averaging over 25 minutes per game and the defenceman is basically tracking a 50-point year.
19. Vancouver Canucks (18-12-10) If Quinn Hughes can find a way to guide the Canucks into the playoffs in this churning sea of a season, he might push deep into the Hart Trophy race.
20. Boston Bruins (20-18-5) In a place where few top-end players are having the season they likely envisioned, Charlie McAvoy and his 67-point pace is the exception. He remains a trusted workhorse for the B’s, playing nearly three more minutes a game than any other Boston skater.
21. Anaheim Ducks (17-18-5) Our one cheat. Lukas Dostal and John Gibson are first (Gibson) and third (Dostal) in goals save above expected/60 in the NHL among tenders with at least 15 games played. They are the Ducks co-MVPs.
22. St. Louis Blues (19-19-4) Defenceman Colton Parayko is on pace for a career-best 45 points while seeing more ice per night (24:32) than any other Blue.
23. Pittsburgh Penguins (17-17-8) A few players have helped get Pittsburgh’s season back on the rails, but 37-year-old Sidney Crosby is the constant. He’s on pace for 86 points.
24. Utah Hockey Club (17-16-7) Only Blue Jackets’ Werenski sees more nightly ice than Mikhail Sergachev (25:52) in his first year with the franchise. His play has been beyond vital to a team that lost blue-liners Sean Durzi and John Marino to long-term injuries.
25. Philadelphia Flyers (17-19-2) Travis Konecny is playing more per night than all but 11 forwards in the NHL (20:55) and is on pace for a spectacular 90-point season.
26. New York Rangers (18-20-2) In a bleak year, Artemi Panarin is still scoring at over a 90-point pace.
27. New York Islanders (15-18-7) Anders Lee is somehow scoring at a 37-goal clip in this miserable Islanders season.
28. Buffalo Sabres (15-21-5) Alex Tuch plays more than any Sabres forward (19:30), could hit 30 goals and still gives a meaningful effort every single time out.
29. Nashville Predators (13-21-7) Just by default, it has to be Roman Josi and the 25:04 he plays every game. That’s almost four more minutes than any other Pred.
30. Seattle Kraken (17-21-3) Joey Daccord hasn’t played since the final game before Christmas, but his .916 save percentage through a third of December is enough to give him the pretend trophy on this spiralling team.
31. San Jose Sharks (13-24-6) It’s tempting to say Macklin Celebrini — and he’ll surely end the year as San Jose’ MVP — but the 18-year-old missed 10 games and Mikael Granlund has played more per game (21:09) than all but nine forwards in the league and has 35 points in 41 outings.
32. Chicago Blackhawks (14-25-2) Connor Bedard’s eight-game point streak is enough to take the honours. Suddenly, an 80-point year in his age-19 season is completely in play.
