Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl became the first German player to ever win the NHL’s MVP, taking the 2019-20 Hart Trophy. This capped quite a haul for Draisaitl, who ran away with the Art Ross Trophy (110 points) and also won the player-voted answer to the Hart, taking the 2019-20 Ted Lindsay Award.
Draisaitl finished first ahead of Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) and Artemi Panarin (New York Rangers).
Along with becoming the first German player to win the Hart Trophy, Draisaitl became the fourth Oilers player to nab the award. Draisaitl joined Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Connor McDavid (who won in 2016-17).
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Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl wins 2020 Hart Trophy over MacKinnon, Panarin
Draisaitl ended the truncated 2019-20 season with 110 points. Not only did he lead all scorers, but Draisaitl was the only player to cross the 100-point threshold. Draisaitl’s Oilers teammate Connor McDavid finished second in scoring with 97 points.
Panarin, meanwhile, tied David Pastrnak for third in scoring with 95 points. MacKinnon ranked as the only other player above 90 points in 2019-20, collecting 93.
While Panarin and MacKinnon managed large edges in points scored over their next-highest-scoring teammates, some will ding Draisaitl for the boost he received playing with McDavid. Even so, Draisaitl showed that he can carry his own line at times, and put up bonkers numbers. Managing 110 points in an 82-game season is already impressive in this tight-checking era. Doing it in 71 games is pretty flabbergasting.
The Hart Trophy debate among members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association would have been interesting to hear, as MacKinnon wasn’t that far behind Draisaitl:
It’s also interesting to see Connor Hellebuyck received some -- though not a ton -- of Hart Trophy votes.
NHL announces All-Star teams, All-Rookie teams
Naturally, Draisaitl also made the 2019-20 NHL First All-Star Team. With Draisaitl taking the center spot, Nathan MacKinnon actually settled for a second-team nod, with David Pastrnak sliding in at RW.
Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck, Norris winner Roman Josi, and Norris runner-up John Carlson joined Draisaitl, MacKinnon, and Panarin on the 2019-20 NHL First All-Star Team:
MacKinnon joined Brad Marchand and Nikita Kucherov as the forwards on the 2019-20 Second All-Star Team. Tuukka Rask got the nod as the goalie, while Victor Hedman and Alex Pietrangelo made up the two defensemen.
Finally, the 2019-20 NHL All-Rookie Team is an impressive group. You almost wish they would have listed more than the usual two defensemen, as Calder Trophy winner Cale Makar made it alongside Quinn Hughes. Elvis Merzlikins got the goalie spot, while Nick Suzuki, Victor Olofsson, and Dominik Kubalik took the forward selections.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.