The 2017-18 Hart Memorial Trophy Will be Forever Controversial. Here’s Why

Oct 24, 2021 6:00 AM PST

By Dexter Zinman

The Most Valuable Player Award for the 2017-18 NHL season was controversial when it was initially awarded. Three seasons later, it has become the most controversial award decision in league history. 

The finalists for the award, known as the Hart Memorial Trophy, were Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, and New Jersey Devils left-winger Taylor Hall. 

Fans were ecstatic. Months of “MVP” chants in stadiums and hashtags on social media had finally paid off. 

For MacKinnon, it was career defining. He was a young star whose 39 goals and 58 assists for 97 points (39-58-97) in 74 games were all career highs at the time. His astounding 1.31 points-per-game (PPG) made him the clear favorite of the finalists. 

For Hall, it was vindication. The former 1st overall draft pick had been traded one-for-one for a mid-range defenseman a season prior. He led an otherwise mediocre Devils team with 39-54-93 in 76 games (1.22 PPG). 

For Kopitar, it was recognition. The veteran center was no stranger to awards, having won a Lady Byng Trophy and a Selke Trophy along with two Stanley Cup Championships. After a career year, 35-57-92 in a full 82 game season (1.12 PPG), he was finally considered MVP caliber. 

What was most controversial however wasn’t who was nominated, but who wasn’t. 

Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux finished 4th place in voting, despite the forward leading the league with 68 assists. His 102 total points in 82 games (1.24 PPG) was 2nd best that season.  

Then there’s Connor McDavid, who led the league with 108 points in 82 games (1.32 PPG). He was unquestionably the NHL’s best player, but finished 5th in MVP voting.

The thing about the Hart Trophy is that it isn’t supposed to be awarded to the best player in the league. 

According to the “NHL Trophies” page on the NHL’s official website, “The Hart Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team.” 

Most valuable to his team. Not best player in the league. Sometimes the two overlap, but not always.  

The NHL has another award, The Ted Lindsay Award, to distinguish the difference. “The Ted Lindsay Award is presented annually to the ‘most outstanding player’ in the NHL.” McDavid won it easily that season.   

The Devils, Kings, Avalanche, and Flyers made the playoffs in 2017-18, unquestionably on the backs of their stars’ seasons. 

The Oilers didn’t make the playoffs. Rightly or wrongly, that matters to voters. How valuable to your team were you really if they didn’t even make the playoffs? 

The controversy only grew when the winner was announced. 

Taylor Hall.

Taylor Hall? Seriously? How?

He had 15 less points than McDavid. He was 6th in league scoring to McDavid’s 1st. They’re not even in the same stratosphere of playing ability.  

He had a worse PPG than MacKinnon. Yes MacKinnon only finished 5th in league scoring (still above Hall) but he missed games!  

He had 14 less assists than Giroux. So what if Hall was on pace for 100 points if he played a full 82 games? Giroux did and still finished ahead of him. 

Even Kopitar, who finished 7th in scoring to Hall’s 6th, outperformed Hall as a 200-foot player. Kopitar led all Hart finalists for average short-handed time on ice per game with 2 minutes 10 seconds. He also led all finalists in faceoff wins with 983, 3rd most in the league. 

Hall only won 72 faceoffs. Granted, Hall is a winger, and wingers usually don’t take faceoffs, but its worth noting the most faceoff wins by a winger that season was Bryan Little’s 732. 

Kopitar also won his 2nd Selke Trophy that season, “given to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.” 

Taylor Hall had an amazing season, there’s no denying that. But was he really more valuable than all four of those other players? 

Three seasons later, the question of legacy comes into play, and the answer appears to be no.  

In the past three seasons, Mcdavid has 318 points in 198 games (1.61 PPG). 

MacKinnon had 257 in 199 (1.29 PPG). Giroux had 181 in 205 (0.88 PPG). Kopitar, the best player on an otherwise bottom-feeding Los Angeles Kings team, had 172 in 207 (0.83 PPG). 

Hall scored 122 points in 151 games (0.81 PPG). 

Since 2017-18, MacKinnon has been a Hart Trophy finalist twice, made an NHL All-Star team, and won a Lady Byng Trophy, “given to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” 

Giroux and Kopitar both finished top 20 in Selke voting at least once. Kopitar also had a top 10 finish in Selke voting and Byng voting.   

McDavid has been the best player in the NHL. He’s been a Hart finalist twice, winning once. He’s won another Ted Lindsay. He’s led the league in scoring and made another NHL All-Star Team. 

Hall hasn’t received a single vote. For any award. 

He’s the most controversial Hart winner in NHL history.

Legacy wise, Hall is considered one of the least deserving winners. He simply has not performed up to the standard the Hart Trophy denotes. 

There’s a non-zero chance Hall will join Tommy Anderson (1942), Al Rollins (1954) and Jose Theodore (2002) as the only winners of the award to not make the Hall of Fame.

It might have been better for Hall’s legacy if he didn’t win MVP.  

Hall’s selection (and more so McDavid’s snub) was so controversial voters publicly reconsidered how they voted for the award. Every Hart winner since Hall has also led the league in scoring.

In every league, awards lead to discussions. It’s infrequent that a single award has so much weight to it several years later. 

Fans of the other finalists have hills to die on that their guy should have won. In some ways, statistics back them all up.