The first crack in the nearly decade-and-a-half-long Crosby-McDavid dynasty has appeared.
Nathan MacKinnon was selected by TSN as the No. 1 player in the NHL midseason.
And why isn’t he?
MacKinnon has seven goals and 11 points in his past three games and enters the NHL All-Star break on a 13-game point streak.
Colorado’s standout center received seven first-place votes in a poll among 10 TSN experts who were asked to rank the NHL’s top 25 players based on first-half performance.
McKinnon has been comparing apples to oranges (during the season and preseason), but in the minds of voters, McKinnon has usurped that spot. Connor McDavid – who received the remaining three first-place votes – was named the Most Valuable Player in Hockey. At least for now.
(Historical note: Hockey’s original puck was frozen horse manure, also known as road apples.)
In October, McDavid was ranked No. 1 in the preseason player rankings for the seventh consecutive year. After this, Sidney Crosby held that honor for seven consecutive years.
But the consensus is that MacKinnon was the most spectacular player in the NHL from start to finish during the unofficial first half of the season leading up to the All-Star Game. Even if he wasn’t the highest scorer.
Tampa Bay’s thoughtful player, Nikita Kucherov, third in the TSN poll, didn’t seem to break a sweat, scoring a league-leading 85 points in 49 games.
McKinnon has 84 points in 49 games and plays his game with a fiery intensity that might best be compared to the legendary Rocket Richard.
Either Kucherov or MacKinnon has been the NHL’s leading scorer every day for more than two months since Nov. 23.
Lightning fans may wonder why Kucherov ended up third on the midseason list after outscoring McDavid by 18 points (85-67) with just six games left.
Mr. McKinnon secured the first place with 470 votes, but the difference between Mr. McDavid and Mr. Kucherov was just two votes (423 to 421).
That he is rated higher than Kucherov speaks to McDavid’s outsized impact on the ice — even though Kucherov is on pace for 142 points, McDavid’s 2022-23 season memorial This is only 11 points less than the monumental 153 points.
McDavid bounced back from a slow start to lead Edmonton on a 16-game winning streak, the second longest in NHL history. He has eight points, including four goals in the past three games.
Scoring has been even more difficult for McDavid this season. He has 20 points in 43 games and is on pace for 37 points in 80 games, but that’s down significantly from his career and league-high 64 points last season.
Crosby McDavid A final thought about the Ice Age: The Ice Age isn’t over yet.
Crosby is 11th in the midseason rankings.
At 36, he is three years older than anyone in the top 25 and has scored 27 goals and is on pace for 48 goals.
Becoming the oldest 50-point scorer in NHL history is still within reach.
The remaining top-tier players are:
– No.5 Cale Makar and No.6 Quinn Hughes is on pace to become the first two defensemen to score 100 points in the same season, with a one-vote difference in the TSN poll
– No.7 David Pastrnak is heading into his second season of over 50 goals and over 100 points. He was one of two players ranked in the preseason poll as of midseason. The other is Victor Hedman (23rd place).
– No. 8 Miko Rantanen is on the verge of joining Teemu Selanne (684 goals, 1.00 points per game in his career) and Jari Kurri (601 goals, 1.12 points per game) as the most efficient scorer in Finnish history. Near at hand. Rantanen has averaged 1.07 points per game over his career.
– No. 9 Winnipeg franchise player Connor Hellebuyck has been the backbone of the Jets’ shocking rise this season, winning his second Vezina Trophy on the inside track.
– No. 10, restricted free agency approaching Elias Pettersson is about to earn a huge salary.He is on pace for career highs in goals (45) and points (107)
Other notable results include:
– of Vancouver Thatcher Demko (18th) is the only goaltender other than Hellebuyck to finish in the top 25.
– Colorado has 3 players in the top 8 (MacKinnon, Makar, Rantanen), Vancouver has 3 players in the top 12 (Hughes, Pettersson, 12th) J.T. Miller). Miller was the highest-ranked player not in the preseason top 50.
– Three players unofficially joined the league elite for perhaps the first time in their careers: No. 15 Sam Reinhart, 17th place Zach Hyman and No. 22 Noah Dobson.
– The highest-ranked preseason players not in the top 25 are Jason Robertson (11th preseason), Kirill Kaprizov (12th) and Adam Fox (16th), who missed 10 games.
– of New Jersey Jack Hughes finished 19th despite only playing in 32 games due to injury.
– Also not in the top 25, but arguably the biggest injury casualty this season has been reigning Stanley Cup champion goaltender Addin Hill. The Golden Knight recently returned from a nearly two-month absence and picked up where he left off, stopping 76 of 80 shots (.950 save percentage) in wins over the Islanders and Rangers. Thompson’s season-long stats – 1.94 GAA, .936 – are tops in the league, but his 17 starts are about half as many as a No. 1 goaltender.
1. Colonel Nathan MacKinnon | C | 3 | 49 | 31 | 53 | 84 |
2. Connor McDavid, Edom | C | 1 | 43 | 20 | 47 | 67 |
3. Nikita Kucherov, TB | RW | 8 | 49 | 32 | 53 | 85 |
Four. Auston Matthews, Thor | C | Five | 46 | 40 | 18 | 58 |
Five. Cale Makar, Col | R.D. | Four | 44 | 12 | 46 | 58 |
6. Quinn Hughes, Van | L.D. | 34 | 49 | 12 | 50 | 62 |
7. David Pastrnak, Boss | RW | 7 | 49 | 33 | 39 | 72 |
8. Mikko Rantanen, Colonel | RW | Ten | 49 | 27 | 39 | 66 |
9. Connor Hellebuyck, WPG | G | 43 | 35 | 2.20 | .924 | 2 |
Ten. Van Elias Pettersson | C | 15 | 49 | 27 | 37 | 64 |
11. sidney crosby, pit | C | 13 | 46 | 27 | twenty three | 50 |
12. JT Miller, Van | C/LW | – | 49 | twenty one | 46 | 67 |
13. Artemi Panarin, New York | LW | 30 | 49 | 30 | 36 | 66 |
14. Leon Draisaitl, Edm | C | 2 | 45 | twenty three | 34 | 57 |
15. Sam Reinhart, Florida | C | – | 49 | 37 | twenty five | 62 |
16. William Nylander, Thor | LW | 40 | 47 | twenty three | 38 | 61 |
17. Zach Hyman, Edom | LW | – | 44 | 30 | 17 | 47 |
18. Thatcher Demko, Van | G | – | 35 | 2.44 | .920 | Five |
19. Jack Hughes, New Jersey | C | 9 | 32 | 15 | 30 | 45 |
20. Sebastian Ajo, car | C | 35 | 45 | 17 | 37 | 54 |
21. Braden Point, TB | C | 17 | 50 | twenty five | 29 | 54 |
twenty two. Noah Dobson, New York | D | – | 49 | 6 | 46 | 52 |
twenty three. Victor Hedman, TB | L.D. | twenty three | 48 | 9 | 41 | 50 |
24. Mitch Marner, Thor | RW | 14 | 47 | 20 | 33 | 53 |
25. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida | LW/RW | 6 | 49 | 16 | 35 | 51 |