Saturday, January 20, 2007

MVP So Far This Year

Thus far this season, I have been picking Chris Pronger of the Anaheim Ducks as the MVP. However, he is currently injured. He has a broken foot that has kept him out all of January so far. Thus, it is time to pick a new healthy MVP.

The best candidate among the forwards is Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is the top scorer in the NHL, despite having missed a few games earlier this year. He is very talented, but it still refining some of the defensive aspects of his game.

The best candidate among defencemen is Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings. I was earlier picking him as MVP in November until he was passed by Pronger. Lidstrom play a lot of minutes and leads the NHL with his +30 +/- rating. His offence, while good, is not league leading among defencemen.

The best candidate among goalies is Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils. He plays almost every night and leads the NHL in most goalie stats (though he is currently second in saves percentage to Chris Mason of the Nashville Predators).

Any of these three guys should be considered serious MVP candidates, but I pick Lidstrom as my current MVP. He has been a consistent talent all season for Detroit. He controls the play most of the time he is on the ice. Detroit's defence would not be nearly as impressive without him.

Comments:
The funny thing is that Pronger's case for MVP might actually improving with him out of the lineup.
 
If Pronger comes back and Anaheim starts winning I can see that argument being made. Of course its not Pronger alone (Giguere and Beauchemin are out).

Its also very possible that Pronger will start slowly and take a while to get going as he plays but isn't 100% yet. In which case his MVP case probably is hurt.
 
Great blog you have there. I think if you take the vote right now...Brodeur probably edges out Pronger for the MVP in a very close race. Pronger is about 1-2 weeks away. The race should heat up then as the Devils will be in the middle of a long road trip. Crosby will be nominated I am sure...but I think Malkin has meant almost as much to that team honestly.

stevens@thenhlarena.com
 
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