Sidney Crosby is Already the 2014-2015 NHL Art Ross Trophy Winner, or is he? >>>>> Sidney Crosby didnt just win the Art Ross trophy in 2013-14. He won it going away, finishing as the only player to crack 100 points. No one else even got to 90. Itll probably happen again. Now that hes healthy, Crosby looks like a lock to win it every year until he starts to wear down. Bovada will likely list him as the next seasons Art Ross front-runner, just as they did last year, with 9/4 odds, and it seems downright silly to bet against him, say, by taking the 100/1 odds on Matt Moulson. But it could happen. Maybe Crosby has a down year. Maybe his wrist holds him back in the earlygoing. Maybe theres an injury. Maybe he has a run of truly bad luck. The Art Ross may be Crosbys to lose, but he could very well lose it. If he does, who wins it? Here are ten guys with the potential to wrest the Art Ross from Crosbys grip. -- Evgeni Malkin. Crosbys closest competition is very close. Occasional linemate close. Malkin was second in points per game in 2013-14, at 1.2 to Crosbys 1.3. Hes a machine, and if he gets going, as he did during a 13-game stretch last winer where he put up 26 points, he could be a formidable foe. Hes got a couple things going for him, too. For one thing, he plays with Crosby, so hell benefit from what the hockey world calls The Chris Kunitz effect. (Its like the Butterfly effect, except when the butterfly flaps its wings, Chris Kunitz gets an Olympic gold medal.) And when Malkin plays away from Crosby, hes bound to see some softer matchups because Crosby gets all the hardest ones. -- Steven Stamkos. Stamkos finished with 40 points in just 37 games in 2013-14, missing most of the season with a broken leg. And when he did return, he was playing on a leg that, you know, used to be broken. So he was a little out of sorts. But hell be healthy next year, and with Martin St. Louis out of the picture, hell be looked to even more for offense. But he wont be without help. Last years linemates, Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn are a year older, and presumably better, and there are other options. Ryan Callahan could crash and bang on his right side, and rookie Jonathan Drouin may slide in there. If he can hit the ground running, hell be a threat from the wing thatll keep defenders honest and give Stamkos some room. Jon Cooper has a lot of options, and if he can give Stamkos two wingers with whom he clicks, the new captain could reach unseen heights. Hell also have some help on the back end. The Lightning have improved their blueline, adding Jason Garrison, who should take some pressure off Stamkos as a one-timer option on the powerplay. And Victor Hedman is poised to arrive as an elite defender. If those two can push the offense, Stamkos is bound to see even more offensive opportunity, and nobody finishes chances like he does. -- Ryan Getzlaf. The Anaheim Ducks centre had his best season since 2008-09 last year. Was it a one-off, or is it possible that his game is trending in the opposition direction of his hairline? Hes got Corey Perry as a finisher, which helps, and now hes got Ryan Kesler, another great finisher. If Bruce Boudreau ever loads up the top line, and you know he will, every now and then, the points will flow. But Kesler can help Getzlaf even when they arent playing together. Hell help Boudreau with matchups, allowing the Ducks coach to deploy Getzlaf in more offensive situations by going up against the oppositions best lines. And hell draw away some of the heat thats normally reserved for Getzlaf and Perry. That means more space for them to operate, and it could reflect nicely on Getzlafs year-end totals. -- Tyler Seguin. Well turn the case for Seguin over to Justin Bourne, who wondered aloud if Seguin was poised to come into his own next season -- an amazing question, since the 22-year-old finished last season fourth in NHL scoring. From The Score: You likely noticed that the young center had a nice year with Dallas, but nice year doesnt really do it justice. He finished alone in fourth in the NHL with 84 points, and helped make up one of the most dynamic duos in hockey alongside Jamie Benn. He took 294 shots (fourth-most in the league), leading to 37 goals on a wholly sustainable 12.6% shooting percentage (sustainable for an elite shooter like Seguin, that is). He got a step faster and noticeably stronger; it wasn’t luck. His possession stats were also shiny, for those so inclined. He saw a 52.3% share of the shot attempts while he was on the ice, and pushed that to 61.8% in playoffs - a time when he undeniably would have been the focal point of the opposition. Pushing through and improving on his already great regular season performance implies he’s a player with the drive the Bruins implied he wasn’t. Seguin is also going to have better linemates, even though theyre likely to be the same two guys. Not only is Jamie Benn right smack-dab in his prime at 25 years of age, but Valeri Nichushkin now has a years worth of NHL experience under his belt. That line was one of hockeys best last season, and theyre going to be even better this year. Plus the Stars arent a one-line team anymore. Jason Spezzas arrival gives the Stars some extra punch and will take some of the heat off Seguin and Benn, and Ales Hemsky is an option for the top line if Nichushkin needs some time to stew a little further down the lineup. This could very well be the season Bostons decision to move Seguin looks as foolish to everybody as it looked to, well, most of us last summer. -- Jamie Benn. Did I mention Benn was in his prime? Picking him as hockeys highest-scoring winger is a reasonable prediction, but hockeys highest-scoring player isnt out of the question either. Seguin is the focus, since hes the center and its usually centers at the top of the pops, but dont rule out his main target. Benn is going to reap all the same benefits of Dallass stronger lineup as Seguin, plus he gets to skate with Seguin! -- Alex Ovechkin. Its truly amazing the way Ovechkins reputation has taken a hit, especially when he continues to be one of hockeys elite goal-scorers. In a game where the entire point is to score goals, youd think the guy who does that best would get a little more dap. Instead, Ovechkins franchise player status is assailed like its climate change on Fox News. But speaking of climate change, theyve had one in Washington this season. Will new coach Barry Trotz be able to coax a little more out of Ovechkin? Adam Oates had some success with him on the powerplay, and by shifting him to the other side, but theres more there, and Trotz may be savvy enough to wring it out of Ovi, especially since its his top priority. This could be the year that Ovechkins numbers once again reflect the kind of player he actually is, rather than obscuring it. -- John Tavares. At 23, Tavares is still climbing towards his peak. He was a point per game player in the shortened season, and poised for 90 points or higher the next time out until an injury in Sochi ended his season at 66 points in 59 games. Whos to say he wouldnt have cracked 100 trying to drag the Islanders into a playoff spot the way he did in 2012-13 if hes healthy? And whos to say he doesnt do it this year? Tavares probably lost a little steam trying to adjust to a new triggerman, as Matt Moulson went to Buffalo early in the year in exchange for Thomas Vanek, but this year, hes likely to have a renewed Kyle Okposo with him from game 1 to game 82. Between health, consistency, continued development, and some serious drive from a guy thats never gone this long between games, Tavares could be a force in 2014-15. -- Phil Kessel. Kessel is one of hockeys most dangeorus snipers, and Im of the mind that hes yet to hit his ceiling. Does he have an 100-point season in him? I think he might, especially if the Leafs can figure out how to win the possession battle on more nights than they lose it. The arrival of Brendan Shanahan, and with him, Kyle Dubas, signals a new era where they actually care about possession, and if they can figure out how to tilt the ice in their favour so that, say, the puck is in the offensive zone before Kessel arrives to expend all his energy getting it there, that means more time and opportunity for him to rack up points. Itll also help if the Leafs dont go to crap with two months left in the season. Kessel probably puts up more points in March and April if the Leafs are trending in the other direction. -- Henrik Sedin. This seems like a window thats closed, especially after the season he had, but the Sedin twins remain elite scoring threats, and theyre bound to score more than they did last season, if for no other reason than the coaching swap that sees John Tortorellas dump and chase system ousted in favour of, say, a good one. Willie Desjardins plans to play a much more uptempo style, and employ some impressive innovations, like practicing the powerplay. Between that, a healthy season from both Henrik and Daniel, and new linemate Radim Vrbata, who could be an improvement on Alex Burrows on the twins right wing, Henrik, who tends to outscore his brother, could be back in contention for the Art Ross he won in 2010-11. -- Taylor Hall. Its a longshot, but theres a case to be made for Hall, who hit 80 points in 75 games last season, good for 1.07 points per game, tops for a winger. For one thing, hes yet to hit his ceiling, and hes already the best left winger in the game. But if a few things go his way, he could be in contention for best forward, period. Health is the main thing. Hall has yet to play 82 games in a season. If he does that, hes probably looking at career highs in scoring. And if the Oilers centers can stay healthy too, and perhaps the team can get out of the basement and have something to play for down the stretch, his numbers could spike. And then theres coaching. Dallas Eakins survived the summer, so Hall wont be dealing with learning a new system for the umpteenth time, and the Oilers new analytical approach should yield some tactics geared towards wringing more scoring out of their best player. An offensive zone start percentage over 60 percent, maybe? Treated right by the hockey gods and used right by his coaches, an Art Ross isnt out of the question for Hall. Icecapper BONUS LONG-SHOT ... Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon is a horse, has BETTER line-mates for next season and understands the game better than anyone under the age of 21. Additionally, Mac got BETTER as the season went on and for a rookie, that is not suppose to happen. The ole eye test says Mac will finish Top 10 in scoring this year, probably 85 points or so but with Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan OReilly all primed for monster seasons I think 100 points is not out of the question for Mac (and dont forget the Avs are going to sprinkle in a little Jarome Iginla too!). We shall see but do not be surprised to see this budding superstar near the top of the scoring list next season.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 20:39:15 +0000
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