Taylor Hall Leads Devils To Top-Two Seed In Eastern Conference
There was a very telling scene on the Devils Behind the Glass series on NHL Network. John Hynes had most of the Devils training camp roster in a room, and went over where analysts had them finishing at the end of the season. A large majority of the experts had the Devils finishing on the outside of the playoffs. Hynes showed the room that there was a long way to go before the Devils got contender respect.
If the Devils can somehow race towards the top of the Eastern Conference, despite being predicted to miss the playoffs, then Hall will get plenty of love for the Hart Trophy. Especially if the Devils goaltending situation continues to be up in the air, then that will help Hall’s argument even more.
Of course, the Devils need more than just Hall to make a run at the playoffs. Just look at what happened to McDavid last year. He was half man, all amazing, yet he didn’t even get in the top three in MVP voting at the end of the season. If Hall has a similar season to last year, and the Devils end up between 7th and 9th in the Eastern Conference, then he isn’t going to win the MVP again. It’s as simple as that.
Leading a team to such a miraculous run is the reason why Hall won the award in the first place. If he can carry this team to a Metropolitan Division title, then the MVP conversation will greatly skew in his direction.