New Jersey Devils: Comparing Jack Hughes To Other Hart Trophy Candidates

David Pastrnak – Boston Bruins
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David Pastrnak is doing everything right this season, and his timing couldn’t be better. He’s in a contract year, and there’s a slim possibility he could become the fifth NHL player with a $100 million contract. Right now, Pastrnak has 33 goals and 59 points. It’s not even like he’s playing with All-Stars like Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. He’s on a line with Pavel Zacha (lolz) and David Krejci.

Pastrnak allows the Bruins to have two of the most lethal lines in hockey. Hughes is in a similar position. When looking at line impact, it tells an interesting story. Hughes’ line with Erik Haula and Jesper Bratt is the best in hockey, according to Money Puck. Pastrnak’s line with Zacha and Krejci is 151st.

Part of that is Pastrnak’s points coming from the power play. However, he isn’t even at the top of the scoreboard (his 24 points are fifth in the league). It seems the Bruins can put Pastrnak up against better competition, which is impacting some of his advanced stats. He’s still getting all the counting stats because Pastrnak needs just a moment or one mistake to score.

Right now, we’d hope Hughes would have the edge on Pastrnak. Hughes is making a bigger impact on his team. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with Pastrnak. He deserves to be in this conversation. It’s just incredibly surprising he’s second on the MVP odds.