Artemi Panarin, the most valuable player in the NHL in 2023–24, is not a finalist for the Hart Trophy, even though he had one of the best individual seasons in New York Rangers history.
The three contenders for the award were announced on Tuesday and include Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov. They were the NHL’s top three scorers.
With an NHL career-high 120 points, second most in Rangers history, Panarin finished fourth in scoring. The 32-year-old had a career-high 11 power-play goals and 44 power-play points, surpassing his previous high of 32 goals.
This season, the “Breadman” was reliable and clutch, finishing 43 points ahead of center Vincent Trocheck, who finished second in scoring for New York with 77 points. Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere (57 points) both prospered while playing alongside Panarin for almost the whole season. This season, Trocheck and Lafreniere both set new career highs for points in the NHL.
34 multiple-point games and three hat tricks later, Panarin scored five points on March 16 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He started the Rangers’ point-scoring streak this season by scoring at least one point in each of the first 15 games.
Despite having a fantastic Rangers season, Artemi Panarin is not a finalist for the Hart Trophy.
Panarin had previously been a finalist for the Hart Trophy in 2019–20, the year that Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl took home the prize. In 69 games with the Rangers that season—when the calendar was shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic—he recorded 95 points (32 goals, 63 assists).
The skillful forward, who was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, was also awarded the Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year in 2015–16.
This season, Panarin was as dominant as he could be, helping the Rangers win the Presidents’ Trophy, so the rejection sticks out. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were also won by teams led by Kucherov (144 points), MacKinnon (140 points), and McDavid (132 points), all of whom had fantastic seasons. This season, Kucherov and McDavid also tallied 100 assists, making history as the fourth and fifth players in the League to do so.
In a year when the Rangers set franchise records for wins (55) and points (114), they do not have a finalist for any major postseason award. Peter Laviolette was bypassed for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year. Rick Bowness (Winnipeg Jets), Andrew Brunette (Nashville Predators) and Rick Tocchet (Vancouver Canucks) are the finalists for that award.
Perhaps if Adam Fox had not missed 10 games with an injury this season, he would’ve received more consideration for the Norris Trophy as top defenseman. Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks), Roman Josi (Predators) and Cale Makar (Avalanche) are the finalists.
Of course, the Rangers will tell you that the only trophy they want is the Stanley Cup. And they’re on their way as serious contenders, winning their first five postseason games, so far, with Panarin scoring three game winners.
