I know this is a controversial pick, but let me take you through the process of elimination that led me to this conclusion.
Evgeni Malkin led the league in points but he and Sidney Crosby largely cancel each other out. You can’t discount the presence of one when determining how valuable the other one is to the team.
Ovechkin again led the league in goals, but also had help from three other point-per-game players (Backstrom, Semin, Green). Datsyuk finished fourth in league scoring behind Malkin, Ovechkin, and Crosby, but he gets a lot of help from the likes of Hossa, Zetterberg, and Lidstrom.
And then there’s Parise with his impressive line of 45-49-94, leading a Devils team that most thought would have to fight for a playoff spot. When Martin Brodeur was injured very early in the year and the Devils were largely dismissed, Parise stepped up.
Yes, he also had some help from people like Patrik Elias and his linemates Travis Zajac and Jamie Langenbrunner. And Scott Clemmensen was unexpectedly good filling in for Brodeur. But Parise was consistently their best player when they needed him the most.
As for the consideration of defensemen (Chara) and goaltenders (Steve Mason, Lundqvist, Luongo) for the Hart, the NHL has shown that it takes a truly unreal season to move the MVP out from among the forward ranks, so I will keep things simple.
Some people will say that my method of thinking penalizes players with very good supporting casts. But I think that’s exactly the point. You have to figure out which one player was the most indispensable to his team in that given season. To me, it’s Parise.
Runners-up: Ovechkin, Datsyuk
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