The Latest 2016 Hart Trophy Rankings in the NHL

According to NHL.com, "the Hart Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association in all NHL cities at the end of the regular season."

A player's value to his team can be measured in many different ways but last season, the hockey writers were in near-unanimous agreement that the most-deserving candidate was Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens. Hockey Reference noted that the goaltender cleaned up with 139 of 157 first-place votes for the 2014-15 campaign.

Will the voting be closer this year? Perhaps.

The field of worthy candidates remains quite narrow, but among those candidates, some intriguing arguments can be made.

As the regular season winds down, here's a look at the NHL players who are most deserving of Hart Trophy consideration in 2015-16.

6. Erik Karlsson: Ottawa Senators

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2015-16 Stats: 80 GP, 16-64-80, fourth in NHL scoring

Hart Pedigree from Hockey Reference: Erik Karlsson has received Hart Trophy votes both times he has won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman. In 2011-12, he finished eighth in Hart voting and in 2014-15, he finished ninth.

Making His Case

The debate continues to rage about whether Erik Karlsson or Drew Doughty is the most-deserving recipient of this year's Norris Trophy as best defenseman. Looking at this season's numbers, the Swede deserves not just another Norris, but some serious MVP consideration.

Averaging 29:03 of ice time per game with no easing off as the Ottawa Senators' season winds down, Karlsson has spent more time on the ice than any other skater in the NHL this season.

More importantly, his 80 points are not only enough to rank him fourth overall in scoring in 2015-16, they're also the first time a defenseman has hit that number since the great Nicklas Lidstrom turned the trick in a more offensive NHL in 2005-06—the only time he hit 80 points in his illustrious seven-Norris Trophy, 20-season career.

Karlsson also currently leads the entire NHL with 64 assists. He's on track to be the first defenseman to lead that category in more than 40 years, since eight-time Norris winner Bobby Orr did it five times in six years between 1969-70 and 1974-75.

The Senators are hurting thanks to missing the postseason, but the franchise's fate would have been much different over these last seven seasons without the force of nature that is Karlsson.

Still only 25, Karlsson could very well stake a claim as one of the best defensemen of all time before his playing days are over.

5. Braden Holtby: Washington Capitals

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2015-16 Stats: 64 GP, 47-9-6, .922 save percentage, 2.20 goals-against average, first in wins

Hart Pedigree from Hockey Reference: Braden Holtby finished 18th in Hart Trophy voting in 2014-15.

Making His Case

The Washington Capitals are this year's runaway Presidents' Trophy winners, an all-round team that is second in the NHL in scoring and first in goals against.

Alex Ovechkin and his young countryman Evgeny Kutnetsov have taken care of the offensive end of the equation, but goaltender Braden Holtby has been his team's biggest game-changer this season.

Holtby earned his bona fides when he posted the best numbers of his career while playing more than any other goaltender in 2014-15.

He has dropped his workload to a "mere" 64 games this season, but with his losses still in single digits, he's one game away from tying Martin Brodeur's single-season record of 48 wins—which the former New Jersey Devils man accomplished in 78 appearances in 2006-07.

Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens posted better personal numbers last year on his way to the Hart Trophy: Price had a goals-against average of 1.96 and save percentage of .933. But he won 44 games in 66 appearances—and aren't wins the real bottom line when assessing a goaltender's overall value to his team?

If Holtby can match or exceed Brodeur's win record in Washington's last two regular-season games, it bolsters his case enormously for Hart consideration.

4. Joe Thornton: San Jose Sharks

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2015-16 Stats: 80 GP, 18-61-79, fifth in NHL scoring

Hart Pedigree from Hockey Reference: Joe Thornton won the Hart Trophy is 2005-06, when he led the NHL in scoring with 125 points despite being traded from the Boston Bruins to the San Jose Sharks midway through the season.

Thornton has received Hart votes seven other times in his 17 previous seasons in the NHL, but he has never again been a finalist.

Making His Case

At age 36 and no longer team captain, Joe Thornton has helped the San Jose Sharks back into playoff contention in the Pacific Division in the team's first year under head coach Peter DeBoer.

The Sharks have also received important contributions from their new captain, "Little Joe" Pavelski, as well as Brent Burns on defense and newcomer Martin Jones in goal, but Thornton's play is the biggest reason why the Sharks are respectable once again.

With 79 points in 80 games, he's producing at a level we haven't seen since the 2009-10 season, when he tallied 89 points, and his plus-26 ties him with his teammate Pavelski and James Neal of the Nashville Predators for fourth best among all forwards league-wide.

Could Jumbo Joe be gearing up to make a serious Stanley Cup run before he hangs up his skates? He has certainly made a solid case for himself as one of the best—and most valuable—players in the NHL this season.

3. Jamie Benn: Dallas Stars

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2015-16 Stats: 80 GP, 41-47-88, second in NHL scoring

Hart Pedigree from Hockey Reference: Jamie Benn finished 12th in Hart Trophy voting in both 2013-14 and 2014-15. He was also 22nd in 2011-12.

Making His Case

One year after winning the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer with 87 points, Jamie Benn's stock has risen even further.

The captain of the Dallas Stars underwent double hip surgery in the offseason, then came back to hit new career highs in goals (41) and points (88), with two games still to play on the Stars' schedule—all without missing a single game. 

Benn can hit and wreak havoc as well as scoring and setting up goals. The 6'2", 210-pound winger leads all players with 60 or more points this season, with 64 penalty minutes.

Since being chosen 129th overall in the 2007 draft, Benn is now one of the most fearsome players in the NHL.

At 26, he hasn't peaked yet. Expect to see him named a Hart Trophy finalist for the first time this season. He'll have a solid chance of earning the league MVP title within the next couple of years if he keeps on doing what he has been doing.

2. Sidney Crosby: Pittsburgh Penguins

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2015-16 Stats: 79 GP, 35-49-84, third in NHL scoring

Hart Pedigree from Hockey Reference: Sidney Crosby is a two-time Hart Trophy winner: in 2006-07 and in 2013-14. He also received Hart Trophy votes in seven of his other eight seasons. He was named runner-up to Alex Ovechkin in 2012-13 and finished third in 2009-10.

Making His Case

Sidney Crosby scored just one goal and five points during 11 games in the month of October—a far cry from the pace that has made him one of the NHL's most prolific offensive forces since he entered the league in 2005.

But Crosby has loudly answered the critics who thought his days as a top player were behind him at age 28. A shift in the Pittsburgh Penguins' playing style after coach Mike Johnston was dismissed on Dec. 12 has lit a fire under Crosby.

Since Mike Sullivan took over behind the Pittsburgh bench, Crosby leads all NHL players with 65 points in 51 games. His 29 goals during that time are second only to 33 from Ovechkin.

The Penguins have climbed from a bubble team to a force in the banged-up Eastern Conference. They're the hottest team in the NHL heading into the playoffs, with a 9-1-0 record in their last 10 games, and they've made their move without Evgeni Malkin, who has missed 23 of 31 games since Feb. 5 with two different injuries and remains on the shelf.

Crosby has re-established himself as one of the NHL's most effective and exciting players and has been the backbone of the Penguins' late-season success. He has proven, once again, that he's one of the most valuable players in the league to his team.

Next challenge? Playoffs.

1. Patrick Kane: Chicago Blackhawks

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2015-16 Stats: 80 GP, 44-58-102, first in NHL scoring

Hart Pedigree from Hockey Reference: Patrick Kane finished sixth in Hart Trophy voting in 2012-13 and seventh in 2009-10.

Making His Case

The only NHL player in the past two seasons to score more than 100 points, Patrick Kane has hit career highs in goals, points, and points-per-game in 2015-16, and he is about to become the first American-born player to win the league scoring title.

Kane has been one of the NHL's most consistent scorers this season on a somewhat uneven Chicago Blackhawks team. Playing in every game to date, his best month was November, when he put up 23 points in 13 games. 

Chicago fans could be worried that Kane's production dipped in March, when he posted just nine points in 13 games, but eight points in three games so far in April seem to indicate that he'll be ready to bring his best game when the playoffs begin next week.

On a Chicago Blackhawks team that's loaded with talent, Kane has raised his game this year. His excellent work with newcomers Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov has been a key reason why the Blackhawks will go into the playoffs with a chance to become the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since the 1997 and 1998 Detroit Red Wings.

Kane is on track to become the first member of the Chicago Blackhawks to win the Hart Trophy since the team won four straight times back in the 1960s. Bobby Hull earned the honor in 1964-65 and 1965-66, then Stan Mikita won back-to-back awards in 1966-67 and 1967-68.

Stats courtesy of NHL.com, current through games completed Tuesday, April 5.