NHL History: 25 Players Who Deserved a Hart Trophy

Every year, it is always debatable who should be elected the most valuable player in the NHL.

Most who have won the Hart Trophy have certainly been worthy of the honor, but many other players, despite terrific years, only served as bridesmaids.  

Some of the NHL's best players never brought home the hardware that they deserved. In some eras, such as the 1980s and 1990s, the recipient of the Hart Trophy typically carried the nickname "The Great One" or "Super Mario." The 1960s and 1970s were dominated by Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull and Bobby Orr.  

Those men were titans of the era in which they played, but other legendary players, in their understudy roles, performed brilliantly and had MVP credentials.  

These 25 players were not robbed of the honor, but they were never considered the best in any one season. Their contributions to the game were immeasurable, and these legends are either already enshrined in the Hall of Fame or have their place waiting.

Pavel Bure

The "Russian Rocket," Pavel Bure electrified the NHL for 13 seasons for the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers.  

Bure twice hit the 60-goal plateau. Three times he led the league in goals: 1993-94 (60), 1999-00 (58) and 2000-01 (59).  

While his skating ability was unparalleled and his goal production consistent, he never received the honor of league MVP. In 1999-00, the award went to Chris Pronger, and in 2000-01, Joe Sakic took home the hardware.  

It is unfortunate that a player like Bure was not given his due. Scoring during the "dead-puck" era was no easy feat, and Bure did it for two straight seasons.  

Jarome Iginla

For the last 15 years, no player has put up significant numbers with regularity more than Jarome Iginla. Iginla has pumped in more goals from 2000-2010 than any other player.

Twice, Iginla has reached the 50-goal mark, and while he has never scored 100 points in a season, he has had seasons where he finished with 96, 94 and 98 points.

In 2001-02, Iginla led the league in scoring with 96 points, 52 of those goals. He took home the Art Ross and Maurice Richard trophies that season.

The Hart Trophy winner that season: Jose Theodore. Oh man.  Can we have a take-back? 

Marcel Dionne

Playing his best hockey in purple and gold, Marcel Dionne was one of the most prolific scorers to ever play in the NHL. When Dionne played for the Los Angeles Kings, he may have well been playing on Mars.

At the time, the closest team was 1,300 miles away in Vancouver.  The NHL had yet to expand, and Dionne's accomplishments went widely unnoticed by the sporting world.

Dionne centered the triple-crown line with Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer on his wings.  There may not have been a more productive line during the early 1980s.

In the 1979-80 season, Dionne tied Wayne Gretzky in the scoring race with 137 points, only to have Gretzky win the Hart Trophy.

Marcel Dionne retired in 1989 without a Hart Trophy but as a six-time 50-goal scorer, with eight seasons with 100 or more points and 1,771 career points in 1,358 games, . 

Tony Esposito

In the 1969-70 season, the Chicago Blackhawks Tony Esposito collected a modern-day record 15 shutouts. "Tony O" won the Vezina and Calder trophies in an outstanding season.

There is no question that the NHL awarded the Hart Trophy to the right player that season. Bobby Orr recorded 120 points and led the Boston Bruins to the Stanley Cup.  

At the same time, Esposito's performance was certainly MVP worthy.

Esposito would go on to win the Vezina two more times in his illustrious career, but the Hart Trophy, as well as the Stanley Cup, eluded his grasp.

Steve Yzerman

The Detroit Red Wings Steve Yzerman was one of two players robbed of the Hart Trophy in the 1988-89 season.  Wayne Gretzky won the award with 165 points in his first season as a Los Angeles King. Mario Lemieux finished with a career high 199 points and was snubbed.

Yzerman finished third in scoring with 155 points, including 65 goals. While the Wings only managed a .500 record that season, Yzerman was a one-man show and had very little of a supporting cast around him.

The following season, Yzerman again finished third in scoring with 127 points, and the Hart went to Mark Messier with 129 points.

It is too bad that "Stevie Y" could not come away with a much-deserved MVP trophy, but he definitely got the last laugh. With a Conn Smythe, a Selke and three cups added to his resume, Yzerman rode off into the sunset, perhaps as the best Red Wing of all time.  

Mike Bossy

There was no better pure goal scorer in the early 1980s than the New York Islanders Mike Bossy.  When Bossy arrived on the NHL scene for the 1977-78 season, he netted a then-record 53 goals.  

Bossy would go on to play 10 years in the NHL, with nine 50-goal seasons and five 60-goal seasons.  It is difficult to support anybody other than Wayne Gretzky winning the Hart trophy with 92 goals and 212 points in the 1981-82 season, but that same season was Mike Bossy's most productive.  He scored 64 goals en route to a 147-point season.  The Islanders would win one of their four consecutive Stanley Cups that spring, and Bossy would be named Conn Smythe winner.

During the early part of that decade, Bossy was as valuable as any player in the league.

Nicklas Lidstrom

There may be no other defenseman, past or present, who has been as valuable to his team and not won an MVP than Nicklas Lidstrom.

The reigning Norris Trophy winner and ageless wonder has seven Norris trophies, four cups and a Conn Smythe Trophy to his credit.  

Perhaps his most deserving season was the 2005-06 season in which he recorded 80 points.  

Over a 20-year period, has there been a more valuable player to his team or organization?  I doubt it. 

Michel Goulet

One of two players with the Quebec Nordiques who dominated offensively in the 1980s, Michel Goulet was a pure sniper.  He had four 50-goal and four 100-point seasons in his remarkable career.  

In the 1983-84 season, Goulet finished second in goals (56) and third in points (126).  The Nordiques finished with 94 points.

Had it not been for that ole' number 99, Goulet may have come home with hardware that season. On February 22, 1992, Goulet scored his 500th career goal. He is also a member of the 1,000-point club.    

Cam Neely

This is one player you did not want to mess with in the early 1990s.  The Boston Bruins Cam Neely was a player unlike any the league had seen before.

While there had been players that could get to the net and were good at putting the puck away, nobody did that with the power that Neely showed.  He was a beast in front of the net, could move the puck well and could fight with the best of them.  He was a rare breed and invaluable as a teammate.

In 1989-90, Neely potted 55 goals and followed that with a 51-goal performance in 1990-91.  

Though Neely never cracked the 100-point barrier, he was an absolute force in those two years of hockey. So much so that those years solidified his place in the Hall of Fame.  

Don't think those years are MVP worthy? Well, the selection committee in Toronto disagrees with you.  

Denis Savard

The human highlight reel know as "Savoir-Faire," Denis Savard was one of the most exciting players to wear skates.

He was incredibly crafty, a shifty skater and an offensive weapon. The 1987-88 season was Savy's best season statistically. He scored 44 goals and added 87 assists for 131 points.

Savard finished his career with 1,338 points, has his jersey number in the rafters in the United Center and is enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Ron Francis

Perhaps this is a bit of a push, because there was not one season where Ron Francis truly stood out as the best player in hockey. But Francis' career has stood in the shadow of others, and it is time to give this man his due.

He won a Selke Award, three Lady Byng Trophies, scored over 100 points twice and had 92 assists in the 1995-96 season.

He was the ultimate teammate and a hall of famer, and he currently sits fourth on the all-time NHL scoring list with 1,798 points.

You don't get much more valuable than Ron Francis.

Paul Coffey

Few defensemen dominated the game offensively the way Paul Coffey did. In many ways, when Coffey played, it was as if the opposition was playing against four forwards and one defenseman.

Coffey holds the single-season record for goals scored by a defenseman, with 48 in the 1985-86 season. That same season, Coffey finished third in scoring behind Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004, Paul Coffey remains 13th on the all-time scoring list with 1,531 points. 

Gilbert Perreault

The best player of the Buffalo Sabres famed "French Connection" line, Gilbert Perreault played all 17 of his NHL seasons in a Buffalo Sabres uniform.

in the 1975-76 season, Perreault finished third in the scoring race with 113 points.

Though he never won the Hart trophy, Perreault had two 100-point seasons and finished with 1,326 points in his magnificent career.

Pavel Datsyuk

Is this the year? Pavel Datsyuk is the second active Red Wing on the list, and hockey fans wonder if he will ever get the true recognition he deserves as the best all-around player in the game.

Four Lady Byng trophies, three Selke awards, two 97-point seasons, two Stanley Cup rings, and no Hart Trophy.

He will be in the Hall of Fame in due time, and with the Wings off to a hot start, maybe this is finally the year Datsyuk wins a a Hart Trophy. 

Denis Potvin

Denis Potvin was the one of the best defensemen to play the game and the anchor of the New York Islanders Stanley Cup teams of the 1980s.

Potvin was the first defenseman to reach 1,000 points in the NHL. In the 1978-79 season he registered 101 points and took home the Norris Trophy. If not for fellow teammate Bryan Trottier taking home the the Hart that season, it would have belonged to Potvin.

He could move the puck, was potent offensively and was as physical as they come. He may have been to most valuable asset of the Islanders dynasty. 

Larry Robinson

"The Big Bird," Larry Robinson was part of his own four-year cup run with the Montreal Canadiens from 1976-1979. Along with fellow defensemen Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard, Robinson was part of the best defensive unit in hockey.

In the 1976-77 season, Robinson could have easily won the MVP. The defenseman scored 85 points and was an outstanding plus-120 on the season.

Robinson would finish his career with two Norris trophies and a Conn Smythe Award. He ended his career just shy of the 1,000-point mark with 958.

Bernie Parent

When asked about the Philadelphia Flyers Stanley Cup-winning teams, Don Cherry once said, "It was a joke, they were so outplayed, but you couldn't put the pea by Parent. And at that time there was nobody better."

The Flyers won the Stanley Cup in the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons. In those seasons, the Hart Trophy went to Phil Esposito and Bobby Clarke. 

If Parent were playing today, he would have won the Hart both of those years. In 1973-74, he won 47 games and had a 1.89 GAA. Wow!

He followed that season with a 44-game winning season and a 2.03 GAA.

Those kind of numbers today would run away with the MVP Award. Just ask Jose Theodore. 

Jari Kurri

The right-hand man of the greatest player of all time, Jari Kurri was the ultimate compliment to No. 99's game. You can argue that Kurri was nothing without Gretzky, but you could just as easily take the other side of that debate.

Without Gretzky in 1989-90, Kurri still tallied 33 goals and 93 points. He also had a hat trick that year in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Kurri's finest season was in 1984-85, when he notched 71 goals and 135 points.

Again, nobody was going to steal awards away from Wayne, but Kurri put up MVP numbers during his great career.

Peter Stastny

In the early 1980s three centers took center stage in the league: Gretzky, Trottier and this man. Peter Stastny was one of the more complete playmaking centers in the game.

In 1981-82, Stastny had 46 goals and 93 assists for 139 points. That placed him second in assists and third in scoring. 

Stastny scored 100 points seven times, and in his career only came away with a Calder Award in his rookie season.

He finished his career with 1,239 points. 

Pat LaFontaine

Pat Lafontaine was a shifty center who had incredible balance. In a concussion-shortened career, he put together some wonderful seasons, and none was better than 1992-93.

With Alexander Mogilny as his sidekick, LaFontaine mustered 148 points, including 95 assists, that placed him second in the league in scoring behind Mario Lemieux.

Lemieux was a worthy winner considering how he performed and what he battled that year, but LaFontaine deserves recognition for the best season of his remarkable career.

Teemu Selanne

Teemu Selanne exploded onto the NHL scene in his rookie year of 1992-93. That year he was one of two players that scored 76 goals. The other, Alexander Mogilny, had Pat LaFontaine dishing him the puck.

Selanne was not so lucky. He was virtually on his own with the Winnipeg Jets and still managed 132 points, which ended up being fifth.

I'm not sure anyone could have predicted how durable of a career Selanne would have. Still a valuable member of the Anaheim Ducks, Selanne has his spot safely reserved in the Hall of Fame. 

Dale Hawerchuk

Another member of the original Winnipeg Jets family, Dale Hawerchuk had a marvelous NHL career and ended his career with 1,409 points.  

Hawerchuk had six 100-point seasons, and his finest was in the 1984-85 season when he tallied 53 goals and 130 points.

Unlike the high-flying Oilers that season, the Jets were not blessed with much of a supporting cast, which could not have made anything easy for Hawerchuk.  

Later in the decade, he was the MVP of the deciding game in the 1987 Canada Cup win over the Soviet Union.

Hawerchuk was often overlooked because of the teams he played for, but he did put up some gaudy numbers over his career.

Ray Bourque

Ray Bourque is currently the highest-scoring defenseman of all time with 1,579 points, and he retired on top after winning the Stanley Cup in 2001. 

Bourque won five Norris trophies and had four 90-point seasons as a defenseman.

Other than Lidstrom—and you can make an argument for each—there may never have been a defenseman more worthy of the MVP than this player. 

Adam Oates

Adam Oates was a player that quietly went about his business during his remarkable NHL career. He was not flashy or talkative, but simply a professional.

Yes, this is another player from the 1992-93 season that was tremendous offensively. He scored 142 points that season and did it very unselfishly.

Oates cemented his legacy with a 1,420-point career. Without a doubt, Adam Oates is one of the best hockey players in NHL history.   

Darryl Sittler

It is rare to see such a talent play for such an iconic franchise but not be a part of many winning teams. The forever-loyal Darryl Sittler stuck it out with the Toronto Maple Leafs during some lean years in the 1970s and became one of the game's greatest players.

Sittler had two 100-point seasons and had over 1,000 points in his NHL career. In the 1977-78 season he scored 117 points, including 45 goals.

Had Darryl Sittler had better teammates around him during his career, he could have been a Hart Trophy winner.