Is Toronto Maple Leafs' Phil Kessel a Hart Trophy Candidate?

There is no denying Phil Kessel is off to a great start for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. Take a look at his stats line and you can see how much he has contributed in just a month and a half to the white and blue.

Through 17 games this year Kessel has 24 points, breaking it down to an even 12 goals and 12 assist. What this means is Kessel is proving that he can be a two-way line-mate. He is scoring on his chances, while also setting up his centre man and his fellow winger with great opportunities.

He is the Leafs' leading point getter so far this year, making him arguably their best player. For years people have said; “Phil Kessel is a potential 40-45 goal scorer depending on who centers him.” Well don’t look now but Kessel has had no less than four different centers so far this year.

But do these stats make him a Hart Trophy Candidate? First, let’s look at what the Hart Trophy is and what it represents.

According to the Hockey Hall of Fame website “The Hart Trophy is presented to the most valuable player in the National Hockey League during the regular season.”

We have established that right now he is the best player on the Leafs. But in order to win the Hart Trophy you need to be the most valuable in the league. And what determines value? Let’s say your value is determined by your stats.

Right now, Kessel leads the league in total points and goals scored. One interesting note is the guy the Leafs could have drafted instead of trading for Kessel, Tyler Seguin, trails him by just a goal.

Kessel is also tied for 12^th in the league in assists, even though he only has two power play goals, he is shooting at a 21.05 shooting percentage. Very good stats considering he didn’t have a goal in a four game stretch about a week ago.

The fact he was able to hang onto that lead shows how much of a jump he got on the rest of the league right out of the gate. When you look at the stats you could make an early season case for Kessel as the Hart Trophy winner.

But there is still a lot of hockey to play and if he keeps putting up points we could see his name among the finalists for the 2011-2012 Hart Trophy. But the Hart Trophy represents more than just stats, it represents overall play.

It 2009-2010, Henrik Sedin was the winner of the Hart Trophy. He led the league with 112 points but he also had an outstanding plus/minus rating of plus-35. Last year’s winner, Corey Perry, was third in the league in total points with 98; however his plus minus rating was only plus-9.

Although not as high as Sedin the year before, it was still on the positive side, showing Perry was a good two-way player.

I’m sure the voters for the Hart Trophy take this into account and need to see your offensive and your defensive sides of the game before they can name you the MVP of the league. Kessels’ rating is right now at plus-9.

If he can continue to help out his defense and keep the puck in the offensive zone, you’re starting to see a strong case being built for Kessel as a Hart Trophy candidate. But there’s something that Henrik Sedin and Corey Perry were able to do last year that Phil Kessel has not yet done as a Maple Leaf.

Helping your team make the playoffs is starting to look like an essential must have for the winner of the Hart Trophy. The Maple Leafs have put themselves in a good position in the early going, but they are going to need to see more from the whole team if they want to stop their playoff drought.

Interestingly enough, it is Phil Kessel who is almost single-handedly keeping his teams’ head above water. The winner of the Hart Trophy is almost always someone who is on a team that cracks the top eight and puts their team into the playoffs.

Phil Kessel has helped the Maple Leafs get to the top of their division and if he can keep this dominance going, the Leafs should be playing hockey in April, and not golf. The last piece of the puzzle for winning the Hart Trophy comes with how a player makes his teammates better.

Whether it has been Tim Connolly, Tyler Bozak, David Steckel or others centering that line, Kessel has made it one of the most dangerous lines in the league along side with Joffrey Lupul.

In the last six games the only line that has produced any goals has come from the Phil Kessel line. What Kessel has been able to do with Lupul has been outstanding. Just one year ago Lupul was sent down the the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks after a poor showing through 26 games.

After the Leafs picked him up late last season, he scored nine goals and 18 points in the season’s final 28 games. Through 17 games this year, Lupul, working with Kessel has put up 19 points.

Kessel has brought out the best in a player whose NHL career was dwindling. He has been able to find the open shooting lanes while also setting up Lupul with great chances. Before coming to the Maple Leafs Joffrey Lupul was lost. Kessel went into the desert and brought back the player everyone thought Joffrey Lupul could be.

And as mentioned before he has made any of the centers he has played with this year better as well.

The Hart Trophy winner is someone who can put points on the board, play good two way hockey, get his team to the playoffs and make his teammates better hockey players. Right now Phil Kessel is showing all those things.

We are only a month and a half into the season, but Kessel is on his way to a career-defining year. If he keeps it up and the Leafs make the playoffs, there’s a great chance he will be a Hart Trophy candidate, and a good chance a Hart Trophy winner.