Maple Leafs’ Mathews Doubles Down, Wins Both Hart & Lindsay Awards

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | By Old Prof | Last updated 6/21/22

There’s no doubt about it. Auston Matthews is the best player in the NHL right now. Both his peers and sportswriters agree. Furthermore, the vote wasn’t as close as I expected. He didn’t win by a landslide, but with the Hart Trophy (for example) he had more than 500 more points than forward Connor McDavid and about 900 more points than goalie Igor Shesterkin.

Matthews Wins 2022 Hart Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player

As noted above, Matthews clearly won the Hart Trophy by quite a wide margin. After the members of the media voted for the NHL player who was the MVP of his team, Matthews totaled 1,630 points. Coming in second was the Edmonton Oilers’ McDavid, who finished with 1,111 points. Finally, coming in third was New York Rangers’ Shesterkin with 738 points.

Auston Matthews wins the Hart Trophy. Not close either. pic.twitter.com/C81JucJ8SQ
— Mark Scheig (@markscheig) June 22, 2022

Matthews had quite a season, and voters noticed. He had 60 goals and 46 assists (for 106 points) in 73 games. In addition, in a stretch of 50 games between November 24 and April 9, Matthews scored 51 goals. While it wasn’t 50 goals in 50 games, as is usually counted; but, it still was 51 goals in 50 straight games.

It was Matthews’ first Hart Trophy of his career. Will it be his last?

Matthews Named by Peers as Ted Lindsay Award Winner

Perhaps an even more prestigious award is the Ted Lindsay Award, because it’s voted on by one’s peers – the other NHL players. Obviously, Matthews has earned the respect (and also the votes) of other the NHLPA players.

McDavid was another Lindsay Award nominee, as was the Nashville Predators’ defenseman Roman Josi. Again, Matthews – in winning both these key awards – showed that he’s a consensus MVP of the NHL. It was also the first Ted Lindsay Award win of his career.

Matthews’ Trophy Case Also Includes a Calder and Two Rocket Richards

These are not the first NHL awards Matthews has won. In 2017, he won the Calder Trophy and he’s won the Rocket Richard Trophy in each of the last two seasons. How many awards will Matthews win before his career is finished?

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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