Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images. Pictured: Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon
2021 Hart Trophy Odds
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Connor McDavid | +450 [Bet Now] |
| Nathan MacKinnon | +500 [Bet Now] |
| Leon Draisaitl | +1000 [Bet Now] |
| Auston Matthews | +1000 [Bet Now] |
| Artemi Panarin | +1000 [Bet Now] |
| Nikita Kucherov | +1100 [Bet Now] |
| Elias Pettersson | +1600 [Bet Now] |
| Jack Eichel | +1700 [Bet Now] |
| Brayden Point | +1700 [Bet Now] |
| Mitch Marner | +2000 [Bet Now] |
| Alex Ovechkin | +2000 [Bet Now] |
| Brad Marchand | +2300 [Bet Now] |
| Sidney Crosby | +2500 [Bet Now] |
| David Pastrnak | +2500 [Bet Now] |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | +2700 [Bet Now] |
| Patrick Kane | +2700 [Bet Now] |
| Taylor Hall | +3000 [Bet Now] |
| Sebastian Aho | +3500 [Bet Now] |
| Connor Hellebuyck | +3500 [Bet Now] |
| Steven Stamkos | +3500 [Bet Now] |
| Mika Zibanejad | +3500 [Bet Now] |
| Mathew Barzal | +4000 [Bet Now] |
| Mark Stone | +4000 [Bet Now] |
| Aleksander Barkov | +4500 [Bet Now] |
| Patrice Bergeron | +5000 [Bet Now] |
| Mikko Rantanen | +5000 [Bet Now] |
| Mark Scheifele | +5000 [Bet Now] |
| John Tavares | +5000 [Bet Now] |
| Carter Hart | +5500 [Bet Now] |
| Blake Wheeler | +6000 [Bet Now] |
| Sean Couturier | +6500 [Bet Now] |
| Johnny Gaudreau | +6500 [Bet Now] |
| John Carlson | +7000 [Bet Now] |
| Ryan O’Reilly | +7000 [Bet Now] |
| Carey Price | +7000 [Bet Now] |
| Teuvo Teravainen | +7000 [Bet Now] |
| Logan Couture | +7500 [Bet Now] |
| Dougie Hamilton | +7500 [Bet Now] |
| Roman Josi | +7500 [Bet Now] |
| Dylan Larkin | +7500 [Bet Now] |
| Pierre-Luc Dubois | +8000 [Bet Now] |
| Alex Pietrangelo | +8000 [Bet Now] |
| Claude Giroux | +8500 [Bet Now] |
| Victor Hedman | +8500 [Bet Now] |
| John Gibson | +10000 [Bet Now] |
| Miro Heiskanen | +10000 [Bet Now] |
| Quinn Hughes | +10000 [Bet Now] |
| Anze Kopitar | +10000 [Bet Now] |
| Kris Letang | +10000 [Bet Now] |
| Cale Makar | +10000 [Bet Now] |
| Jacob Markstrom | +10000 [Bet Now] |
| Charlie McAvoy | +10000 [Bet Now] |
| Jonathan Toews | +10000 [Bet Now] |
| Nicklas Backstrom | +11500 [Bet Now] |
| Thomas Chabot | +12500 [Bet Now] |
| John Klingberg | +12500 [Bet Now] |
| Torey Krug | +12500 [Bet Now] |
| Vladimir Tarasenko | +12500 [Bet Now] |
| Brent Burns | +15000 [Bet Now] |
| Seth Jones | +15000 [Bet Now] |
| Erik Karlsson | +15000 [Bet Now] |
| Robin Lehner | +15000 [Bet Now] |
| Tyler Seguin | +15000 [Bet Now] |
| Zach Werenski | +15000 [Bet Now] |
| Aaron Ekblad | +17500 [Bet Now] |
| Phil Kessel | +17500 [Bet Now] |
| Rasmus Dahlin | +20000 [Bet Now] |
| Drew Doughty | +20000 [Bet Now] |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | +25000 [Bet Now] |
| P.K. Subban | +25000 [Bet Now] |
Odds via DraftKings.
The 2021 NHL season is now just around the corner as the league and the NHLPA have agreed to embark on a XX-game campaign beginning on Jan. XX. With puck drop just around the corner, the betting market is starting to take shape.
Today, we’ll look at the odds to win the 2021 Hart Trophy, which is awarded to the league’s Most Valuable Player.
The Favorites
It’s no surprise to see Connor McDavid topping the odds at +450. The 2016-17 MVP has topped 100 points in the last three full seasons, but perhaps more impressively finished with 97 points in just 64 contests in the shortened 2019-20 campaign.
Improbably, that prolific scoring was only good enough for fifth in the MVP vote as McDavid’s teammate Leon Draisaitl won the award with 110 points, while current second-favorite, Nathan MacKinnon, finished second in the voting. Draisaitl is a joint third-favorite with Artemi Panarin and Auston Matthews at +1000.
Nikita Kucherov is next up at +1100 and then four of the game’s brightest young stars check in with Elias Pettersson (+1600), Jack Eichel (+1700), Brayden Point (+1700) and Mitch Marner (+2000).
Other Contenders
It is interesting to see two-time MVP Sidney Crosby 13th on the list. Crosby is still a threat to turn in a jaw-dropping season, but the NHL is flush with starpower right now so Sid’s in a bit of uncharted territory at +2500. Those odds don’t make Crosby a longshot by any means, but it’s safe to say that the days of seeing Crosby and Alex Ovechkin at the top of the odds are in the rear-view mirror.
Perhaps the most surprising player listed under 30/1 is Jonathan Huberdeau at +2700. Huberdeau has long been touted as one of the league’s most underrated players and he’s put up 170 points over the last two seasons (151 games), but it would be pretty surprising to see Huberdeau beat out some of the other forwards on this list.
Mikko Rantanen is 50/1 to win the 2021 Hart Trophy. Credit: Russell Lansford/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesSleeper Watch
If you are looking for a potential sleeper among the forwards, Mikko Rantanen at +5000 could be worth a hard look. You may scoff at the notion of betting MacKinnon’s sidekick, but we saw a similar deputy — Draisaitl — win MVP last season.
Rantanen has averaged over a point per game in each of his last three seasons and has scored 0.42 and 0.45 goals per contests in the last two seasons, respectively. In a shortened season, the MVP could end up going to the player who gets hot and stays hot, so playing second-chair to one of the league’s most powerful offensive forces certainly gives Rantanen a puncher’s chance at a nifty price.
Outsiders
The last goaltender to be named NHL MVP was Carey Price back in 2014-15. Price, who is +7000 to win the award this season, was the first netminder to win the Hart Trophy since another Montreal Canadien, Jose Theodore, took home the hardware in 2001-02. Only one other goalie, Dominik Hasek (1997, 1998), has been named MVP since the league expanded from six to 12 teams in 1967.
Connor Hellebuyck, who finished sixth in MVP voting and won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie in 2019-20, has the shortest odds of any goalie at +3500.
If you think a goalie could win the award, you’ll likely want to avoid the netminders who ply their trade for the elite teams and instead focus on those that could carry their respective teams to success.
For example, it may be tempting to bet Robin Lehner at 150/1, but the Knights are one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup because their roster is full of starpower. Lehner could very well be the best goaltender in the league in 2021, but if the Knights have success the credit will go around the roster.
John Gibson is 100/1 to be named the NHL’s MVP in 2021. Credit: Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images.John Gibson (+10000) could be a fun dart throw. The 27-year-old had a down season in 2019-20, but he was playing at an elite level in the two years prior to that. Gibson led the NHL in Goals Saved Above Expectation (GSAx) in 2017-18 and 2018-19, and his +32.9 GSAx in ’17-18 is the second-best mark of the past five years.
If the Ducks make a surprise run to the playoffs, it is likely that Gibson brought them there. That would at least give him a shot at winning the award.
As rare as it is for a goalie to be named MVP, it is even more unique when a defenseman takes home the award. No rearguard has won the Hart Trophy since Chris Pronger in ’99-00, and that was the first instance of a defenseman winning since Bobby Orr won three in a row from 1970-72.
John Carlson is the top defenseman on the list at +7000 and is one of only five blueliners to be priced under +10000.
If you really, really wanted to bet a defenseman in this market, I would probably look towards Victor Hedman at +8500. I’d still want much longer odds on Hedman to have a punt but of all the defensemen on this list, he’s the one I’d pick out. Like Pronger, Hedman is a force on both ends of the ice and he’s coming off a dominant postseason performance that saw him win Playoff MVP, so there’s certainly a chance that Hedman could turn some heads. It’s just very unlikely.