Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky were named Monday as finalists for the National Hockey League’s Most Valuable Player award.
The Hart Trophy, awarded to the NHL player judged most valuable to his team, was voted upon by a media panel after the regular season. The winner will be announced June 21 at the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas.
Crosby, a 29-year-old Canadian, helped the reigning Stanley Cup champion Penguins post their best record since the 1992-93 season by scoring a league-high 44 goals and setting up 45 more.
The Penguins captain, who led the team with 14 power-play goals, was second to Chicago’s Patrick Kane in last year’s voting for the Hart Trophy, which he won in 2007 and 2014. He led Canada to the past two Winter Olympic gold medals and last year’s World Cup of Hockey title.
McDavid, a 20-year-old Canadian, led the NHL in overall points with 30 goals and 70 assists, sparking the Oilers to their first playoff berth since 2006 and their most points in the NHL standings in 30 years.
He could become only the third player to capture the MVP award before turning 21, joining Crosby and former Oilers legend Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time top scorer.
Bobrovsky, a 28-year-old Russian, led all NHL goalies with a 2.06 goals-against average and a save rate of 93.1 percent to backstop the Blue Jackets to their first 50-win campaign in franchise history. He had 41 wins, seven of them shutouts, in 63 starts and is also a finalist for the Vezina Trophy of the NHL’s top goaltender.
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