McDavid edges Crosby as preseason favorite for Hart Trophy

To mark the beginning of the 2018-19 regular season, NHL.com is running its first installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Hart Trophy.

The question posed to Connor McDavid was so simple yet so loaded.
What else can you do to help the Edmonton Oilers win?
A doozy considering what we've seen from McDavid and the Oilers the past two seasons.
McDavid, Edmonton's 21-year-old captain, won the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player in the NHL two seasons ago, when he led the League in scoring with 100 points (30 goals, 70 assists) and the Oilers ended a 10-year run without making the Stanley Cup Playoffs by getting in with 103 points. They even won a round.
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Last season, McDavid was better from a personal production standpoint, leading the League with 108 points (41 goals, 67 assists), but the Oilers finished with 78 points and missed the playoffs by 17.
Not even McDavid could salvage the season.
So, again, what else can he do to help the Oilers win?
"I think it's just being the complete player," McDavid said. "You look at all the elite players around the League, the guys that are responsible defensively, the guys that can score at will, they kind of do it all. I think that's something that needs to be a little bit more into my game. I'm trying to work on it -- not cheating, stopping in the 'D' zone, all that kind of stuff."
A panel of 18 NHL.com voters concludes McDavid will do all of it this season, which is why he is the preseason favorite to win the Hart Trophy.

Each voter submitted his or her top five for the Hart Trophy, in order. A point total was assigned to each vote. McDavid received six first-place votes, the most of any player, and edged Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (two first-place votes) by 10 points.
McDavid finished fifth in Hart Trophy voting last season and was the only player from a team that didn't qualify for the playoffs to receive votes.
The Oilers were a solid offensive 5-on-5 team, finishing 11th in the League with 163 goals at 5-on-5. McDavid had a point in 71 of the 5-on-5 goals, scoring 30. However, their problems stemmed from every other area.
Edmonton was last on the power play (14.8 percent), 25th on the penalty kill (76.7 percent), 26th in 5-on-5 goals-against (176) and 27th in total goals-against (262; 3.20 per game).
It's no wonder McDavid talked about defense first.
"The offense will come, but we've got to buy in together as a team to bring the goals against down," McDavid said.
Oilers coach Todd McLellan said he can tell that McDavid feels a sense of responsibility to get the Oilers back into the playoffs. He mentioned the way McDavid is presenting himself to the team, how he's trying to do things right, how he's not cutting corners or cheating in any area just because he's Connor McDavid and probably could get away with it.

"It's impressive at this point," McLellan said.
McDavid's career has certainly been impressive to this point, but if he thinks he's only now working to become a complete player, it's fair to say his best, and Edmonton's best, is yet to come.
"There's a ceiling that he's going to push himself through," McLellan said.
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis): Connor McDavid, Oilers, 52 points (six first-place votes); Sidney Crosby, Penguins, 42 points (two first-place votes); John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs, 30 (three first-place votes); Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs, 21 (two first-place votes); Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning, 19 (one first-place vote); Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche, 19 (one first-place vote); Steven Stamkos, Lightning, 16 (two first-place votes); Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks, 15 (one first-place vote); Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets, 13; Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers, 9; Patrik Laine, Jets; 7; Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators, 6; Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars, 5; Evander Kane, Sharks, 4; Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals, 3; Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres, 3; Taylor Hall, New Jersey Devils, 2; Evgeni Malkin, Penguins, 2; Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings, 1; Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames, 1