2023 Hart Trophy winner debated by NHL.com

The 2023 NHL Awards will be held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Monday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS). A total of 11 award winners will be announced at the ceremony, and the General Manager of the Year winner will be announced during the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Wednesday, also in Nashville.

In the lead-up to the events, NHL.com writers will debate who they think should win most of the awards. Today, staff writers Derek Van Diest, Tom Gulitti and William Douglas debate the Hart Trophy, which is given annually "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team," as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

The three finalists this year are Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins.

Van Diest: I'm not sure there can be much debate about this award, but I know Tom and William will make good cases to counter McDavid should not win. But in reality, how can this award go to anyone but the Oilers captain? The numbers are staggering when you look at what the 26-year-old center accomplished this season. McDavid had 153 points (64 goals, 89 assists) in 82 games and became the third player in NHL history to lead in points, goals and assists in one season. Phil Esposito did it with the Boston Bruins in 1972-73 and Wayne Gretzky did it with the Oilers in 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85 and 1986-87. McDavid won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL leading goal-scorer for the first time and posted the 15th highest scoring season in League history. Only three players finished with more points than McDavid in one season: Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux and Gretzky. The top 13 spots on the list are owned by Gretzky and Lemieux. McDavid was also the first player in NHL history to put together three separate point streaks of at least 15 games this season. With numbers like that, it would be hard to imagine anyone but Connor McDavid winning Hart Trophy this year.

Gulitti: As Derek said, it's difficult to make a case against McDavid, so I won't try. Instead, I'll make the case for Tkachuk, who transformed the Panthers' identity more than any single player has for a team, that I can remember, since Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988. Sure, Florida won the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top team during the regular season, but it needed to change its identity from a finesse, skill team to one that also worked hard, played with grit and did not back down. Tkachuk brought all these much-needed elements with him when he was acquired in a trade with the Calgary Flames on July 22. Florida followed the 25-year-old forward's lead and the payoff came in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is a regular-season award, so I guess that doesn't matter, but you could also argue the Panthers, who qualified as the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, would not have done that without Tkachuk. In addition to the leadership and attitude change he brought with his brash, defiant style, the 25-year-old tied for sixth in the NHL with 109 points (40 goals, 69 assists) in 79 games. That not only topped his previous NHL career-high of 104 points (42 goals, 62 assists) last season but was 31 points/40 percent more than Aleksander Barkov, who was second on the Panthers with 78 points (23 goals, 55 points). To compare, McDavid had 25 points/19.5 percent more center Leon Draisaitl (128 points; 52 goals, 76 assists) for the Oilers lead, further demonstrating how valuable Tkachuk was to his team, which is what this award is about.

Douglas: Ah, there's always room for debate, Derek and Tom. Pastrnak is deserving because he was the best offensive player on a Bruins team that established an NHL record for wins (65-12-5) and points (135) during the regular season. Yes, Pastrnak's 113 points (61 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games was third in the NHL behind McDavid and Draisaitl, but there are other things to consider. The 27-year-old forward led the League in even-strength goals (43), game-winning goals (13), overtime goals (four) and shots (407). He scored his 15th career hat trick and 300th NHL goal in a 5-3 win at the Philadelphia Flyers on April 9, placing him second in Boston history behind Phil Esposito (26). McDavid has 12 career hat tricks.

Van Diest: Two very valid arguments from Tom and William, who each make a great case for Tkachuk and Pastrnak. Each was incredibly valuable to his team and that's what this award is about. But I look at McDavid's 153 points and wonder where the Oilers would have been without them. Edmonton scored 325 goals this season, the most in the League, and McDavid was in on 47.1 percent of them. That is unbelievable. By comparison, Tkachuk was in on 37.8 percent of the 288 goals Florida scored and Pastrnak was in on 37.5 percent of the 301 goals Boston scored. If you take nearly half of their offense away, the Oilers are not a playoff team nor Stanley Cup contenders. McDavid had one of the best regular seasons of any player in the NHL, and the scariest part is he's only going to get better. Tkachuk and Pastrnak should be commended on excellent seasons, but in my opinion, each is a distant second to what McDavid means to Edmonton.

Gulitti: I'll concede that Derek's opinion will probably be the prevailing one when the winner is announced Monday. Again, it's difficult to argue against a player who had an all-time season statistically, as McDavid did. But as mentioned previously, Tkachuk's importance to the Panthers went far beyond his statistics, though he did lead them in assists, points, plus-minus rating (plus-29), penalty minutes (123), even-strength points (72; 26 goals, 46 assists), power-play points (36; 14 goals, 22 assists) and shots on goal (322) and tied Barkov for the team lead with six game-winning goals. Tkachuk almost singlehandedly changed the attitude Florida played with and his leadership on and off the ice set the tone for the success it had in the playoffs. As forward Sam Reinhart said of Tkachuk after the Panthers lost the deciding Game 5 of the Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, "He's the heart and soul right from the start."

Douglas: It's tough to argue against McDavid, but there's no argument Pastrnak is a worthy first-time Hart candidate. He statistically led the NHL's second-ranked offense (3.67 goals per game) which contributed to the Bruins running away with the best regular-season record in the League. Only two NHL players reached the 60-goal plateau this season: McDavid and Pastrnak. His game-winning goals and even strength goals speak to his importance to Boston and his stature among the League's elite players. Expect to hear Pastrnak and McDavid in the Hart conversation for many seasons, especially after Pastrnak signed an eight-year, $90 million contract (average annual value $11.25 million) that runs through the 2030-31 season.