BLOG: Draisaitl vying to be League's most outstanding and most valuable

EDMONTON, AB - He's already the recipient of the Art Ross Trophy as the National Hockey League's most productive player, and pretty soon Leon Draisaitl could also hold the title of both most valuable and most outstanding due to his candidacy for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award.

Draisaitl, Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon and New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin are all in the same boat, as the trio is nominated for both honours.

But the Edmonton centre hailing from Germany is on an island of his own. He led the NHL in points (110), assists (67), power-play points (44), multi-point games (33) and average time on ice among forwards (22:37), and could very well swim away with the two accolades. Teammate Ryan Nugent-Hopkins believes he will.

"Most of the time it boils down to who had the best season," Nugent-Hopkins said on Tuesday. "One's voted by the players, the other's not. To be nominated for both is a special thing and my opinion is he's going to win them both."

The Hart Memorial Trophy goes to the player deemed most valuable to his team and votes are made by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA).

The Ted Lindsay Award is given to the most outstanding player in the regular season, as judged by the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA).

Connor McDavid was not as optimistic as his linemate Nugent-Hopkins, joking with the media about their voting rationale.

"I don't know who is going to win but it should be Leon," the Oilers Captain, who finished second in scoring behind Draisaitl with 97 points, said.

"I think the players will get it right and vote Leon but you never know with that media."

Draisaitl would become the first German-born player to win the Hart Trophy and is humbled by the two awards he's up for. Earning the recognition from his peers with the Ted Lindsay Award, however, is a major accomplishment.

"It's a huge honour to all of us to be nominated for both awards," Draisaitl said on a conference call alongside MacKinnon and Panarin on Tuesday.

"It's hard to pick one but getting picked from your opposing players or teammates, that one is special for sure."

For Head Coach Dave Tippett, the debate over which award is more important is a moot point.

"I think you can combine both of them because you can't be most valuable without being outstanding," said the bench boss.

"The first part is being an outstanding player and then you become the most valuable. They kind of go hand-in-hand. When a guy is an outstanding player, he's contributing to the success of the team. He's an outstanding player with good stats but he's also a very, very valuable player to our team. I wouldn't pick one over the other."