Hart: The reporter who voted for Nick Suzuki in the first round defends her choice

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Hart: The reporter who voted for Nick Suzuki in the first round defends her choice
Credit: Matt Garies/NHLI via Getty Images

Earlier this week, it was announced that Nikita Kucherov had won the Hart Trophy. The Lightning forward, who went on a tear in the second half of the season, edged out Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon in a very, very close race.

And that's not even counting Macklin Celebrini, who could have closed in on the top three if he had led his team to the playoffs.

But beyond those four players, there's another who received a first-place vote: Nick Suzuki. We didn't know who had voted for the Habs forward… until last night.

And in the end, it was Sammi Silber, a Washington-based reporter for The Hockey News, who cast her first-place vote for Suzuki. And via her social media, she made a point of explaining her choice.

Her reasoning? She based her decision on how valuable a player is to his team, and she believes that Suzuki's season—101 points while winning the Selke Trophy and leading his team to a strong campaign—best met that criterion.

She also adds that Suzuki was a key player who helped Cole Caufield reach the 50-goal mark while also helping Juraj Slafkovský take his game to another level.

And in fact, these are valid points. You have to distinguish between “most valuable player” and “best player” to understand what she's saying.

Silber also adds that, in her view, the voting was extremely close this year. She states, however, that she stands by her decision to consider Suzuki the most valuable player to his team this season, which is why she gave him her first-place vote.

It's worth noting that the Habs' captain did not receive a single other vote in the top three of the poll. His teammate Cole Caufield, however, received three (two second-place votes and one third-place vote).


In a nutshell

– What do you think?

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– News from the Blue Jays.

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