Does Rick Nash need to improve to merit Hart Trophy consideration?

Anyone that has seen Rick Nash at any great length this season knows he’s playing at a Hart Trophy level. Despite his play however, he’s ‘only’ 16^th in total points. Everyone knows the major award decision makers usually –heavily– favour the point producers; it’s how Erik Karlsson has a Norris trophy in his cabinet after all. With that in mind, what does Rick Nash have to do to be in the running for the game’s most prestigious individual prize? In short, he needs to get even better.

If Nash merely matches his production from the first half of the season he’ll likely set career highs in goals and points (currently has career highs of 41 goals and 79 points). Despite playing a strong two way game all year and having been remarkably consistent, Nash will need to smash his previous offensive totals. Take a look at the past four Hart winners.

Last year Sid Crosby had 104 points, while in the lockout shortened season of 2012-13 Alex Ovechkin had 56 points which would have equated to 95 points over a full year. A year earlier and Evgeni Malkin had 109 points to take home the Hart trophy while Corey Perry won the award in 2010-11 with 50 goals and 98 points. Given the previous winners’ offensive numbers, Nash would have to do something quite remarkable to win it without having a stunning second half of the season and beat has previous career high by at least 16 points.

As of now, Nash certainly deserves to be in the mix. He’s leading the league in goals, he’s the dominant player on a contending team, and he’s on course to having a career year offensively. His actual on ice performances are consistently impressive, but to be in the mix for the Hart (and Ted Lindsay) Trophy he needs other worldly numbers and he needs to reach a level that he’s never reached before.

If Nash is in the Hart Trophy mix come the end of the season, it will mean the Rangers have had a strong second half, it will mean Nash has continued to dominate the box scores, and it should bode well for the Rangers’ playoff chances. Nash being in the Hart mix may be a statistical tall order but it would be a win-win scenario for everyone involved with the Rangers.