For the first few months of the season, the only real debate about who would win the Hart Trophy award was whether you were a Connor McDavid backer or Leon Draisaitl backer.

You could make a cogent argument for both because they were putting up about 2.0 points per game and it really boiled down to whether you thought Draisaitl’s gaudy goal total set him apart from the unequivocal best player in the world. And there was an additional easy argument to make for either one: The Edmonton Oilers were looking really good.

Through the end of November, the Oilers were tops in the league by points percentage, and while their 5-on-5 numbers certainly left a lot to be desired (they were 14th in the league and under 50 percent by expected goal share) their continued dominance on the power play was plenty to get them through. 

They were putting up north of 10 expected goals per 60 minutes on the man advantage, which is an absurd number, and their all-situations goaltending was top-10 in the league. So, no problems.