NHL MVP Poll

Here is the poll results for NHL MVP for the first half of the season.

Vincent Lecavalier 26%
Daniel Alfredsson 2%
Sidney Crosby 29%
Mats Sundin 26%
Henrik Zetterberg 5%
Pascal Leclaire 5%
Ilya Kovalchuk 11%
Henrik Lundqvist 0%

No one player has stood out above the crowd so its a tough choice. Though I think the poll reflects a large number of Leafs fans based on the number of votes going to Sundin. Although Sundin is having a terrific year, he clearly is not the best player this season.

Also I have certain biases when it comes to MVP. I give less weight to players on non-playoff contenders. So Lacavalier, Kovalchuk and Sundin could make a stronger case if they were carrying their respective teams into a playoff spot. Sill Lecavalier is leading the league in points and on pace to score 120 points. Kovalchuk leads in goals scored and on pace to score 66.

Crosby would be leading the league in points but he is playing with two mediocre players. Ryan Malone has only 14 points so far this season and Colby Armstrong has 13. I've never seen a superstar play with such weak linemates. Otherwise Crosby would easily have 60 points my now.

For me the strongest cases for MVP are Alfredsson and Zetterberg. Both Detroit and Ottawa lead their conferences and Alfredsson and Zetterberg are big reasons for their teams success. As good as Sundin has been for Toronto, Alfredsson has played that much better for Ottawa. He is having a career year and without him I'm not so sure how well Ottawa would be doing.