Blackhawks: How Patrick Kane Will Win MVP In 2021
The Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane will win the Hart Trophy in 2020-21 for the second time in his NHL career.
Patrick Kane was the first Chicago Blackhawks player to win the Hart Trophy since Stan Mikita did it in 1967-68. That was the last of four straight Hart Trophies won by Blackhawks’ players, where Bobby Hull and Mikita won the Hart Trophy twice between 1965-to-1968.
Just a few years after Kane’s win, I am predicting he will bounce back in a big way and win his second Hart Trophy in his already Hall of Fame career. In 2019-20, Kane failed to reach 100-points, which I predicted he would do. In his defense, he only played in 70-games due to the NHL pause from the COVID-19 pandemic. He was still a point-per-game player, scoring 84-points in that time frame.
Kane has scored 100-points twice in his NHL career, with his career-high being 110-points. He wasn’t even considered a finalist for the award in 2018-19 because the Hawks missed the playoffs. In the games he didn’t score a point, the team lost 15 of those 17-games. That’s just how important he was for the team that season. He finished 8th in the Hart Trophy voting.
Kane failed to score at least 1-point this season in 16-games, with the Hawks winning just 3 of those games. Kane getting on the scoreboard is important if this team is going to win games.
So, in 2020-21, Kane is going to win the Hart Trophy. I’m expecting a big season out of the motivated Kane. Not only did he finally touch the playoffs again for the first time since 2017, but he also failed to produce the way he wanted to. That left a sour taste in the mouth of Kane.
In order for this team to return to the playoffs, Patrick Kane needs to play at an elite level. If this team has a winning record when he puts up points and has a losing record when he doesn’t, that needs to be looked at when the NHL does their voting next season.
The way he wins the Hart Trophy is if the Hawks make the playoffs, he puts up 100-plus points, and he scored 40-goals again. He can carry teams on his back, which is something he’s done throughout his career. Expect the *almost* 32-year-old Kane to have another breakout season in 2021.