McDavid ahead of MacKinnon in race for Hart Trophy

To mark the completion of the first quarter of the 2018-19 regular season, NHL.com is running its second installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Hart Trophy, the annual award given "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association in all NHL cities at the end of the regular season.

No player in the NHL this season is having a greater impact on his team's offensive production than Connor McDavid.
McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers captain, is NHL.com's favorite for the Hart Trophy, given to the player voted NHL most valuable player, at the quarter mark of the season. He has a hand in 51.6 percent of the Oilers' goals (32 of 62) and is third in the NHL with 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists).
But it's not enough.
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Ken Hitchcock, Edmonton's new coach, thinks McDavid can do even more to help the Oilers climb the standings in the Pacific Division after a difficult start to the season that featured a coaching change, from Todd McLellan to Hitchcock, on Wednesday.
"He's an awesome player, but he has an awesome responsibility and it's not just scoring goals and getting point and stuff like that," Hitchcock said in his first press conference as the Oilers coach. "He sets the competitive tone of the hockey club. I can really help him. I've been through some really good players who learned to adapt and do those things. I can help him along there and get him to understand what his responsibility is because he's carrying too much of the burden. He needs to lighten the load a little bit and I can help him do that stuff."

Lightening the load doesn't mean lightening the production. Hitchcock, in fact, plans to use McDavid every second shift as often as he can in games that feature consistent 5-on-5 play.
"His recovery rate cardio-wise is astounding," Hitchcock said. "He's able to get back up to speed quickly on the bench. That's something we've got to take advantage of.
"My focus is going to be building his game from our end out. He needs to have the puck more."
McDavid, who has always felt he played a consistent two-way game, is on board.
"He expects everyone to be responsible defensively and that's my main goal," McDavid said.
Hitchcock said he wants McDavid to expand his "value system." By that he means using his best assets, in McDavid's case speed, to his advantage all over the ice.
"It's understanding that speed is a great weapon, not many players have it, but if you use it without the puck you become more effective," Hitchcock said. "If you use it with the attitude that you can create pressure turnovers and mistakes and you're able to buy into that you become a great player right away because you have an impact. You make the other player nervous not only when you have the puck, but when they have the puck."
Hitchcock used Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin and Hall of Famer Mike Modano, two of his former players, as examples of players who bought into that value system under him and became improved end-to-end players without sacrificing any of their offense.
Seguin last season had 78 points (40 goals, 38 assists), his second highest point total in his eight full NHL seasons. Modano arguably had his five most consistent seasons in a row as an all-around threat under Hitchcock from 1996-2001.
McDavid is already a two-time 100-point player, two-time Art Ross Trophy winner and a Hart Trophy winner.
"Seguin bought in and was very effective. Modano bought in and was very effective," Hitchcock said. "The way Connor is, he's already two-thirds of the way there."
The possibility for McDavid to generate even more offense off his defense is a big reason why Hitchcock will keep Leon Draisaitl on his line for now.

"If I was the opposition, I'd scared to death because you make one bobble and they're gone," Hitchcock said. "If I can convince him that he can create unbelievable pressure even when the other team has the puck, it's going to be effective."
A panel of 17 NHL.com writers voted for the winner of the Hart Trophy after the first quarter of the season. McDavid came out on top with 56 points, getting four place votes. Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon also got four first-place votes and is second with 48 points. Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak is third with 38 points and three first-place votes.
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis): Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers, 56 points (four first-place votes); Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche, 48 points (four first-place votes), David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins, 38 points (three first-place votes), Mikko Rantanen, Avalanche, 31 points (three first-place votes); Patrice Bergeron, Bruins, 26 points (two first-place votes); John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs, 22 points (one first-place vote); Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets, 13 points; Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning, 6 points; Mitchell Marner, Maple Leafs, 3 points; Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks, 2 points; Taylor Hall, New Jersey Devils, 2 points; Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers, 2 points; Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers, 2 points; Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators, 1 point; Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs, 1 point; Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes, 1 point; Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets, 1 point; Max Domi, Montreal Canadiens, 1 point