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Buffalo Sabres: Jack Eichel’s 2018-19 MVP Odds

By Robert Berger

BUFFALO, NY - APRIL 4: Jack Eichel #15 of the Buffalo Sabres prepares for a faceoff during an NHL game against the Ottawa Senators on April 4, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jack Eichel
BUFFALO, NY - APRIL 4: Jack Eichel #15 of the Buffalo Sabres prepares for a faceoff during an NHL game against the Ottawa Senators on April 4, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jack Eichel /
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Bovada released their odds for the 2018-19 NHL Hart Trophy (MVP) and Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel comes in at 33/1. Dominik Hasek is the only Buffalo Sabre to win the Hart Trophy, winning the award twice in the 1990s.

Here are the top 10 favorites, with not many surprises on the list:

Connor McDavid: 10/3
Sidney Crosby: 13/2
Auston Matthews: 10/1
Alexander Ovechkin: 10/1
John Tavares: 10/1
Taylor Hall: 15/1
Nikita Kucherov: 15/1
Nathan MacKinnon: 15/1
Mark Scheifele: 15/1
Anze Kopitar: 18/1

2017 Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid tops the list at 10/3 coming off a season in which his numbers actually improved from his MVP season and he won his second straight Art Ross trophy but the Edmonton Oilers took a significant step back. There is no reason to think that McDavid will regress however there is not a lot of optimism for an improvement for the Oilers.

John Tavares is getting a lot of respect as expectations are high with his move home to Toronto. Tavares had the second best offensive year of his career last season however he is projected to be the second line center in Toronto behind Auston Matthews who is third on the list at 10/1.

Last year’s Hart Trophy winner, Taylor Hall, gets zero respect at only 15/1. Hall racked up 39 goals and 93 points and will be skating with Nico Hischier who finished 7th in Calder Trophy voting last season.

Alexander Ovechkin was apparently starting the decline of his career, but then last season he led the league in goals for the 7th time and he just missed hitting the 50 goal mark for the 8th time. Ovechkin will be 33 when the season starts and with 604 career goals, cracking the top 5 in NHL career goals is not an impossibility. The two-time Hart Trophy winner is a 10/1 favorite to win the trophy this season.

From a Buffalo Sabres perspective, the main question is Jack Eichel. Eichel is coming off back to back seasons in which he played less than 70 games but still managed to score 20+ goals each year. With the additions of Jeff Skinner, Conor Sheary, plus Casey Mittelstadt’s full season, the expectations are high for Eichel, assuming he can stay healthy. Jeff Skinner can be a wild card too. Skinner has played 77 games or more the last 4 seasons and he has netted 30 goals 3 times in his career and he will be seeing an improvement in the quality of the players that will be on the ice with him.

Next. Buffalo Sabres: 2018-19 national television schedule. dark

Do you think Jack Eichel can be a Hart Trophy finalist? Let us know in the comment section below.

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