Friedman: "Price has my vote" right now for Hart Trophy

Elliotte Friedman was on Buffalo’s WGR 550 on Wednesday morning.

On if he thinks Carey Price should be considered for the Hart Trophy, with both hosts thinking John Tavares should be the leader right now:

“Well, I have a vote and I think this is a wide-open year. I think there’s about six guys you can vote for where if you said to me, ‘He’s getting my vote,’ I would say, ‘Okay.’

“One is Rick Nash of the Rangers. One is Tavares for sure. One is Price. One is Ryan Getzlaf. You know what? Ovechkin. He’s going to run away with the Rocket Richard Trophy and he’s having a really good year under Barry Trotz. There was a time I thought Pekka Rinne was in it for awhile. He kind of dropped out. I thought maybe Byfuglien might be in for awhile, but I think he’s kind of dropped out.

“I mean, I just named five guys right there and there’s probably more you could throw into it.

“Right now, I’m going to say that Price has my vote.

“That can change, but it’s a tough one for me because a goalie doesn’t play every game, but if you look at minutes played. They’re up there because they play just about every minute of every game they’re in.

“I haven’t set my final vote yet right now guys, but I’m leaning towards Price because I see a lot of Montreal - they might not be a playoff team with average goaltending. Or they’re going to be close, put it that way. They’re going to be really close with average goaltending. He has carried them through stretches of the season, not just last night.”

(Host makes a lengthy case for Tavares to win)

“The thing that happens here – and this is part of the problem the way people react to voting – they look at it is, ‘Oh well, if you don’t vote for my guy, either you hate my guy or you’re prejudiced against my guy or you’re demeaning my guy.

“... I’m not trying to demean John Tavares by saying I’m voting for Price right now. I agree with everything you say there. John Tavares is a phenomenal player.

“And I’ll tell you something else. Not only is he an MVP candidate in the way he plays, but that contract he took from the Islanders – he left an awful lot of money on the table. And to me, if you’re happy and you want to do that – hey, fine. That’s your decision. I’ve got no problem with that. But how much business do you think the Islanders are able to do as a non-high revenue team because Tavares took that deal? I mean, that’s something else too.

“I don’t disagree with a single word you said. John Tavares is one of the best players in the National Hockey League and the cornerstone of that franchise. I think if I was to vote for Carey Price instead John Tavares, I don’t think anybody should take that as an insult on Tavares. I think we’ve just named two people that without them on their team, their organizations would be lost.”

On how the next few weeks will help decide voters’ minds:

“Yeah. And I mean, I watched that game last night - Islanders-Rangers. I’ve got to tell you – Rick Nash? He is just as important right now to the Rangers as Tavares is to the Islanders. To me, Nash was the best player on the ice last night.”

Source: WGR 550/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

Related: Friedman's 30 Thoughts

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