Could Andrei Svechnikov Win the Art Ross Trophy in 2019-20?

Andrei Svechnikov is off to a hot start for the Carolina Hurricanes this season, to say the least. Could he go on to win the Art Ross Trophy in 2019-20?

Andrei Svechnikov is good. Very good, in fact. Last week, he scored the first ‘lacrosse style’ goal in NHL history. A goal is a goal on the stats sheet, but that specific goal was special, in that it kickstarted a comeback against the Calgary Flames (that Svechnikov himself then completed), but the impact it had on the Carolina Hurricanes in that game was immediately palpable. The rest of the team responded right away, and were absolutely buzzing the rest of the game.

The insane goal of the year candidate aside, Svechnikov has scored 6 goals and 9 assists for a combined 15 points in 14 games played so far this season. This puts him squarely at 22nd in the league in scoring points as of the writing of this article.

22nd in the league isn’t a bad spot to be in, especially in your sophomore season in the NHL. Andrei Svechnikov is special, and could easily overtake more than a few spots above him if he and the Carolina Hurricanes continue their winning ways.

This leads directly into the titular question: can Andrei Svechnikov win the Art Ross Trophy this season? To answer the question, we must first look at his competition, and their likelihood to continue scoring. Directly ahead of Svechnikov are the likes of David Perron, Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Ryan O’Reilly, and our very own Dougie Hamilton.

Even further ahead are Brock Boeser, Auston Matthews, your usual heavy hitters like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Connor McDavid, just to name a very few. Sitting atop the leaderboard is David Pastrnak, with 13 goals, and 14 assists for a combined 27 points in 13 (!!!!) games played.

For Svechnikov to surpass these players would take a monumental amount of effort, both on his behalf, and on behalf of the entire Carolina Hurricanes’ roster. Scoring is very rarely ever an individual effort. This isn’t to say that the Canes aren’t scoring; they absolutely are, but they are scoring almost evenly as a team instead of having one or two particular standouts.

This season, Andrei Svechnikov may very well supplant some, or at least more than a few, of these players in the leaderboard. As of right now, however, I’d say his chances of winning the Art Ross are slim. The good news is that he is already performing phenomenally for someone yet to turn 20 years old, and has plenty of tremendous offensive years ahead of him.

The Art Ross Trophy, or even the Rocket Richard Trophy may lie in wait for him a few years down the road, however. The kid definitely has the potential to win either as he continues to develop into the superstar we all know he is going to be. I, for one, am beyond excited to watch him continue to grow and score for the Carolina Hurricanes for years to come.

Question for CC Readers: Do you think Andrei Svechnikov could be an Art Ross candidate in the next few years?