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In this edition of the hotstove we share our picks for the 2015-16 Rocket Richard winner.
Todd Cordell: Alexander Ovechkin
I have to go with Ovechkin here. He's the league's best volume shooter and he's extremely durable. That's a good recipe for scoring a lot of goals.
With a very good supporting cast that features the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Evgeni Kuznetsov and Justin Williams, among others, he should have no problem getting good looks and filling the net.
Tim Chiasson: Tyler Seguin
The easy choice is Alexander Ovechkin, but I like Seguin for the award this year.
Seguin has back to back 37 goal seasons and if he stays healthy he's due for another monster season - one where I think he pushes for the Richard Trophy.
He's a great shooter and has some fantastic teammates riding shotgun with him. Tyler Seguin is going to get his chances to score and I think he's going to capitalize on them more than usual this year.
Michael Pachla: Alexander Ovechkin
There's no reason, outside of injury, why Alexander Ovechkin shouldn't win his fourth consecutive Rocket Richard Trophy. The cherry-picking, shot-machine who's lead the league in shots on goal every year save for the square peg/round hole Bruce Boudreau/Dale Hunter 2011-12 season, will be on a team loaded for bear.
Probably the only question for him is whether he can eclipse the 400 shot mark, something he hasn't done since he sent the rubber flying to the net 528 times in 2008-09. Ovechkin's shooting percentage since the Boudreau/Hunter defense-first boondoggle has been close to 13% on average so 400 shots at that rate puts him over 50 goals for the third consecutive year. Maybe Steven Stamkos or Connor McJesus can give him a run, but methinks "The Great Eight" gets it done.
James Tanner: Alexander Ovechkin
Much like the Calder question, the only reason it goes to someone other than the obvious candidate is because of injury.
Should Ovechkin approximate anything close to a full season, he's far and away the most likely to win the award. He shot 91 times more than anyone else last season. That is crazy.
Should Ovechkin falter for some reason, the leading goal scorer will be Taylor Hall. This is a guy who if healthy could win the award anyways, but he'll now have McDavid as well as other lines on his team that can score.
There should be way more league-wide hype for a McDavid/ Hall combo. I predict they're the best line in the league by October 10th.
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