Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
When this season started, it was clear that Ovechkin’s head was elsewhere. He had a super slow start to the season, and drew the critical eye of many people in the sporting world. It appeared that at the half way point, Ovechkin was able to wake up and place the Capitals on his back, carrying them to another Southeast Division title, and into the playoffs. Alex Ovechkin is more of the sniper type of player, netting 56 points (32 goals, 24 assists) 48 games. As previously mentioned, he tied Crosby for 3rd in scoring. Ovechkin seemed to score a ton of big goals down the stretch for Washington, and also picked up his physical play in a defensive role. In his final 29 games, Ovechkin had 41 points (22 goals, 19 assists) helping the Capitals go 20-7-2 during that stretch. If Crosby was great on the power play this season, there is no word for how good Ovechkin was. Oveckin led the league with 16 goals on the power play, and he added 11 assists. It is hard to argue against Ovechkin’s accomplishments to get the Caps into the playoffs. Even looking at the team as a whole, both Ribeiro and Backstrom also had good years at a point per game or better, but Ovechkin’s role and importance to the Capitals can never be stressed enough.