Jason Robertson playing like an MVP; eating crow on Tage Thompson

One of these performances is not a surprise, while the other is a pretty massive shock

The Dallas Stars have been my under-the-radar Stanley Cup contender for a couple of years now, and I am really bullish on them this season.

They may not be as deep as a team like Colorado, Tampa Bay, or Carolina, but they are no joke and have some top-tier players that can carry them a long way. At the top of that list is third-year forward Jason Robertson whose game has improved (rapidly, I might add) every year he has been in the league.

A quarter of the way through the 2022-23 season and he is starting to emerge as an early MVP front-runner, if not THE front-runner.

Entering play on Saturday he’s second in the league in scoring behind only Connor McDavid (and he is only a couple of points behind him), has already scored 22 goals in 24 games, is one of the best possession-drivers in the league, and is doing all of this while only playing about 17 minutes per game.

Think about what that means for a second: He has three more goals than McDavid (who is also second in the league in goals) and is only four points back of McDavid in the points race, but has played over 100 fewer minutes on the season. He is not only one of the most dominant players in the league, he is also one of the most efficient.