It may be premature to start citing my pick for the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player, but I think this season there is little doubt that the most deserving candidate is Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

What Ovechkin's done this season is nothing short of amazing. He's not only the league's leading goalscorer with 46 goals (as of this writing), 7 more than his nearest rival, he's also presently the leading point-getter with 73, one point ahead of Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson.

He's also got 16 power-play goals, only five short of the 21 he had last season, and has 8 game-winners, tying his personal best of last year.

Ovechkin is also on pace for 67 goals, which would not only make him the first player to reach the 60-goal mark since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96, but he's also within striking distance of 70 goals, which would make him the first player to reach that plateau since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny did it back in 1992-93.

He's also perhaps one of the most physical goalscorers in the NHL, one who never shies away from the rough going, willing to take a lot of physical punishment to get himself into a quality scoring opportunity.

The only knock against Ovechkin is that he's not a good playmaker (he only has 27 assists and is on pace for only 39 this season), but that doesn't mean he's a selfish player, merely one built for goalscoring, like Pavel Bure and Maurice Richard.

He's also perhaps the most exciting player in the NHL right now, one that if the league had any sense would start hyping Ovechkin more. He's every bit as talented, exciting and important to the NHL as Sidney Crosby, his only true rival.

Had Crosby not been sidelined by an ankle injury for six weeks, he'd be battling with Ovechkin for the Hart Trophy and it might be a close race, but in the end, it would still be one that Ovechkin would win.

What separates Ovechkin from the pack this season is that his efforts have carried his rebuilding Capitals team into playoff contention.

Two months ago, the Capitals were dead last in the Eastern Conference and considered out of playoff contention. What changed was two things, a new head coach in Bruce Boudreau, and Ovechkin taking his game to another level.

Boudreau's coaching style appealed to the Capitals, especially Ovechkin. Since the coaching change the talented Russian winger has been tearing it up offensively, sometimes winning games for his team almost singlehandedly.

What's even more impressive about Ovechkin's performance this season is that he's done it on a Capitals team that's still lacking depth at almost all positions.

Granted, things are getting better for the Caps this season in that regard. Rookie center Niklas Backstrom is a Calder contender, defenceman Mike Green is emerging as a quality offensive blueliner, and some veteran additions like Michael Nylander and Viktor Kozlov have bolstered the lineup.

But look at Ovechkin's stats compared to his teammates, and it's obvious who's the driving force behind the Capitals battle for a playoff berth. Take him out of the roster, and the Capitals don't get within sniffing distance of the playoffs.

The Capitals still have a lot of work ahead of them and a playoff berth is no guarantee, but I believe Ovechkin deserves the Hart even if the Caps fail to make the playoffs. Nobody is more valuable to his team this season than Ovechkin.