As we approach the mid-season, we are going to have a look at the player on each team who I believe has stood out from the rest of their team and should be the MVP to this point.

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Anaheim – Troy Terry

Terry leads the team in goals (12), assists (21) and points (33) after the first 41 games. He is second in shots on goal (118) to Frank Vatrano (119) and has averaged just over 20 minutes per game.

The way Mason McTavish has played recently (11-5-7-12), could have him leap frog Terry by the end of the season if he maintains it, but not quite yet.

Trevor Zegras hasn't quite hit on cylinders this year and sits at 12 goals and 19 assists in 41 games, which puts him on pace for about 60 points again, just like the 61 he had last season. He is certainly capable of ramping it up and putting up a point per game.

Arizona – Jakob Chychrun

Even though he has only played in 23 games this year and missed 16 because of injury, Chychrun has been a level above the rest of his teammates since getting back into the lineup. He has 18 points in 23 games, with 35 hits and 34 blocked shots while averaging 22:43 per game.

Honorable mention should go to  Shayne Gostisbehere who has nine goals and 17 assists in 39 games and is on pace for 15 plus goals and perhaps a 50-point season. Clayton Keller (39-14-23-37) who could surpass his career-high of 65 points this season also deserves mention.

Calgary – Elias Lindholm

Lindholm is unlikely to get to the 40-goal plateau again this year after he had 42 last season. He has still managed 13 goals and 24 assists in 40 games which is about a 74-point pace. He has also been very good in the faceoff circle (56.3%) and kills penalties 41.8 percent of the time.

Just behind Lindholm are Nazem Kadri and Rasmus Andersson. Kadri hasn't put up the same offensive numbers he did in Colorado last year, but is still on pace for 30 goals and 30 assists while leading the team in shots on goal with 134.

Andersson continues to improve and is on pace for 10 goals and 46 assists, while averaging 24:54 each night. Much like Lindholm, Andersson is an important penalty killer as well.

Chicago – Patrick Kane

It is quite arguable that there isn't a player on the Blackhawks team who should be picked here. If I have to pick someone it is Patrick Kane, who is second to Max Domi in points (37-7-20-27) but leads in shots on goal with 133 and has averaged 19:55 per night.

Seth Jones is the next player on the roster who could be considered even though he has missed nine games and has struggled to produce with just two goals and 11 assists in 29 games to go along with a minus 22.

Max Domi deserves some sort of recognition for leading the team in goals with 12 and points with 28 after playing 39 games. He is on pace for 24-25 goals and 32-34 assists in his first and perhaps only season in Chicago.

Colorado – Mikko Rantanen

I don't think at the end of the year if Nathan MacKinnon plays more than 60 games that it won't be him here, but at the mid-season mark, I'd have to go with Mikko Rantanen. He has 26 goals and 22 assists in 38 games and leads the team in shots on goal with 149. The most important aspect to his season so far, is that Rantanen still produced in the 11 games that MacKinnon has missed, where Rantanen had eight goals and 14 points.

Honorable mentions to MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Alexandar Georgiev. MacKinnon has 10 goals and 38 points in 28 games, while Makar has 10 goals and 37 points in 38 games. Georgiev has taken over the 1A role in goal and has a record of 16-10-3 with a save percentage of 91.6 and a GSAA of 9.93 on a team that has been decimated by injuries which lacked depth to begin with.

Dallas – Jason Robertson

This is one of the more obvious picks from this list as Jason Robertson has separated himself from his teammates and become the best skater in this lineup. He has 28 goals and 29 assists in 41 games, which puts him on pace for 56 goals and 58 assists. He has 167 shots on goal, with the next Dallas player being Miro Heiskanen at 103.

Honorable mentions to Roope Hintz, Joe Pavelski, Jamie Benn,  Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger.

Hintz has put himself on pace to get 38 goals and 50 assists if he can stay healthy, while Pavelski is on pace for 24 goals and 54 assists. Both Hintz (52.3%) and Pavelski (52.6%) are proficient in the faceoff circle.

Benn has had a resurgent season and is on pace for 30 goals and 44 assists, while being the best at faceoffs on this team at 60.9 percent.

Heiskanen has found his production from the playoff bubble a few years back and is on pace for 12 goals and 48 assists, while averaging 25:17 per night.

Oettinger has a record of 18-6-3, with a save percentage of 92.2 and a GSAA of 14.51. He has become a top five goalie in this league.

Edmonton – Connor McDavid

The Oilers have had a disappointing record so far this year, but we can't pin any of that on Connor McDavid who is on pace for 66 goals and 86 assists and 152 points after 41 games. He has even started to kill penalties a little more often than in previous years at 22.1 percent of the time. Not only is he the MVP of the Oilers but he is the MVP of the West and the NHL.

As usual, just behind McDavid is Leon Draisaitl who is quietly on pace for 44 goals and 80 assists after 39 games. Draisaitl has always been a fantastic passer, but it is interesting to see his secondary assists are well down this year at 20.0 percent down from 40.0 to 43.4 percent in each of the prior four seasons. His shots on goal have gone down slightly from 3.5/g to 3.3 from last year.

Los Angeles – Kevin Fiala

I have Kevin Fiala just slightly ahead of Anze Kopitar, who just doesn't slow down at the age of 35.

Fiala has had an uncharacteristic good start to the season with 42 points in 43 games which puts him on pace to come close to last season's 85 points he had in Minnesota. He leads the Kings in shots on goal with 131 but is only shooting 9.9% which has him at 13 goals.

Kopitar still averages more than 20 minutes per game and is on pace for 20 goals and 41 assists, while dominating in the faceoff circle with a 58.2 winning percentage. He is still an important penalty killer averaging 34.8 percent of the time, which is his lowest time since 2014-15.

Minnesota – Kirill Kaprizov

Kirill Kaprizov is another fairly obvious choice after the first half, with 23 goals and 25 assists in 39 games, which puts him on pace for 45-47 goals and 50-52 assists and perhaps another season with 100 points and a chance for 50 goals. He leads the Wild with 158 shots on goal and is averaging 20:49 per game.

Honorable mention goes to Joel Eriksson Ek who not only is a stellar defensive player but he has found an offensive component to his game this year and last. He is on pace for perhaps a 30-goal and 30-assist season, all with OZ starts at 37.2 percent. I wrote this article about the difficulty of players producing who have OZ starts at less than 40 percent.

Nashville – Roman Josi

It was pretty unlikely that Roman Josi was going to duplicate his 96-point season from last year. He has been very good still even though he is only on pace for 18-20 goals and 44-46 assists this year.

Honorable mentions go to Filip Forsberg and Juuse Saros. Forsberg had a career-year last season with 42 goals and 42 assists in 69 games and this season he is on pace for 30-32 goals and 42-44 assists.

Saros has been very good with a record of 14-10-5 and a save percentage of 91.8 and a GSAA of 12.11. He has been one of the most consistent goalies in the NHL over the past three seasons.

San Jose – Erik Karlsson

I can't say that I saw this one coming, but Erik Karlsson has been excellent this season and more importantly he has been healthy and not missed a game yet.

Karlsson is on pace for 26 goals and 82 assists and 108 points after 41 games, which would be an incredible season and win him the Norris Trophy, which is something I don't think many figured he would even come close to winning again.

The only other player on a struggling Shark's team would be Timo Meier who is on pace for 46 goals and 34 assists after 41 games after last season when he had 35 goals and 41 assists. He becomes a restricted free agent next season, so the Sharks are going to have to break the bank to re-sign him.

Seattle – Adam Larsson

This might be my most controversial take on this list, but Adam Larsson has had an excellent season with Seattle and is everything in a right shot defender that the Edmonton Oilers would hope to have right now.

Larsson has never been a point producer, but this season he is on pace for 8-10 goals and 25-27 assists, all while putting up 106 hits and 79 blocked shots in his first 38 games. He has averaged 24:03 per night and kills penalties 61.4 percent of the time. The only knock I can see is that he has been a little sheltered in his OZ starts at 61.1 but it seems to suit him.

Honorable mentions go to Matty Beniers, Vince Dunn and Jordan Eberle.

Beniers is having an excellent rookie season and is on pace to get 28-30 goals and 32-34 assists and be the favorite to win the Calder Trophy this year.

Dunn is sheltered with Larsson, but has blossomed with 57 hits and 41 blocked shots in 38 games while being on pace for 12-13 goals and 40-42 assists this year. He's averaged a career-high 23:39 as the coaches continue to increase their trust in him.

Eberle was stuck between 16 and 21 goals and 33 and 44 points in each of the four years prior. This season he is on pace for 18-20 goals and 62-64 points.

St. Louis – Jordan Kyrou

Jordan Kyrou had a very rough start to this season and I would not have bet that he would be in this position at the mid-season mark. In his first 11 games this year he had three goals and one assist and was a minus 17. Since then he has had 16 goals and 18 assists in 27 games and is on pace for 40 goals and 40 assists.

Honorable mention to Pavel Buchnevich who has missed nine games this year and has 13 goals and 20 assists in 32 games, which puts him on pace for 74-75 points in 73 games.

Vancouver – Elias Pettersson

I looked at Elias Pettersson on a game by game basis a few weeks back and was impressed at his consistency this season. Of his 37 games this season, he has had only two or three off-games, whereas the rest he was engaged and played well.

He is on pace for 36-38 goals and 58-60 assists this year and has a chance to get to the 100-point mark. He's become one of the better options for Vancouver as a penalty killer and has seen his usage go from 13.5 percent to 38.9 this year.

The only other honorable mentions on the Canucks are Bo Horvat and Quinn Hughes.

Horvat continues to defy logic and now has 29 goals in 39 games and is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. He is on pace for 58-60 goals and 30-32 assists which is insane for a player with a career-high of 31 goals and 61 points who has played eight years in the league.

Hughes deserves a mention because his value transcends some of the stats that don't show up on the page. He is on pace for another campaign with 65-70 points while averaging around 25 minutes per game. I don't think people realize that as he has become less sheltered (from 62.8% OZ starts in his rookie year to 52.4 this year), he has embraced it and flourished. He skates or passes this team out of trouble from their own end more than anyone else on this team.

Vegas – Jack Eichel

When Vegas traded for Jack Eichel, they hoped he would be their best player and that is what they have got so far this season even though he has missed 13 games. He is on pace for 35 goals and 40 assists in 69 games if he remains healthy from here out.

Honorable mentions go to Alex Pietrangelo, Chandler Stephenson, Mark Stone and rookie Logan Thompson

Pietrangelo has missed nine games this year but has still managed 28 points in 33 games, along with 38 hits and 86 blocked shots while averaging 24:36 per night. He is on pace for 10-12 goals and 50-52 assists in 73 games.

There was a question last year with Chandler Stephenson's production of 21 goals and 43 assists that it might have been reliant on who Stephenson played with rather than him being able to generate it on his own. I think that his 40 points in 42 games and pace for 22 goals and 58 assists has proven that he can produce to a certain level no matter who he plays with.

Stone only played 37 games last season and he appears to be 100% healthy from any back issues that he had dealt with in prior years. He is such a strong two-way player and his presence makes Vegas a much better team than without him. He is on pace for 34-35 goals and 40-42 assists.

Thompson has been good for the Golden Knights and sometimes that is all the better teams need in this league. They don't need you to steal games, they just need you to not lose a game. Thompson has a record of 18-10-1 with a save percentage of 91.4 and a GSAA of 7.51.

Winnipeg – Connor Hellebuyck

Connor Hellebuyck has been perhaps the best goalie in the league this season after the first half. He has a record of 20-9-1 with a save percentage of 92.8 and a GSAA of 22.58. He is the reason that the Jets are near the top of the league so far.

Aside from Hellebuyck, we would need to consider Josh Morrissey, Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Morrissey is having an unbelievable season so far with seven goals and 39 assists in 40 games which puts him on pace for 14 goals and 78 assists for an unbelievable 92 point season. I'm sure he will slow down, but it's hard to believe his career-high was only 37 points before.

Connor had a slow start to the season with only two goals in his first 14 games. Since then he has had 18 goals in 26 games and is on pace for 40 goals and 58 assists and possibly a 100 point season. I had pegged him to be a possible 50-goal scorer this season as he had 47 last year, which is still a possibility because of his recent success.

Dubois is set to become a restricted free agent next season and is looking for a significant raise on his $6 million that he currently earns. His 19 goals and 28 assists in 40 games put him on pace for 38 goals and 56 assists which will do just that.

Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know below and/or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.