My ballot's included here. I am being criticized for excluding MacKinnon; I fully expect to be criticized for excluding McDavid as well.

Neither decision was easy. I had an eight-person shortlist (which also included Brad Marchand) and all the players were tightly grouped. 1/5 https://twitter.com/ThePHWA/status/1308210258272280576

I don't mind the criticism.

MacKinnon had an amazing year. It's why I had him ahead of McDavid in the All Star voting and why he was my choice for the Byng.

Colorado had a 61% goal share when he was on the ice. He scored 93 points. He was exceptional. 2/5

What drives me nuts is the idea that this was a slam dunk.

Draisaitl had a 17-point edge in the scoring race.

Panarin scored 95 points while being centered by Ryan Strome, with the Rangers averaging more than 4 goals per hour while he was on the ice at 5v5.

3/5

Pastrnak scored 48 goals, which led the NHL. Boston outscored the opposition at a 2:1 clip when he was on the ice at 5v5. Josi was the NHL's best defencemen - and defencemen are constantly and unfairly overlooked for this award. 4/5

If you want to slam me for that five-person ballot, fill your boots. I don't think there's a clear and obvious winner in the pack, and I don't understand those who do. There were too many great performances this year, too many great players separated by a razor-thin margin. 5/5

P.S. I neglected to mention Connor Hellebuyck here, who was very much in the mix for the top spot when I sat down to put my ballot together. Goalies also tend to be unfairly overlooked in the Hart discussion, and he was the league's best in 2019-20 by a significant margin.