For the first time this NHL season, someone other than Connor McDavid is the betting favourite to win the Hart Memorial Trophy.

Auston Matthews is the now the consensus top choice.

Matthews officially leapfrogged McDavid at the top of the Hart Trophy board following another brilliant performance on Tuesday night.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs trailing the Seattle Kraken 4-3 near the midway mark of the third, Matthews tied it with his second of the game and 42nd of the season.

After Mitch Marner gave Toronto the lead just 40 seconds later, Matthews iced the game with his 43rd of the season into an empty net, recording his third hat trick of the season.

With a league-leading 43 goals and 75 points in 54 games, Matthews’ MVP outlook has shifted significantly.

At this point, it’s difficult to make a case for why Matthews shouldn’t be MVP.

Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

Matthews continues torrid pace

If you read this column or follow TSN EDGE on Twitter, then you know that last night was another good one for EDGE team.

In Tuesday’s article, I gave out Maple Leafs -1.5 -110 as my best bet for the game against the Kraken.

I also outlined the case for another high-scoring game, which followed taking the over in Toronto’s 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.

The total soared over 6.5 again on Tuesday night, while the over on both team totals cashed.

Toronto has been an absolute over machine in the past few weeks.

The total is 14-4-1 to the over in Maple Leafs’ games dating back to a 4-3 shootout win over the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 26.  

Toronto has averaged a ridiculous 4.36 goals per game over that span – the second-best mark in the league behind only the Florida Panthers (4.43) in that time.

While the Panthers have allowed 3.00 goals per game in that same period, the Maple Leafs have given up a whopping 3.74 goals per game over that span. 

Meanwhile, Matthews continued his torrid pace with his 50th career multi-goal game against Seattle.

That’s the most among all players in the league since Matthews made his NHL debut in 2016-17.

Matthews to score cashed at -110. Matthews to score 2+ also hit at +390.

In terms of the Hart Memorial Trophy futures, the movement was significant.

Matthews went from the second choice to win that award at +350 to the favourite at +200 overnight.

Meanwhile, McDavid’s odds lengthened from +250 to +400 – by far the longest price we have seen for the Oilers’ captain at any point this season.

Vezina Trophy favourite Igor Shesterkin remains the third choice to win the Hart at +500.

Finally, the days of getting Matthews at plus-money to win the Rocket Richard Trophy are a thing of the past.

Matthews, whose 43 goals are five more than Leon Draisaitl for the league lead, is now -200 to lead the NHL in goals scored for the second consecutive season.

There’s no indication he’s about to slow down, either.

Next up, the Maple Leafs will host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

It will be very interesting to see what Matthews’ odds to score 2+ look like and whether we find it again in the 4-to-1 range.

NFL off-season QB carousel begins

Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Nick Foles and Joe Flacco.

That’s the full list of active Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks.

The Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos locked up two of them on Tuesday.

While we still don’t know the official details of Rodgers’ contract with the Packers, we do know that the team was willing to do whatever it takes to bring him back.

The off-season futures movement seemed to reflect that sentiment, as Green Bay opened at +1500 to win the Super Bowl in February but fell as low as +950 to win it all even before Rodgers announced his decision.

As of this morning, the Packers are +750 to win the Super Bowl – only the Buffalo Bills (+700) have shorter odds.

Meanwhile, the futures market also appeared to anticipate the Broncos landing a franchise quarterback.

As of Tuesday morning, Denver was +2200 to win it all.

For perspective, that’s the same price that the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals were listed at.

While the Broncos were apparently never close to a deal for Rodgers, it didn’t take long for them to pull the trigger on a trade with the Seattle Seahawks for Russell Wilson once the Rodgers news broke.

Now they have a quarterback they believe can help them compete in a division that features Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Derek Carr.

Following the trade, Denver went from +2200 to +1200 to win the Super Bowl – only the Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs (+850) have shorter odds among AFC teams.