#1: Midseason makes for the talking heads to begin floating names for MVP and other end-of-season awards. Last night on NBC a few of the national guys were talking up Evgeni Malkin, easy to do during a hat-trick performance. Sidney Crosby gets most the spotlight (and deservedly so with the number of goals and points/game he has this season) but Malkin is standing out as well. 21 goals + 28 assists in 43 games and the most impressive number there might be the 43, being as the team has played 43 games.
Malkin had to rehab his elbow last summer to avoid UCL surgery (also known as Tommy John surgery, a serious procedure that most commonly happens to baseball pitchers) and his health status was a bit unknown.