Axiomatically, if a player is the league's most valuable player, they are also the most valuable at their position or group of positions. Ergo, to answer this question, the smartest thing to do is pick out the league's top forward, top defenseman and top goaltender, and decide from there.

My vote for the league's Best Goaltender is Wayne Holloway. You can claim it's a homer pick, but the stats are clear - Wayne is tied for the highest game rating of all goaltenders in the league but couples that with an unenviable workload, playing 53 of Detroit's 64 games. And he has been shelled through those games, facing a league-high 1,895 shots and still keeping his save percentage over the key .900 benchmark. Many of these arguments can be made for Ally Mathieson of the Regina Elk but, bluntly, Holloway has had more of an impact on his team winning. Regina outscore Detroit as a team by close to a goal a game.

For the league's Best Defenseman, I'm highlighting Nik Smith from Colorado. 42 points off 65 games isn't league-leading stuff - he rates around 15th among all defenseman - but what sets Smith apart are the minutes he logs. 23:34 average time on ice, but 4:10 on the powerplay and 3:14 short-handed speaks to Smith as being a player the Raptors look to first and foremost when they need a reliable hand. Slightly less noticed, his GA/TA ratio is excellent, well over 5.00, and he shows the willingness to block shots that coaches love from a team play.

The league's Best Forward, however, is was always going to come down to offensive prowess and is realistically a two-horse race - Jeff Hunziker and Thomas Sawschuk. Both men have broken 40 goals, both have registered more than 50 assists, both are reliable powerplay presences, and making a decision between the two is incredibly difficult. But my choice is Thomas Sawschuk, and the reason why lies in the advanced stats. Both are elite play drivers, but Sawschuk's Corsi and Fenwick percentages are both among the league's highest while also rocking a PDO over below 100, suggesting he's put up the monstrous numbers he has without having the luck of the ice in his favour.

So with that, the MVP? All three would be fair choices and I'm choosing to sit on the fence here.