There were a few unmistakable themes among conversations in Los Angeles during All-Star weekend. One, having all the legends there was pretty awesome. Two, the young players in the game are taking hockey to new heights. And three, Sidney Crosby is the best player on the planet.

But is he the most valuable to his team?

In polling players on their Hart Trophy pick, given to the player “judged most valuable to his team” the opinions were split. Not so with the Norris Trophy -- awarded to the NHL's top "defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position" -- where one player dominated the discussion.

Here’s a look at how our panel of All-Star players would vote right now for two of the biggest NHL awards -- and, yes, we name names as to who voted for each side:

Hart Trophy

1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Six first-place votes: Tyler Seguin, Ryan Suter, Bo Horvat, Taylor Hall, Auston Matthews and Vincent Trocheck

Crosby might be the best player in the league, but players have taken note of how McDavid has transformed the Oilers in just his second season. His 59 points top the NHL right now, but more importantly, the Oilers are tied with the San Jose Sharks at the top of the Pacific Division, with 64 points.

“It’s late enough into the year now to see it isn’t a fluke and it’s not just a good start,” Stars center Tyler Seguin said. “That team is a different team, and Connor is leading the way.”

The challenge for McDavid is to keep it going as the games tighten down the stretch. He mentioned over the weekend that teams have adjusted how they defend him, especially in the neutral zone. Space that he might have had earlier in the season has been wiped out as teams try to prevent him from building up too much speed in the offensive zone.

“He’s hard to play against,” Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. “He’s so fast. He can make stuff happen with the puck. He’s the real deal. Look at what he’s done for that team. He’s turned that city around.”

Devils forward Taylor Hall knows that Oilers team well -- having played there his first six seasons, up through 2015-16 -- and credited McDavid for the turnaround in Edmonton while selecting him as his Hart Trophy pick.

“If you go by the definition of most valuable, I’d say Connor,” Hall said. “How successful Edmonton has been is attributed to the fact that he’s been able to play and stay healthy the whole time.”

2. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

Four first-place votes: Brent Burns, Cam Fowler, Cam Atkinson, Wayne Simmonds

Crosby has been absolutely dominant since his concussion-delayed start to the season, leading the league with 28 goals. There’s not a better player in the world, and he’s giving the Penguins a real shot at becoming the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions in the salary-cap era.

“Connor is an unreal player to see play every night, but the stuff that Crosby does, man, the guy is so special,” Burns said. “What he does for our game, getting to see him up close and getting to know him -- such a great guy. ... What Sid has done for so long, he’s such a special player and human. It’s got to be him.”

Simmonds has seen Crosby up close for years while playing for the rival Philadelphia Flyers and said he continues to make plays that few other players in the game can make. Crosby's complete game, Simmonds says, is what put him over the top.

“He does under-the-radar things. He’ll be skating through the ice; they’ll fire a head-high pass and he’ll knock it down and he’s going on a breakaway. Not many guys in league can do that,” Simmonds said. “He does it with such grace. He’s such a great player.”

3. Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

One first-place vote: Joe Pavelski

Pavelski will be the first to admit he’s a biased voter, and this vote was cast just a few feet from Burns. But there’s actually a pretty strong case starting to build for Burns in the Hart Trophy race.

It’s not easy to advance to the Stanley Cup finals, lose it and then come right back and play well the following season, but the Sharks have done it. They’ve returned to the top of the Pacific in large part because Burns has been the most dominant player at his position.

Subtract Burns from that Sharks defense and San Jose looks remarkably different.

“He means as much to our team as any of those guys mean to theirs,” Pavelski said, in making the case for his teammate for Hart. “We see him every day. What he means to our team -- it’s definitely exciting to play with him. When we’re out there forechecking and we have him on the back end all those shifts, we definitely have that confidence we can score at any moment.”

Norris Trophy

1. Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

11 first-place votes: Joe Pavelski, Tyler Seguin, Ryan Suter, Cam Fowler, Bo Horvat, Taylor Hall, Cam Atkinson, Shea Weber, Auston Matthews, Wayne Simmonds

This was an absolute landslide, with Burns cleaning up against his fellow defensemen. He shared that part of the reason for his success this season is that he steals a little something from each of them.

“There are so many guys around the league that I watch and try to pick things off to help my game,” Burns said. “I play against [Drew] Doughty all the time. ... I’ve been watching Suter, the time he’s on the ice. ... There are so many guys that I always try to watch little things and how they’re doing to help my game.”

His conclusion is that the league is so full of high-end defensemen that picking one for Norris is nearly impossible.

“Yeah, I don’t know how you guys do it,” Burns said.

His fellow players didn’t think it was hard at all.

“Burnsie,” Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber said when picking his Norris winner. “He’s obviously gifted offensively; he reads the play probably as good as any defenseman in the league. You have to be able to execute it as well. There are some guys who can read it, but they don’t have the skill or speed to get up there. He can obviously skate really well, and he has a great shot. He brings a package that is tough to defend.”

Part of that package is Burns' ability to get through traffic so frequently.

“We played against him in San Jose this year. I probably tried to block every single one of his shots, and every single one of his shots found a hole through my leg or my arm,” Simmonds said. “He’s so good when he has the puck.”

His offensive production has been dominant, with numbers that stack up with the best forwards in the game, let alone against other defensemen. He has 21 goals already, nine more than the next best defensemen (Weber) and his 51 points are 12 more than Erik Karlsson at No. 2.

“He could also be the Hart too,” Seguin said in picking Burns for Norris. “He’s been unbelievable.”

2. Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens

One first-place vote: Vincent Trocheck

Weber has helped turn things around in Montreal, where he has helped the Canadiens move into the top spot in the Atlantic.

Weber’s game is as well-rounded as it gets on defense, and he leads all NHL defensemen with 10 power-play goals. He’s playing more than 25 minutes per game, with only six other defensemen getting more average ice time. He’s been great.

And of course, from a pure power standpoint, there’s not a shot that quite compares to Weber’s.

“I played with Webs, and seeing his shot in the World Cup -- it’s crazy,” Burns said.