Dániel Gazdag might not be the Union’s most valuable player, but he is the most outstanding

There are a lot of ways to measure how good Dániel Gazdag has been this season for the Union.

His big stats are the easiest, of course: 16 goals, tying the team’s regular-season record with six games to go, plus four assists from 37 chances created.

You could also use Gazdag’s own words. He said after scoring his first career hat trick in Saturday’s 6-0 demolition of Colorado that this year has been “the best season in my career.”

That’s no small statement for a 26-year-old who’s been a professional since he was 19, and has played 15 times for Hungary’s national team.

From there, though, things can get a little complicated. There’s been a good bit of media chatter this week — of both the social and mainstream kinds — about whether Gazdag should be in this year’s MLS MVP race.

The answer might depend on the definition of “most valuable.”

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If you define “most valuable” as the person whose absence would impact the team the most, Gazdag might not even be No. 2 in that ranking for the Union. The league certainly noticed last week when Union manager Jim Curtin stumped for goalkeeper Andre Blake to win the big prize. And if he ever took Blake off the field, the impact would surely be huge.

Centerback Jack Elliott has been repeatedly championed in this space over the years for the same reason — and because he rarely commands or demands attention.

Jakob Glesnes is in that territory as well, especially since Stuart Findlay’s departure in July left the team without any veteran back line depth.

But the public often conflates “most valuable” with “most outstanding” — and MVP voters across many sports do, too. (Fortunately, some sports make the difference clear, in particular college basketball.)

» READ MORE: After another scoring explosion, now the Union have to keep momentum going

When it comes to the Union’s most outstanding player this season, Gazdag wins that in a landslide. The goals, assists, chance creation, and chemistry have been worth every cent the Union paid for him last year — and his salary is a bargain, at just $586,250.

Gazdag has really enjoyed living here, too, settling in with his family and becoming quite a basketball fan. His jump-shot goal celebration on Saturday was a tribute to his Sixers fandom, with Tyrese Maxey a celebrity fan in the owners’ box.

“I was talking to my teammates before the game; they know that I really like basketball — to watch, but I cannot play too good,” Gazdag said. “Nate [Harriel] told me before the game if I score I have to do the [James] Harden move. So it was the ‘Hungarian Harden’ move.”

Sixers broadcaster Kate Scott, who also calls soccer games for Fox, led the chorus of approval on Twitter.

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It’s worth stopping here to remember that Gazdag had some critics during his debut half-season last year. Though he started showing the full breadth of his skills late in the campaign, a few fans felt disappointed that he didn’t fly right out of the gate.

But there is a long history of marquee summer signings in MLS not flourishing until the year after they arrive. Not only do those players need time to build chemistry with their new teammates, but they’ve often come here having just finished a full fall-to-spring season in Europe. So they need some time to rest, too.

“He came in here last year and had a million games ― I think 50 games — under his belt in the calendar year, which is absurd,” Curtin said. “Came into a new team, adapted to a new culture.”

In fact, Gazdag played 36 games for his club (Honvéd of Budapest, Hungary) and country in the 2020-21 European season before joining the Union for a brief cameo in May. He then left to join Hungary’s squad for the European Championships but had to miss the tournament because of a minor injury suffered in training camp.

If not for that unwanted break, Gazdag might have played right through the summer. He played 28 times for the Union last season before finally getting some proper time off at the end of the year.

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“You saw him hit the season in stride this year, you see the quality that he has,” Curtin said.

He especially praised Gazdag for “making deep runs where it’s almost like he’s invisible and defenders don’t see him. Because the amount of times he runs from deep and ghosts in and we sit there on the bench and go, ‘Does nobody see him?’ His timing is amazing.”

Gazdag’s next chance to break the Union’s single-season goals record will come Wednesday, when the first-place Union (15-4-9, 54 points) host an unusually bad Atlanta United team (8-10-9, 33 points) at Subaru Park in a nationally televised game (7 p.m., FS1 and Fox Deportes).

And if that Sixers midseason acquisition whom Gazdag impersonated has a similar bounce next season, even better.

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