With less than a month to go in the regular season, media members are filling out their ballots for the slate of NHL Awards to be announced in Las Vegas in mid-June. As usual, the perennial contenders for some of these awards will likely be named as one of the finalists next month, but the injuries (such as the lengthy knee problems of Montreal goalie Carey Price) has changed the landscape slightly.
Even though there are three finalists for each award, here are my five nominees that are deserving of recognition:
Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman)
Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Kris Letang, Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Karlsson won the Norris last season with 66 points and has eclipsed that total already with 73 (with an NHL best 60 assists), but the difference is that Ottawa is not making a Cinderella run to the playoffs and that may cost Erik back-to-back wins.
Doughty is a two-time finalist for the Norris and maybe overdue for winning his first, which goes a long way in the minds of the voters. The 26-year-old is not putting up as many points as Karlsson, but averages over 28 minutes per game and leads NHL defenseman in plus/minus (+24).
Burns is having a remarkable offensive season, leading all blueliners with 26 goals and is second to Karlsson with 64 points, but like his Ottawa counterpart he has never been known for being strong in his own end.
That could provide an opening for a dark horse like Letang (who bounced back from health setbacks the last two years to anchor the Penguins blueline) or Ekman-Larsson (who is likely to break the 20-goal plateau for the second straight season).
Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender)
Braden Holtby, Jonathan Quick, Corey Crawford, Ben Bishop, Roberto Luongo
Holtby is having a year as remarkable as Carey Price did last season, with 43 wins and only 8 losses in 57 starts so far. The Caps are running away with the Eastern Conference and Holtby may repeat the Montreal goalie’s exploits as a Vezina and Hart Trophy nominee.
Quick has been one of the main reasons for the LA Kings resurgence. After missing the post-season last year, the former Conn Smythe Trophy winner has 36 victories (same as 2014-15) in 15 less starts.
Crawford has always been looked at as the beneficiary of playing behind Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith, but the 31-year-old is finally being recognized as one of the top echelon of NHL goaltenders, with his third-straight 30-plus win season and a excellent .926 save percentage.
Bishop is also due some consideration, with a 2.06 GAA (best among goalies with 50+ starts) and for keeping Tampa within striking distance in spite of their first-half Stanley Cup hangover.
Luongo has 30 victories and could get a boost if he leads the surprising Florida Panthers to the Atlantic Division title.
Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)
Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Toews, Anze Kopitar, Joe Pavelski, Nicklas Backstrom
The Selke has always been the award where reputation makes it difficult for new candidates to rise up. Bergeron, Toews and Kopitar have been in the top four in voting for the last three seasons, with the Bruins center winning two and the Hawks captain winning the other.
Bergeron will be tough to unseat, but David Krejci’s injuries necessitated him to play a more offensive role this season. Toews has shown his usual level of excellence and has a faceoff winning percentage of 58.6%, It may be Kopitar’s turn this time around, who leads the Kings in points and plus/minus,
Pavelski leads the Sharks with 32 goals and a +26, while Backstrom plays a responsible defensive game that allows Alex Ovechkin to take more offensive chances.
Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year)
Barry Trotz, Gerard Gallant, Lindy Ruff, Joel Quenneville, John Hynes
The battle for the Jack Adams appears to be a battle between Trotz and Gallant. The Washington Capitals coach has improved a good team that lost in Game 7 of the second round of the ’15 Stanley Cup Playoffs to the presumptive favorite to win it all this season.
Gallant has done an impressive job of making a team of veterans (Jaromir Jagr, Roberto Luongo) and youngsters (Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad) into a successful and cohesive club that currently leads the Atlantic Division.
Ruff has Dallas (who missed the playoffs last season) atop the Central Division ahead of Chicago and St. Louis in spite of a thin blueline and inconsistent goaltending, but will be severely challenged in the last three weeks of the season without star center Tyler Seguin.
Quenneville has won three Stanley Cups, so it is hard to say he has not received enough credit, but this season may have been his best coaching job. Chicago significantly shuffled their roster after their Cup victory, trading forwards Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad and losing defenseman Johnny Oduya to free agency, but there has been no drop off and the Hawks are once again a leading contender.
Hynes has done a remarkable job with New Jersey in his rookie season, keeping a hodge-podge of youngsters, aging veterans and roster fillers in the playoff race until March, when most thought the Devils were in the mix for Auston Matthews.
