It has already been decided that Evgeni Malkin will take home the Art Ross, Steven Stamkos the Rocket Richard and Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott will share the William Jennings Trophy; who will win the other awards in Las Vegas?
Hart Trophy - MVP
Evgeni Malkin - PIT
In the season’s final month, Steven Stamkos did everything possible to prove why he is more valuable to his team, but the fact of the matter is, this award should go to a playoff team. Sidney Crosby played only 22 games, and without him, Malkin willed the Penguins to victory on many nights, scoring five points in one game on four occasions. He was the league’s only 100-point scorer with 109, 12 more than Stamkos. He led the league in shots, even strength points (75), finished second in goals (50), and was plus-18 for a team with home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Runners up: Steven Stamkos - TB; Claude Giroux - PHI; Henrik Lundqvist - NYR; Jonathan Quick - LA..
Norris Trophy - Best Defenseman
Shea Weber - NSH
While Karlsson rightly deserves a lot of consideration for the phenomenal point total he put up this year (78 points in 81 games), he deserves the same “runner up” label that Mike Green garnered when scoring 80 points for Washington a few years back. It was Weber that was the league’s most complete defenseman from start to finish. He was tied with Karlsson for the most goals (19), had 49 points, was plus-21, and had more power play goals (10) than any forward from Winnipeg, Minnesota, or Colorado. Defensively, Zdeno Chara may be the only other player more difficult to play against if you are a forward. It is time to give Weber his due.
In the mix: Erik Karlsson - OTT; Zdeno Chara - BOS; Alex Pietrangelo - STL; Brian Campbell - FLA.
Vezina Trophy - Best Goalie
Henrik Lundqvist - NYR
Lundqvist has been the assumed winner of this award for the better part of four months now, but the case was made difficult by Jonathan Quick’s incredible finish to the season. Quick led the league with 10 shutouts (Lundqvist had 8), while posting a better save percentage (1.95 for Quick, 1.97 for Henrik); Lundqvist posted the better overall record (39-18-5 vs. 35-21-13) and better save percentage (.930 vs .929) while playing for his conference’s top seed.
In the mix: Jonathan Quick - LA; Pekka Rinne - NSH; Brian Elliott - STL; Mike Smith - PHX.
Calder Trophy - Best Rookie
Gabriel Landeskog - COL
Though he played 20 more games than Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and they tied for the rookie point lead, it is the all-around game of Landeskog that makes him the pick here. He is the first rookie since Dion Phaneuf to post a 20-goal/200-hit season, and first forward to do so. He was also plus-20 and he had an astounding 270 shots on net. Bonus points are awarded for avoiding the rookie wall and getting better as the season went on, while doing so for a team flirting with a playoff spot to the bitter end. He also led all forwards in ice time (18:36 per game).
In the mix: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - EDM; Matt Read - PHI; Adam Henrique - NJD; Carl Hagelin - NYR.
Selke Trophy - Best Defensive Forward
Patrice Bergeron - BOS
There is nothing flashy about his game, and no one seems more calm and collected on the ice, and that is what helps Bergeron dominate opponents’ top lines. He is widely regarded the league’s top faceoff man (he had the most wins with 973, and had a 59.3% success rate), blocks shots, and led the league with a plus-36 rating while being a prominent offensive feature on the team’s second line.
In the mix: Pavel Datsyuk - DET; Ryan O’Reilly - COL; Anze Kopitar - LA; David Backes - STL.
Jack Adams - Best Coach
Ken Hitchcock - STL
It was a back and forth battle between Hitchcock and John Tortorella for this award; no one expected the Rangers to finish first in the East and nearly win the President’s Trophy, meanwhile no one expected Hitchcock would be coaching the Blues at all. After replacing Davis Payne very early in the season, Hitchcock installed a team defense that led the league in goals against, got each and every one of his players to buy into his system, and somehow out-smarted Detroit, Nashville and Chicago to win the Central Division.
In the mix: John Tortorella - NYR; Paul MacLean - OTT; Kevin Dineen - FLA; Dan Bylsma - PIT.
Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan