by Nick Obergan Nearly every team is one-third of the way through their schedule, so it is time to take a look at the early favorites to take home the league-wide awards. Stats as of December 8, 2011 Hart Trophy, MVP Claude Giroux, PHI What cannot be said about the start Giroux is having. He is leading the league in points with 37 (in 27 games), is a +6, leads the league with five game-winning goals, averages 21:48 in ice time (including more than two minutes short-handed and four minutes on the power play), and his team is currently leading their division and conference. That being said, it is a close race and he should not get comfortable. In the mix: Jonathan Toews, CHI; Phil Kessel, TOR; Jimmy Howard, DET; Daniel Sedin, VAN. Anti-Hart: Eric Staal, CAR (18 points, league worst -17 rating). Norris Trophy, Best Defenseman Shea Weber, NSH Weber is putting up another beastly all-around performance this year. He is fourth among defensemen with 20 points, tied for second with six goals, third with a +14 rating, third in shots (85), and seventh in average ice time (26:05). This race is deep with a no clear-cut winner, but Weber takes the early edge in our eyes. In the mix: Zdeno Chara, BOS; Brian Campbell, FLA; Nicklas Lidstrom, DET; Erik Karlsson, OTT. Anti-Norris: Tomas Kaberle, CAR (0 goals, -12, $4.25M cap hit) Vezina Trophy, Best Goalie Tim Thomas, BOS The reigning Vezina winner is currently second in goals against average (1.83) and save percentage (.941%) but to a goalie deemed a backup. His 13-5 record is sparkling, and he is a perfect 8-for-8 in shootout saves, and has three shutouts (one off the lead). In the mix: Jimmy Howard, DET; Nikolai Khabibulin, EDM; Brian Elliott, STL; Henrik Lundqvist, NYR. Anti-Vezina: Steve Mason, CJB (3-12-1, 3.63 GAA, .875 SV%) Calder Trophy, Best Rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM In the first rookie rankings, RNH was tied for the rookie scoring lead; three weeks later he has separated himself from the pack and actually sits tied for 8th in the entire league with 30 points in 28 games. When your game, at 18-years-old, is so good all around that the only problem is face-offs, you are in great shape. In the mix: Craig Smith, NSH; Matt Read, PHI; Adam Henrique, NJD; Adam Larsson, NJD. Anti-Calder: Devante Smith-Pelley, ANA (26 games, 5 points, -10) Selke Trophy, Best Defensive Forward Jonathan Toews, CHI Toews could have very well won this award last year, and looks poised to capture it this year. He leads the league in face-off wins (348), and among players with more than 250 attempts, has the best win percentage (61.9%). He is fourth in takeaways (34, four back of the lead) while only giving away the puck 11 times in 29 games. In the mix: Pavel Datsyuk, DET; Patrice Bergeron, BOS; Ryan O-Reilly, COL; Anze Kopitar, LA. Anti-Selke: Ilya Kovalchuk, NJ (35 giveaways to 8 takeaways) Jack Adams, Best Coach Mike Yeo, MIN Right now it looks like a race between two rookie head coaches, both of whom have led their transformed rosters to the top of their division while neither were supposed to make the playoffs. Yeo gets the edge because Minnesota not only leads their division, but the entire NHL. In the mix: Kevin Dineen, FLA; Dan Bylsma, PIT; Peter Laviolette, PHI; Claude Julien, BOS. Anti-Jack: Scott Arniel, CBJ (How did he outlast at least three other coaches so far?) Nick is an NHL Feature Writer for RealGM. You can reach him by email [email protected] or on twitter @NickObergan.