Though they have no bearing on the eventual winners, each season the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote for the Midseason Awards to give fans an idea of who is leading the charge around the NHL at the halfway point. Today those ballots have been tallied and the midseason trophies were given out:
Hart Trophy – Most valuable player
1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
2. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
3. David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
Norris Trophy – Best defenseman
1. John Carlson, Washington Capitals
2. Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
3. Dougie Hamilton, Carolina Hurricanes
Selke Trophy – Best defensive forward
1. Sean Couturier, Philadelphia Flyers
2. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
3. Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
Calder Trophy – Best rookie
1. Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
2. Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
3. Victor Olofsson, Buffalo Sabres
Lady Byng Trophy – Sportsmanship & gentlemanly conduct
1. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
2. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
3. Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
Vezina Trophy – Best goaltender
1. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
2. Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars
3. Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes
Jack Adams Award – Best coach
1. Mike Sullivan, Pittsburgh Penguins
2. John Tortorella, Columbus Blue Jackets
3. Craig Berube, St. Louis Blues
Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award
1. Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche
2. John Chayka, Arizona Coyotes
3. Doug Armstrong, St. Louis Blues
Rod Langway Award – Best defensive defenseman
1. Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
2. Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
3. Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
Comeback Player of the Year Award
1. William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators
3. Max Pacioretty, Vegas Golden Knights
Wee willie with an award? Ohhh yaa justifying that 6.9 a year baby
three comments here:
1. good on Couts for the honor
2. if Matthews wins an award for “gentlemanly conduct” i will vommit.
3. was Gallant eligible for the Adams trophy
John Marino for Pittsburgh is playing just as well as Quinn Hughes.
He’s not
Marino is great (a steal by Rutherford) but no. If you offered Vancouver three Marinos for Hughes, they’d still hang up.
Dominik Kubalik , for Calder candidate from the Chicago Black Hawks.
G! Kubalik is a good suggestion, especially over Olofsson.
Austin Matthews? For sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct? Uhm what?
John Marino is playing well and that was unexpected. But the Calder race was over on opening night. Makar is a tremendous player. He will be in the Norris conversation for years to come.
They got Sullivan right.
But, what is Nylander coming back from…?
his contract to making near million to multi-millions is what he is coming back from having counted all that extra cash
Willy Ny, the coaster guy, coming back from (wait for it): Being the unanimous 2018-2019 award winner for Piss-ant of the Year.
Makar should be considered the clear-cut front-runner for Calder (right now). Earlier in the year, I watched him make a blunderous pass into the neutral zone, and was waiting to see if he was going to actually go off on the change. He didn’t, and in fact waited until the opposition started entering his D-zone so he could break up the play and get the pass off to one of his own guys, THEN changed. He’s impressive now, and just getting better, including his defense. Quinn Hughes is also very impressive, but right now, I give the nod to Makar.