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John Tortorella

Lineup Notes: Dubois, Oilers, Blackhawks

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Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella stated that star center Pierre-Luc Dubois’ trade request would not be a distraction for he or the team this season. In just their third game of the season, that may already be proving untrue. In Monday’s matinee against the Detroit Red Wings, Dubois was seemingly benched for the second half of the second period. He saw just one short shift in the final seven minutes of the frame. When he did play in the second, Dubois also skated on a makeshift fourth line for several shifts. However, it was Dubois who scored the eventual game-winning goal early in the third period and his usage returned to normal the rest of the way. Speaking with the media following the game, Tortorella underplayed Dubois’ usage, stating “You’ll know when I bench someone, don’t try to manifest something…” Given how candid Tortorella has been about the Dubois situation and not letting it become a distraction, there is some believability to his postgame comments. Yet, there was also no reason for Dubois to play so little late in the second, leaving questions of whether there will be continued mind games between coach and player until the trade request is finaly honored.

  • With just two points through their first three games, the Edmonton Oilers are off to a bit of a slow start. Head coach Dave Tippett was honest in his criticism of the team’s play following a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday and with the Habs up again on Monday night, he has made a major change to his defense group. Ethan Bear, one of just three Oilers to play in every game in 2019-20, will be made a healthy scratch. Bear received a specific shout out from his coach for some poor play on Saturday and will take a seat as a result. It is a bold move by Tippett to bench a young, play-driving defenseman who looks to be a major piece for the Oilers’ future, but he hopes the move will inspire some better defensive decisions from Bear moving forward. In the same vein of improving defensively, Caleb Jones will also be scratched on Monday. A young, offensive-minded blue liner like Bear, Jones’ -4 rating is worst among Edmonton defensemen so far. In their place, veteran Kris Russell will draw into the lineup as will rookie William Lagesson. Lagesson has just eight games of NHL experience, with sheltered minutes and zero points no less, but the organization likes his balanced approach to the position and has stated that he will be given more opportunity this season.
  • Through three games – and three losses – it doesn’t look like Collin Delia or Malcolm Subban are ready to be the starter for the Chicago Blackhawks. The pair have allowed 15 goals against for nearly identical 5.00 goals against averages as well as matching save percentages of .848. When Chicago declined to add a veteran goaltender this off-season, it was clear that there would be some growing pains, but this is as bad a start as could have been expected. Enter Kevin Lankinen. Whether this was truly the plan from the start or in response to these early poor results, head coach Jeremy Colliton told the media today that the plan is a to have as close to an even split as possible between Delia, Subban, and Lankinen, with the current taxi squad keeper getting an opportunity soon. Lankinen has yet to make an NHL appearance through two seasons in North America and had just pedestrian AHL numbers last year. However, his performance as an AHL rookie and certainly his play in Finland’s Liiga earlier in his career inspire some hope. It seems Blackhawks fans will get a chance sooner rather than later to see if Lankinen can be an upgrade to their current tandem this season of it will simply be a rotation of three below-average goaltenders.

Trade Rumors: Dubois, Byron, Dumba

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The Pierre-Luc Dubois saga in Columbus took a another turn on Wednesday, as always-candid head coach John Tortorella appeared in an interview on 97.1 The Fan and did not hold back in his commentary on the situation surrounding his young forward. While he has not officially requested a trade from the Blue Jackets, contract negotiations with Dubois did not go well and the team has been led to believe that he would prefer a change of scenery. Tortorella took a more direct approach, outright confirming that this is the case:

Yeah, he wants out. He spoke to the team, as we do here. It’s a little bit different than (departed 2019 free agents Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky) were. This is a 22-year-old kid. It doesn’t happen that often, so he has been honest with the group.

Yet, Tortorella is not content with the explanations (or lack thereof) that Dubois has provided he and others. He remains unclear as to what has changed in the talented center, who looked like a budding superstar and long-term cornerstone in Columbus just months ago in the postseason. And if the coach himself is to blame, it doesn’t seem like Tortorella is willing to let that change his style or impact his locker room.

 I wish he was a little bit more honest as far as reasons why. I still haven’t really gotten to that, but I think he needs to speak on that… I think that (conflict) is a really good thing in developing a hockey player.  Now ’Luc’ may not think that. Sometimes these players, especially today’s athletes, think, ’You’re too hard on me, you’re picking on me’ and this and that. Maybe it’s too hard for him. I don’t know. I haven’t been given a reason why he wants to leave. He certainly hasn’t said it to me that ’I don’t want to play for you.’ I think if that’s the reason he should tell me, and he should really basically get in front of it and get up out of here. That’s just the way I think you should do business in this stuff here. There’s no sense of people trying to figure out what’s going on. Let’s get in front of it here and get about our business and try to be the best team we can be… It’s a short leash with me as far as this is concerned. He needs to continue to do the things to help this team win and be the best teammate he can be, or I’m not sure where it goes. It’s a situation and we’ll go to it day by day.

Tortorella’s very public and very honest take on Dubois is not going to make the situation any better, even if the coach is not to blame for the trade request. Initial reports stated that the Blue Jackets may take their time to deal Dubois, waiting to maximize the return as best they can while he hopefully continues to contribute on the ice. However, if the locker room becomes too toxic with a top player at odds with the head coach and openly opposed to any future with the organization, this situation may need a resolution sooner rather than later. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that suitors are already serious about adding Dubois, so if the Blue Jackets need to make a quick trade, they will still have plenty of offers to choose from.

  • The Montreal Canadiens were able to get under the salary cap ceiling, but it was a tight fit. CapFriendly shows the club with only $708K in space for just a 21-man roster. If the Habs want the flexibility to even field a full roster never mind make a trade addition this season, someone has to go. Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette writes that the name being whispered is that of Paul Byron. Byron has been a loyal soldier for Montreal over the past five years and has developed into one of the club’s locker room leaders. However, the Canadiens’ off-season additions of Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli and the emergence of youngsters Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi have pushed Byron into a seemingly permanent bottom-six role. In fact, Byron played on the team’s fourth line throughout training camp and in Wednesday’s season opener. At a $3.4MM AAV through 2022-23, Byron is an expensive piece to be playing a checking role. The 31-year-old winger has not been durable either over the past couple of seasons either and may be ill-suited for his new position. Byron has scored at nearly a half-point per-game pace over the past four seasons combined and would be more valuable to another team that is able and willing to keep him in a scoring role. The question is whether that destination exists and, if so, will the Habs ultimately pull the trigger on dealing away a respected veteran.
  • One player enjoying the spotlight of rumor mill being off him for now is Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba. Dumba has heard the noise for more than a year now, but remains with the Wild; and the talented blue liner is happy about that, he tells TwinCities.com’s Dane Mizutani. Mizutani is not the only one that Dumba has confided in, either. He has also gone directly to GM Bill Guerin and stated that he would like to remain with the team. Guerin will certainly listen to one of his best players, but he has to listen to offers as well with the threat of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft looming. With fellow top-four defenders Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin all holding No-Movement Clauses in their current contracts and requiring protection from the expansion draft, Dumba would be the odd man out in the standard 7-3 protection scheme. Minnesota will definitely not allow the Seattle Kraken to acquire Dumba for free though, which has prompted his placement on the trade block. However, if Dumba can back up his desire to remain with the Wild with a strong 2020-21 campaign, Guerin may decide to go with the 8-skater protection scheme and expose three forwards rather than the skilled defenseman.

Coaching Notes: Washington, Ward, Tortorella

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The Washington Capitals decided to move on from Todd Reirden after just two years as head coach and won’t be taking another risk with their next hiring. That’s what Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic says in his latest column, explaining that the Capitals are focused on bringing in a proven head coach instead of giving another newcomer an opportunity.

That means the names are familiar ones when discussing the Capitals coaching vacancy. Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette and Mike Babcock are the first three names that LeBrun mentions, though even former Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau gets a few paragraphs as well. Washington went 89-46-16 under Reirden since winning a championship in 2018 but were quickly dumped in the playoffs both years. Still in their win-now window with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom leading the way, Washington is also looking for a coach that will “hold the team’s top players accountable.”

  • Geoff Ward spoke to reporters including Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet yesterday and explained that he would consider a return to the organization even if the Calgary Flames decided to go in a different direction at head coach. Ward would obviously rather take the head coaching position himself, but declined the opportunity to campaign for it through the media. He took over as head coach when Bill Peters resigned early in the season and led the Flames to a 24-15-3 record, but was also part of the collapse against the Dallas Stars. The Flames allowed seven straight goals in an elimination game and Ward pulled starter Cam Talbot and then reinserted him during the collapse. With substantial changes likely coming in Calgary, they may also want to go with a different face behind the bench.
  • One coach that likely isn’t going anywhere this offseason is John Tortorella, even though his Columbus Blue Jackets failed to advance past the first round. Even getting that far was seen as quite the accomplishment for the veteran coach, but he’ll lose out on a little salary in the process. The league today fined Tortorella $25,000 for his comments (or more specifically his lack of comments) after game five against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tortorella took two questions and then stormed out of the press conference, obviously frustrated with the loss. The penalty is actually a collection of the conditional fine that was assessed on January 1 after a previous incident. This is the 13th time Tortorella has been disciplined by the league.

Injury Notes: Stamkos, Voracek, Blue Jackets

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The continued unavailability of Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Steven Stamkos continues to be one of the biggest background stories of the NHL re-start and it isn’t going away. Head coach Jon Cooper told TSN that Stamkos will not be available for the team’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers today, which decides the No. 1 seed and home ice in the Eastern Conference. However, he went one step further by stating that Stamkos is out “indefinitely”, which calls into question whether there is any timeline for Stamkos’ return. The scoring center has been skating and per Cooper is “working his tail off” but it might not be enough for him to be ready for the start of the first round. The Athletic’s Joe Smith details the struggles that some players have returning from core injuries, particularly core surgery, so Stamkos’ delayed recovery is not a total surprise even five months removed. However, Smith writes that the concern is not that Stamkos has far exceeded the six-to-eight week timeline from back in March, but that the player and team both seem to have no idea of when he might be ready to return. Especially after having months off to recover, the fact that Stamkos is not ready could mean that he might not make it back for this postseason period.

  • The Bolts’ opponent tonight, the Philadelphia Flyers, will also be missing one of their top forwards for the crucial seeding game. With a chance to go from fourth to first in the conference seeding, the Flyers will have to do so without Jakub Voracek. Head coach Alain Vigneault told NBC Sports Philadelphia that Voracek simply “is not available” for Saturday’s match-up and did not share any further details. Without any pre-existing injury and the agreement between the NHL and NHLPA not to disclose any medical information during these playoffs, this is the most that might be out there about Voracek. The star forward played a standard amount of ice time in the Flyers’ last game and did not appear to suffer an injury, but for one reason or another will not be in the lineup. Fortunately for the Flyers, the team’s depth up front is impressive, allowing promising rookie Joel Farabee to replace Voracek on the first line while veteran James van Riemsdyk returns to the lineup in his stead.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets hoped to shut the door on their qualifying round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, but a last-minute three-goal collapse led to an overtime loss and a Game Five date on Sunday. It is not a coincidence that young standout defenseman Zach Werenski was not on the ice for any of the Leafs’ four goals against last night, as he missed the final nine minutes of regulation and all of overtime. Werenski appeared to suffer the injury while being tripped in the offensive zone, but then was seen having his neck examined and massaged on the Blue Jacket bench. Neither head coach John Tortorella nor GM Jarmo Kekalainen have had any update on Werenski’s condition or his availability for Sunday. The Athletic’s Alison Lukan points out that Ryan Murray, who is a constant injury risk, missed Game Four and the combination of both defensemen being out for Game Five would be a major hit to Columbus’ strongest position.

Goaltending Notes: Halak, Korpisalo, Holtby

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The Boston Bruins will be without their top option in goal tonight when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers in the round-robin. Tuukka Rask has been ruled unfit to play by head coach Bruce Cassidy, meaning Jaroslav Halak will be in net for the Bruins.

Perhaps more than any other team in the playoffs, the Bruins have prepared for a situation like this all season. Halak is much more than a backup for Boston, playing in 31 games during the shortened regular season and posting a .919 save percentage. That’s a number most teams would be happy to get from their starter, but it still is a step down from Rask’s .929. One of the advantages of being a top seed in each conference is this round-robin structure, which will allow the team to get healthy without the risk of elimination for the first week.

  • One team not in quite as strong a situation is the Columbus Blue Jackets, who start a best-of-five series against the Toronto Maple Leafs later today. The Blue Jackets have two young excellent goaltenders of their own, but head coach John Tortorella has decided to go with Joonas Korpisalo in game one. While Elvis Merzlikins may have received more press this season due to it being his first in North America, it was easy to forget that Korpisalo was actually named to the All-Star game before suffering an injury. He posted a .911 save percentage on the season but has a strong history against the Maple Leafs and much more experience at the NHL level.
  • It may not come as much of a surprise, but Braden Holtby will be in net when the Washington Capitals start their own round-robin tomorrow afternoon. Holtby will start over Vitek Vanacek according to Samantha Pell of the Washington Post when the Capitals take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Once Ilya Samsonov was ruled out due to injury the obvious choice was Holtby given his experience, but it is also important to remember that he was far from his dominant self this season. In fact, Holtby posted an .897 save percentage on the season, putting him 52nd among NHL goaltenders who appeared in at least 20 games.

Poll: Who Should Win The 2020 Jack Adams Award?

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The finalists have been announced for all the major awards, but like every year there is much debate over who should take home each piece of hardware. In fact, with a shortened season and unorthodox playoff scenario, the views and reasoning behind each vote will perhaps vary even more wildly.

So as we get closer to the return of NHL hockey in Edmonton and Toronto, where 24 teams will try to chase the Stanley Cup, we’re going to ask you, the PHR faithful, to explain who you would vote for if given the chance.

After looking at the Calder Trophy finalists, let’s shift our focus to the Jack Adams Award, given to “the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.”  In recent years, teams with top records have been overlooked with ones overachieving relative to early-season expectations often getting the nod.

This year’s group of finalists features someone from both groups with Bruce Cassidy (Bruins), John Tortorella (Blue Jackets), and Alain Vigneault (Flyers) comprising the top three.

Cassidy helped lead Boston to the top record in this shortened season where the Bruins still managed to reach 100 points in just 70 games with a 44-14-12 record.  While they were expected to be a contender heading into the year featuring a strong attack and one of the stingiest goaltending tandems in the league, they were the class of the field for most of the season which certainly makes Cassidy deserving of the nomination.  He has never won this award in the past despite putting up a very quiet 161-66-34 record since going behind their bench.

After being gutted in free agency with the departures of Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, and Sergei Bobrovsky (among others), expectations were low for Columbus heading into the season.  Instead, it was believed that they’d be in for a transition year, especially since they opted to go with the relatively unproven tandem of Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins between the pipes.  Instead, while they struggled as expected offensively, they became one of the stingiest defensive teams in the league and were in the mix for a playoff spot when the pandemic hit despite a litany of injuries to core players.  Tortorella is a two-time winner of the award after winning in 2004 with Tampa Bay and 2017 with Columbus.

As for Vigneault, he helped lead Philadelphia to their best points percentage in nearly a decade at .645 with a top-ten offense and defense.  In doing so, the Flyers went from a team that missed the playoffs to one that still has a chance at the top seed in the Eastern Conference as a 9-1 record in their final ten games allowed them to leapfrog Pittsburgh for the second spot in the Metropolitan Division; in doing so, they qualified for the round robin seeding games instead of the play-in round.  If he wins, it would Vigneault’s second Jack Adams Award as he also won in 2007 with Vancouver.

There’s a strong case to be made for each coach but which one should take home the prize?  Cast your vote below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

Snapshots: Martinook, Toews, Tortorella, Khudobin

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The Carolina Hurricanes really don’t like the NHL’s Return to Play plan. After Jordan Martinook and the ‘Canes were one of just two teams to vote against the initial postseason format last month, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Martinook was also one of the two NHLPA representatives who voted against ratifying the Return to Play plan and CBA extension. Martinook has previously stated that he and his teammates felt that the expanded playoff structure was a disadvantage to teams who were safely in the postseason picture, but not within the top four in their conference. It is a fair opinion for Carolina to have; the team has the second-best record of qualifying round contenders and almost certainly would have made the playoffs. Their reward for those regular season efforts? A five-game series match-up with a New York Rangers team that was playing their best hockey down the stretch and has been a tough match-up for the Hurricanes all season. As a result, Martinook tried not once but twice to change the league’s plan, but to no avail. They will face the Rangers in just over a week’s time with a playoff berth on the line.

The other “no” vote against the Return to Play plan was reported to belong to Chicago Blackhawks representative Jonathan Toews. However, Toews has come out today and refuted that report. There is no doubt that Toews asked hard questions about health and safety protocols and gameplay logistics and made the case for why his peers should consider voting against the plan, but he tells Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun Times that at the end of the day he voted “yes”. In fact, he said that he always planned to vote yes but wanted to make sure that there was a thorough conversation before a decision was made. There is no word on who the mystery second “no” vote came from, but it was not the Blackhawks captain.

  • Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella might be re-thinking his teams approval of the expanded postseason plan. While a standard 16-team format would have excluded his team, which was in ninth in the Eastern Conference at the time of the league’s pause, their preparation for the knockout round is not going according to plan. Tortorella told NHL.com’s Craig Merz outright that he does not like what he has seen from his best players. “My concern is some of the people that we are going to need to make a difference for us to win a series, I don’t think they’re ready right now,” the Jack Adams finalist stated. “I don’t think they’re doing the things they need to do right now to get ready for that series… This isn’t getting ready for the regular season and then trying to find your game in 15 games during the regular season. This is a sprint… I don’t want us to fall into this trap of wading in. We need to be ready to go.”
  • Anton Khudobin and the Dallas Stars have some extra time to get ready for the postseason as they are one of the four top seeds in the West and will have four round robin games ahead of them before the real competition begins. Although Khudobin may only see action in the round robin and not in the Stars’ postseason series, as starter Ben Bishop will get the nod unless his play warrants a change, Khudobin’s value to Dallas cannot be understated. One of the best backups in the NHL, Khudobin recorded a .930 save percentage and 2.22 GAA in 30 games this season. While these numbers are outstanding, even better than Bishop’s, it doesn’t appear that Khudobin is looking to move on from Dallas to a greater role. He tells Matthew DeFranks of The Dallas Morning News that his preference is to remain with the Stars for a while longer. However, the impending UFA admits that he will let his agent work out the details and find the best opportunity. Khudobin is certainly comfortable and thriving in Texas, but the Stars’ limited cap space and the presences of Bishop and top prospect Jake Oettinger may mean that his current team cannot offer him top dollar. On the other hand, a potentially strong goalie market and Khudobin’s age, not to mention a flat salary cap, may mean that there won’t be the demand on the open market that Khudobin’s performance would normally command. This seems to be the case with another elite backup, Boston’s Jaroslav Halak, who recently signed a one-year extension for less guaranteed money despite another stellar season as the Bruins’ backup after replacing Khudobin himself. Perhaps Khudobin will have to settle for the same fate, especially if he wants to remain in Dallas.

NHL Announces Finalists For 2019-20 Jack Adams Award

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Just moments after announcing the finalists for the Calder Trophy, the league has given out three names that will battle for another prestigious regular season award. The Jack Adams Award, given to the head coach who has “contributed the most to his team’s success” comes down to three Eastern Conference bench bosses who have taken their teams to the playoffs.

The three finalists are: Bruce Cassidy (BOS), John Tortorella (CBJ), Alain Vigneault (PHI)

Cassidy has done nothing but win since returning to the NHL head coaching ring in 2017. In 261 regular season games running the Bruins’ bench, he’s amassed a 161-66-34 record. That .682 winning percentage would put him among the all-time great coaches in NHL history. Even when including his 47-47-9 record from when he coached the Washington Capitals, he ranks sixth all-time in winning percentage among coaches with at least 300 games. There is little doubt at this point that he is an effective leader and after taking the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals a year ago, he had them back positioned for another run as the league’s best regular season team.

Tortorella meanwhile comes with a much longer head coaching history and one that has certainly had its ups and downs. Even though he can eventually wear out his welcome, the fiery motivator has had only three seasons with a sub-.500 record. This season has been perhaps his most challenging after losing names like Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene and Sergei Bobrovsky to free agency and Seth Jones to a season-ending injury. The fact that the Blue Jackets still have a fighting chance in the playoffs is a credit to the work “Torts” has done with an underwhelming roster and puts him squarely in as a potential favorite for the award this season.

Vigneault will try to take away however after a triumphant return to the NHL. After spending a year on the sidelines following his dismissal from the New York Rangers, the veteran coach was back in the Metropolitan Division taking the Flyers to a 41-21-7 record. Philadelphia was playing perhaps their best hockey in a decade when the season was cut short and looked like a real contender for the Stanley Cup. The question has always been about whether Vigneault can hack it in the playoffs, but as this is a regular season award the Flyers .645 winning percentage speaks for itself.

Columbus Activates Alexandre Texier From Injured Reserve

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The Columbus Blue Jackets activated center Alexandre Texier from Injured Reserve, per NHL.com. The 45th overall selection of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Texier appeared in 36 games for the Blue Jackets this season, notching 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists).

Texier, 20, had his season cut short due to a lumbar stress fracture suffered in a December game against the Panthers. He’ll presumably take the ice when Columbus confronts the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Qualifier. As the number 9 seed, the Blue Jackets will be slight underdogs in the five-game series with 8-seeded Toronto. Assuming Texier is back to full strength, he figures to see some time on the fourth line between Eric Robinson and Devin Shore, though in these uncertain times, there’s very little lineup certainty until the puck hits the ice.

Coach John Tortorella looks to lead the Blue Jackets back to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season since he took over the bench. Last season was the worst regular-season record in Tortorella’s three full seasons helming the club, but they finally got over the first-round hump in a big way with a surprise sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Texier made his NHL debut late last season, even earning ice time in the postseason. He notched 11:25 ATOI, highlighted by scoring a pair of goals in the 7-3 series clincher versus Tampa Bay.

PHWA Announce 2019-20 Midseason Awards

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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

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