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Poll: NHL Award Predictions

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Tonight’s the night that the stars gather to hand out some fancy hardware at the 2022 NHL Awards in Tampa. Kenan Thompson will return to host the show, which will be the first live award event since 2019, with the last two canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The event will announce the winners of the Hart Trophy, the Norris Trophy, the Vezina Trophy, the Calder Trophy, and the Ted Lindsay Award, five of the most prestigious individual awards in hockey. With just a few hours before things kick off, let’s see if the PHR community can predict the winners of each.

For the Hart, given to the player “judged most valuable to his team,” the finalists are Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers. Remember that these are all regular season awards with a vote before the playoffs begin.

 

The Norris, given to the defenseman “who demonstrated throughout the season the greatest all-around ability at the position,” is down to Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The latter two are doing battle for a much bigger prize but could still add some hardware to their cases tonight if they can topple the Predators captain.

 

The Vezina, given to the best goaltender in the NHL and voted on by the league’s general managers, will be given to one of Shesterkin, Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames, or Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators. None of the three have won the award previously, meaning we’ll have a new name engraved this year.

 

Three very different rookies are on the ballot for the Calder, given to the top first-year player in the league. Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks will battle with 26-year-old Michael Bunting of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who finally got a chance to play regular minutes in the NHL and responded well.

 

Given the prestige of the Hart, the Ted Lindsay is sometimes overlooked as a major award but it shouldn’t be. The player-voted “most outstanding” award is a huge honor given it comes from direct peers and does not always go to the same recipient as the Hart. This year even the finalists are different, with Matthews and McDavid being joined by Josi on the ballot.

 

Cast your vote and make sure to come back to leave a comment with how many you got correct!

2022 Ted Lindsay Award Finalists Announced

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This week, the NHL has started to release the finalists for all the major regular season awards. After the Hart Trophy came out yesterday, the Ted Lindsay Award, given to “the most outstanding player in the NHL” as voted on by members of the NHLPA, is up.

The finalists this year are Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

While the Lindsay very often mirrors the Hart, the notable difference is that the finalists are peer-selected. McDavid has already won the trophy three times, even taking it home in 2018 when he somehow finished fifth in Hart voting, despite leading the league in scoring. There’s no doubting his place among his fellow players, widely considered the best player in the world at the moment. After setting new career highs with 44 goals and 123 points, there’s certainly reason to believe they’ve put him on top of the mountain once again.

Matthews has more than a fighting chance though, after becoming just the third player in the salary cap era to score 60 goals in a single season. The Maple Leafs forward is the no-doubt best at putting the puck in the back of the net, and reached a new high with 106 points in just 73 games. Perhaps the front-runner for the Hart this season, it will be interesting to see if the players feel the same about the Toronto sniper.

Josi, meanwhile, is the only one of the three that didn’t end as a finalist for the Hart, as Igor Shesterkin took the third spot yesterday. It shows just how outstanding his season was and how much respect his peers have for the historic 96-point campaign he put together. That’s more than just a good year–it puts Josi among a list of the best offensive defensemen to ever play the game. Whether that was enough to draw the votes to pass the two big centers won’t be revealed until later on but it is still an impressive feat to get named a finalist in a year with so many incredible offensive performances.

2022 Hart Trophy Finalists Announced

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It’s time for the big one. The NHL has announced the finalists for the Hart Trophy, given annually to the “player judged most valuable to his team.” Last year’s award went to Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, his second win after taking it home in 2017 as well.

This year’s finalists are McDavid, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers.

There’s not much to be said about the Oilers captain that hasn’t already been mentioned a million times. One of the most dynamic offensive players to ever grace the NHL, he reached new highs in goals and points this year with 44 and 123. It was the fourth time he has led the league in points, and this will be the fourth time he is a Hart finalist. With 697 points in his career already, he sits fourth in points/game among those who have played at least 450. Only Wayne Gretzky (1.92), Mario Lemieux (1.88), and the late Mike Bossy (1.50) sit ahead of McDavid’s 1.43 mark, an incredible accomplishment in this era.

Matthews, meanwhile, is a finalist for the second time after being the runner-up last season. Now the two-time Rocket Richard winner, the Maple Leafs forward is the best goal scorer in the league and reached a mark very rarely seen in today’s game. His 60 goals were the most since Steven Stamkos hit the same mark in 2011-12, and he became only the third player in the salary cap era to reach the mark (Alex Ovechkin has the top spot with 65 in 2007-08). More than just his goals though, it was Matthews’ overall production that skyrocketed this season, with the big center hitting 106 points in just 73 games.

Shesterkin is a first-time finalist, but if he continues to play at the level he established this season this certainly won’t be the last time he’s up for major awards. The 26-year-old netminder posted a .935 save percentage in 53 appearances and is the front-runner for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best netminder. Moreover, the Rangers were routinely critiqued for their defensive zone breakdowns this season as a young team, breakdowns that Shesterkin regularly rescued them from with incredible saves. The Hart hasn’t been won by a goaltender since Carey Price in 2015, when he nearly swept the field, taking home the Jennings, Vezina, and Lindsay as well. Price’s save percentage that season was actually .933, just a few points below what Shesterkin did this year.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Price, O’Ree

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The NHL has released its Three Stars for last week, led once again by Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oiles. McDavid added five goals and eight points to his totals, and cracked a few important thresholds. For the third time in his career, he has broken the 40-goal mark, while he once again has more than 100 points, the fifth time in seven seasons. McDavid leads the league in scoring with 105 points so far.

Second and third went to Aleksander Barkov and Semyon Varlamov respectively, after their own outstanding weeks. The Florida Panthers captain scored five goals in four games and is closing in on his previous career-high. Barkov needs just three more goals to crack that mark of 35. Varlamov meanwhile just continues to get it done, posting a 3-0 record and .952 save percentage last week. The 33-year-old netminder doesn’t have a good record, but still carries a .919 on the season.

  • The Montreal Canadiens don’t have a ton left to play for in terms of the standings but there may be a nice surprise for fans in the coming days. Carey Price was a full participant at practice and Eric Engels of Sportsnet suggests that the star goaltender could potentially make his debut in the next few games. Next Monday at home against the Winnipeg Jets seems a likely possibility for Price to make his season debut after a very tumultuous year, though there is no indication yet from the team when he’ll be back in the crease. Brendan Gallagher was also in a regular jersey at practice, and while he admitted he needs to speak to the medical staff for clearance, expects to play tomorrow.
  • The three finalists for the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award have been named today, as one of Noel Acton, Ryan Francis, and Meridith Lang will take home the trophy this season. The award is given to the individual who, through the sport of hockey, has positively impacted his or her community, culture, or society. Even though just one will win, all three should be celebrated for their impact and community work. You can read more about the finalists here.

NHL Announces Player Assignments For Skills Competition

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The NHL All-Star Skills competition will take place tomorrow night in Las Vegas, and the league has announced ahead of time which players will participate in which events. The player assignments for the seven events are as follows:

Fastest Skater

Chris Kreider, NYR
Adrian Kempe, LAK
Kyle Connor, WPG
Evgeny Kuznetsov, WSH
Jordan Kyrou, STL
Dylan Larkin, DET
Cale Makar, COL
Connor McDavid, EDM           

Save Streak

Jack Campbell, TOR
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL
Frederik Andersen, CAR
Tristan Jarry, PIT
Cam Talbot, MIN
Juuse Saros, NSH
Thatcher Demko, VAN
John Gibson, ANA

Fountain Face-Off

Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA
Claude Giroux, PHI
Jordan Eberle, SEA
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson
Roman Josi, NSH
Nick Suzuki, MTL
Zach Werenski, CBJ
Mark Stone, VGK

Hardest Shot

Adam Pelech, NYI
Timo Meier, SJS
Victor Hedman, TBL
Tom Wilson, WSH

Breakaway Challenge

Goalies: Manon Rhéaume & Wyatt Russell

Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
Trevor Zegras, ANA
Jack Hughes, NJD
Alex DeBrincat, CHI
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK

Las Vegas NHL 21 in ’22

Nazem Kadri, COL
Auston Matthews, TOR
Joe Pavelski, DAL
Steven Stamkos, TBL
Brady Tkachuk, OTT

Accuracy Shooting

Leon Draisaitl, EDM
Clayton Keller, ARI
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF
Sebastian Aho, CAR
Jake Guentzel, PIT
Troy Terry, ANA
Johnny Gaudreau, CGY
Patrice Bergeron, BOS
Jonathan Marchessault, VGK

Two new events, the Fountain Face-Off and 21 in ’22 will be held outside in the Bellagio fountain and Las Vegas strip respectively. Individual winners of each event will earn $30,000.

2022 NHL All-Star Game Rosters Revealed

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Jan 26: After Batherson was injured last night, the league has announced that Brady Tkachuk will replace him and be the Senators’ representative.

Jan 13: During a live reveal on ESPN’s SportsCenter program in the United States, the National Hockey League unveiled their four divisional rosters for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Eight skaters and two goalies were announced for each team, leaving one skater spot open for each division. That last spot will once again be decided by a fan vote, who they can select by voting at NHL.com/LastMenIn.

The head coaches of each team were announced earlier, decided by the teams in first place (by points percentage) in their division on New Years Day. Florida’s Andrew Brunette heads the Atlantic Division, Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour will coach the Metropolitan Division, Colorado’s Jared Bednar is the bench boss for the Central Division, and Vegas’ Peter DeBoer will serve as the Pacific Division’s coach.

Below are the full rosters for each division.

Atlantic Division

F Auston Matthews “C” (Toronto Maple Leafs)
F Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators)
F Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
F Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
F Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
F Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens)
D Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres)
D Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
G Jack Campbell (Toronto Maple Leafs)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Metropolitan Division

F Alex Ovechkin “C” (Washington Capitals)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers)
F Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils)
F Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)
D Adam Fox (New York Rangers)
D Adam Pelech (New York Islanders)
D Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes)
G Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Central Division

F Nathan MacKinnon “C” (Colorado Avalanche)
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets)
F Alex DeBrincat (Chicago Blackhawks)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild)
F Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes)
F Jordan Kyrou (St. Louis Blues)
F Joe Pavelski (Dallas Stars)
D Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)
G Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
G Cam Talbot (Minnesota Wild)

Pacific Division

F Connor McDavid “C” (Edmonton Oilers)
F Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
F Jordan Eberle (Seattle Kraken)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings)
F Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks)
F Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights)
D Alex Pietrangelo (Vegas Golden Knights)
G Thatcher Demko (Vancouver Canucks)
G John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks)

Oilers Notes: Yamamoto, Holloway, McDavid

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The Edmonton Oilers have announced that Kailer Yamamoto was pulled from practice this morning because of a positive result on a rapid COVID-19 test. He is currently in the protocol, but will await further results to confirm his status. Should he test negative moving forward, he would not need to face the mandatory five-day isolation period.

Yamamoto, 23, has been relatively underwhelming this season even if he is one of the team’s most reliable forwards. With just seven goals and 12 points in 34 games, the young forward isn’t producing anywhere near the 2019-20 rate that made him so exciting to watch. With a contract negotiation and potential arbitration right around the corner, a strong second half would certainly go a long way for his financial future.

  • Speaking of exciting young Edmonton forwards, it’s been a challenging year for prospect Dylan Holloway. After fracturing his wrist while playing for the University of Wisconsin, he underwent surgery in March 2021. Several months later and he was under the knife a second time after consulting with specialists, meaning he’s been away from the game for quite some time. Today, Holloway joined the team at practice and was a “full participant.” Selected 14th overall in 2020, Holloway blew up at Wisconsin last season, scoring 35 points in 23 games while also taking home the silver medal with Canada at the World Juniors. Now 20, he’s in the first year of his entry-level contract and could be activated whenever healthy enough to contribute.
  • Head coach Dave Tippett confirmed that Connor McDavid, Tyson Barrie, and Derek Ryan are eligible to exit the COVID protocol on Sunday, should they be able to provide negative test results. That would make them available to the team for Monday’s game against the Ottawa Senators, though nothing is certain at this point.

Connor McDavid, Two Other Oilers Enter COVID Protocol

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Though there was some hope that Connor McDavid’s positive COVID-19 test would not be confirmed today, Edmonton Oilers head coach Dave Tippett announced that the superstar center has now entered the protocol and will be unavailable for the team tonight when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Even worse, Tippett announced that Derek Ryan and Tyson Barrie have also entered the protocol. Zack Kassian has been activated, while. Ilya Konovalov has been moved to the taxi squad.

Losing McDavid at any point of the season is bad news, but especially so for the reeling Oilers right now. The team has lost four in a row, eight of their last ten, and are in danger of slipping even further down the Pacific Division standings. At 18-13-2 on the year, they are in fourth place but just a few points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and surging Vancouver Canucks.

With losing often comes controversy, and the question of a coaching change has been brought up by the media in recent days. That was the focus on social media again this morning after Mikko Koskinen’s response to being criticized by Tippett. The coach was asked directly about the situation between him and his goaltender, explaining to reporters including Ryan Rishaug of TSN that his comments were taken out of context. Mike Smith will start in goal tonight for the undermanned Oilers.

Not only is McDavid missing though, but also Ryan and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, meaning the team will be very short on capable centers this evening. Leon Draisaitl will be asked to carry an even heavier load, while Ryan McLeod likely becomes the team’s default second-line option. Nugent-Hopkins was moved to injured reserve today.

Luckily, the team only has tonight and one more game currently scheduled before January 18, meaning McDavid and the others shouldn’t miss much actual action.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Connor McDavid Avoids Suspension

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According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet, the Department of Player Safety is not expected to issue any supplementary discipline to Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid for his hit on Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe last night. McDavid was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the play.

McDavid, who is not exactly known for his physical play, has actually received supplementary discipline in the past. In 2019 he was suspended two games for his elbow on Nick Leddy and last season he was fined for a similar hit on Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

This time he won’t miss any games, which is an important outcome for the Oilers after the team has dropped two straight. They were beaten 5-1 by the Kings last night and lost 4-3 to the last place Seattle Kraken last Friday. While they’re still firmly in a playoff position, the team couldn’t afford to lose McDavid for any length of time.

Snapshots: Wilson, Three Stars, Cash

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Last year, Colin Wilson opened up in a piece for The Players’ Tribune, explaining that he had been dealing with untreated obsessive-compulsive disorder throughout his career. He was trying to educate young players on the importance of mental health and the risks that a professional career brought him.

Today, Wilson released an addendum titled “Addiction” in which he fully admits his addiction to drugs, use of Ambien and cocaine, and hopes to spread increased awareness following the recent fentanyl-contributed death of former NHL forward Jimmy Hayes. Wilson’s new piece is a worthwhile–if difficult–read for all sports fans.

  • The league has announced the Three Stars for last week, with Kyle Connor taking home top spot after racking up five goals and eight points in three games. The point total was the same for Connor McDavid, who was the week’s second star, while Ilya Sorokin posted an outstanding .971 save percentage with two shutouts to earn third place. Sorokin was the first Islanders’ goaltender to post shutouts in consecutive days as he held the fort while Semyon Varlamov recovered from injury.
  • One of the greatest sled hockey players of all time has announced his retirement, as Steve Cash will end his playing days after 16 seasons in goal for the U.S. National Team. Cash has three Paralympic Winter Games gold medals (and a bronze), eight World Championship gold medals, and lost just 16 games in regulation during his more than 150 starts for Team USA.

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