NHL Awards: Blades of Teal Predicts Who’s Gettin’ A Trophy!
The Rocket Richard Trophy
The “Rocket” Richard Trophy is awarded to the skater with the most goals at seasons end. The NHL award’s newest trophy, was introduced in 1999. Former San Jose Shark Teemu Salenne was the inaugural winner, although not a Shark at the time. Multiple winners include Jerome Iginla (2) Sidney Crosby (2), Pavel Bure (2) and Steven Stamkos also with, guess what, 2. Former San Jose Shark Shark Jonathan Cheechoo won it in 05-06, with 56 goals. The Sharks haven’t sniffed a 56 goal scorer since.
But the king of the Rocket Richard trophy is the 7 time winner, and finally Stanley Cup Champion because he’s not gonna f***ing suck this year, or any year is Alexander Ovechkin. Will he become the 8 time Rocket Richard winner?
Lucas Burrell- Alexander Ovechkin, LW Washington Capitals
Ovechkin was awarded the Rocket Richard last year, he potted 49 goals in 82 games. Ovi is unbelievable he lead the league is shots on goal, while placing second in in rebounds created among all skaters. The man is a monster in the offensive zone, team’s relatively have an idea of what he’s going to do after 14 seasons in the NHL, yet he continues to succeed.
I am picking Ovechkin to win the Rocket Richard again because he is a much more consistent shooter than the others who might be in contention this year. Ovi shot the puck at 13.4% rate last year, which is one percentage point off his career average. The other top shooters in league (Laine and W.Karlsson) are coming off career year shooting %’s and are likely regression candidates in that statistical category.
I really hope last year put to rest all of the Ovechkin doubters. He is the greatest goal scorer of this generation, and it’s a blessing that we get to see this dude come into every season puts it all on the line. Don’t expect him to slow down this year either, he seems to enjoy winning quite a bit
and is looking to repeat last year’s Stanley Cup run.
Michael Gutnick- Patrick Laine, RW Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets have some tough company in the Central Division and it comes a little easier thanks to their Finnish finisher – Patrik Laine.
Laine and Alex Ovechkin stand as the two most potent powerhouses from the left circle in the sport. Ovechkin led the NHL last year with 49 goals and Laine pursued him just five short. However, with age comes experience and it’s time for Laine to take his game to the next level and prove he can be Rocket (Richard) man.
The 2016 2nd overall pick has a cannon that can pierce any goaltender in the league. He’s a pivotal piece on Winnipeg’s powerplay as he tallied up a career-high 20 goals on the man-advantage, ranking first in the league as well during his sophomore season. The 20-year-old right winger is a marksman that will continue to light up the lamp the moment he steps onto the ice and represents an ideal favorite to shoot over everyone for the Rocket Richard Trophy this season.
David Boettcher- Auston Matthews, C Toronto Maple Leafs
It’s fairly obvious after two games he has worked a lot on his shot.
Auston Matthews has always been a spectacularly talented hockey player. He has mostly been a playmaker his entire career. His skating allowed him to be able to move exceptionally well to areas to setup teammates and score goals. However, his shot left something to be desired. That changed this offseason.
In two games, Matthews has two goals and his shot looks noticeably more dangerous. He releases so quickly and accurately, with such power, I am surprised any goalie can track his shot. On a team loaded with playmakers, don’t be surprised to see Austin be the recipient of multiple passes.
Steve Fishman- Patrick Laine, LW Winnpeg Jets
Move over Ovi! There’s a new Sheriff in town! Laine is such a dynamic goal scorer, and with another year of experience under his belt, he should give the Great 8 a run for his money. He was on the absolute best line in hockey last season until Mark Scheifle got injured. Oh and not to mention, his linemate Blake Wheeler is coming off a career year, and was tied for most apples in the NHL with Claude Giroux.
This season is a bit different. Laine is now on the second line (how!?) with Bryan Little and Nicolaj Ehlers. This probably benefits Laine even more as the main objective for Little and Ehlers is to get Laine the puck so he can light the lamp.
Laine is the main piece on Winnipeg’s power play, and compares only to Ovechkin in terms of special teams scoring. With another year under Laine’s belt, I fully expect him to lead the NHL in Goals For.
The Art Ross Trophy
The Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the player with the most points (goals and assists) at the end of the season and who am I kidding its going to be McDavid.
Lucas Burrell- Connor McDavid, C Edmonton Oilers
This has sort of become a constellation prize for the world class skater. He has won it past two years and will more than likely to lead the league in points again this upcoming season. We all know what this man is capable of.
He is at the top of just about every offensive statistical category that is recorded in the league. Something that is interesting about his play is how disruptive he can be, he lead the entire league in takeaways during the 2017 – 2018 season. It’s not hard to imagine McDavid stripping a
puck and trekking it through the neutral zone and over the blue line with ease.
He’s got a few players as competition for this award, but McDavid is being projected to being even more effective this year. He will be asked to take on even more of the burden on offense with the Oilers not doing much to improve it this offseason. McDavid is great, he probably deserves the Hart Trophy but for some odd reason the voters blame him for the rest of teams incompetence.
Michael Gutnick- Connor McDavid, C Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid is just too much for any defense to handle, burying pucks night in and night out. The Edmonton Oilers speedster has led the league for the last two seasons, tallying 100 points in 2016 and 108 points in 2017. There is no sign of the 2015 1st overall pick slowing down as he
continues to burst past and knife though stalwart defenses.
Outside of lighting the lamp, McDavid’s supporting cast gives him a beneficial reason for a slick pass to his Oiler teammates. Ryan Nungent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, Ty Rattie, Milan Lucic, and Ryan Strome all poise as great coring options for the Edmonton captain. It’s no mystery
as to why McDavid and the Oilers always find the back of the net. His drive, motivation and power is relentless, just like his chances to capture the Art Ross Trophy for a third straight season.
David Boettcher- Connor McDavid, C Edmonton Oilers
It’s Connor McDavid, is there anything left to be said? Okay, okay, a short explanation is a must.
If Connor McDavid is healthy, he is the best player in the league. It’s highly unlikely he’ll ever get injured because no one can touch him. His supernatural skating ability, speed, and vision on the ice not only help to score lots and lots of points, but also help him to avoid injury.
His skating ability, speed, vision, and puck skill allow McDavid to do just about whatever he wants on the ice. He can choose to take the puck and score, or make the pass to start the play and put himself into a goal scoring position.
He also regularly creates situations where he can use his elite passing ability to setup his line mates for open net goals. It doesn’t matter which line mate either. Seriously, McDavid is so good, he turned Patrick Maroon into a 30 goal scorer. Expect this to continue for the duration.
Steve Fishman- Connor McDavid, C Edmonton Oilers
‘Nuff Said.
Calder Memorial Trophy
The Calder Trophy is awarded to the best rookie in the NHL
Lucas Burrell- Jesperi Kotkaniemi- C Montreal Canadians
Pick Analysis. 152. Scouting Report. Centre. Finland. Jesperi Kotkaniemi. 3. player
There were a lot perplexed looks during draft night the Canadiens selected Kotkaniemi at 3rd overall. But to many teams and draft experts the Finnish skater was best center available in the draft. Montreal is a team that desperately needs center depth within their franchise, and it
shows with how quickly they slotted the 18 year old into their lineup.
It seems that they are easing him into the league, but don’t be surprised if they start utilizing him in the first line center spot by Thanksgiving or Christmas. Getting that bump in ice-time along with more opportunities with the Canadiens most impactful forwards, Kotkaniemi will produce a
significant chunk of points.
He showed during training camp that he has the ability to distribute the puck on a NHL level. Over the course of this 2018 – 2019 season look out for this young skater to slowly become one of the most impactful rookies in the entire league.
Michael Gutnick- Elias Pettersson- C/RW Vancouver Canucks
There are some many rookie sensations to choose from emerging to the NHL level this season. However, Elias Pettersson stands out as one of the top Swedish superstars to break through for the Vancouver Canucks and holds the best chance at claiming the Calder Trophy.
As noted before in the Vancouver Canucks piece of our Pacific Division preview, Pettersson is a dynamic two-way forward with tremendous play-making abilities and a highly-skilled threat to unleash his a lethal wrister and slapshot. Along with Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat on Vancouver’s
top line, the 2017 5th overall pick sparks the Canucks offense, representing a crucial component of the future in Rogers Arena.
Pettersson already holds high regard and shows he can compete and swiftly skate past some of the NHL’s best forwards and blueliners, which we’ve seen as he paced the Swedish Hockey League with 56 points. A bright young star on the rise, the 19-year-old freshman phenom seeks to take home the rookie hardware.
David Boettcher- Elias Pettersson- C/RW Vancouver Canucks
Three goals in two regular season games and a couple of broken ankles in preseason, this kid looks like the real deal.
Elias Pettersson always had a question mark hanging over his head. Scouts and other experts wondered whether he would be able to put on enough weight to be durable enough to last an entire NHL season. While that is still yet to be seen, as Calgary isn’t exactly a physically tough team to play against, so far, he hasn’t looked out of place.
Steve Fishman- Andrei Svechnikov- RW Carolina Hurricanes
Right Wing. Barrie Colts. 2. player. Scouting Report. Andrei Svechnikov. 109. Pick Analysis
This is a bit of an unpopular pick here, as Pettersson and even guys like Kotkaniemi and Tkachuck get a bit more hype than Svechnikov does, as he plays in Carolina. But at the end of the day, its going to be Svechnikov and the Carolina Hurricanes laughing all the way to the playoffs.
The #2 overall pick is already off to a hot start with the even hotter ‘Canes. He already has 2 goals in six games playing on Carolina’s fourth line(!!!) He creates a massive mismatch against other teams checking lines, as the Hurricanes have the depth to roll four lines with impunity.
Svechnikov’s Corsi For Percentage is already a staggering 64% followed by a Goals For% of 66% according to Natural StatTrick. With both Pettersson and Tkachuck missing time, its Svechnikovs to lose at this point.
The Vezina Trophy
The Vezina Trophy is awarded to the best goaltender of the year.
Lucas Burrell- John Gibson, Anahiem Ducks
Let’s just get this out of the way immediately. The Anaheim Ducks would not have even sniffed the playoffs without the stellar play of John Gibson last season. They crawled their way through the season and placed second in the Pacific division with 101 points, and it had little to do with their offense.
John Gibson posted an astounding 92.58% on-ice SV%, that’s good enough for second in the entire league among goalies who started 50+ games Pekka Rinne placed first, but one must take into consideration that he arguably has one of the strongest defensive groups in front of him. Gibson went through points last season where he was missing integral parts of the Ducks defense.
Anaheim as a team lead the league in HDSV% , while also placeing 2 nd in overall team save %. The Ducks were consistently being caved in offensively; they posted both sub 50% corsi/fenwick scores, while being constantly out chanced by the opposing team’s offenses. Gibby bailed
them out consistently, and will likely continue this pattern into this upcoming season. Look for Anaheim to rely even more on their goaltender now that they have him locked up for the next 8 years.
Michael Gutnick- Connor Hellybuck- Winnipeg Jets
Last season, Connor Hellebyuck put on a show defending between the pipes for the Winnipeg Jets, who advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals – a feat the franchise hadn’t accomplished in their history. The Jets have struggled with goalies in the recent years with the likes of Ondrej Pavelec, Michael Hutchinson, and Steve Mason. Now, Winnipeg has found their main man to lock down the fort as the team looks to make an even deeper run in to playoffs with Hellebyuck as a primary Vezina Trophy candidate.
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Hellebyuck finished with 44 wins and 3,966 minutes on the ice, which ranked atop all goaltenders in the National Hockey League in just his second full season with the starting job. Finishing second on the Vezina ballot behind Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne, the 25-year-old native of Commerce,Michigan posted an impressive 2.36 GAA and .924 save percentage. Hellebyuck
is already off to a strong start to this season, stopping 41 of 42 shots against the revitalized St. Louis Blues in their season opener.
David Boettcher- John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
Gibson has been an elite goalie for several years. This is the year the league recognizes how talented the Ducks goaltender is and awards him accordingly.
According to NHL.com, Gibson has a five season career save percentage of .924 and a goals against average of 2.27. These are elite numbers and it looks like he is continuing this play into this year. This year, in two games, he has a 1.00 GAA and a .973 save percentage. Of course it’s a small sample size, but this is in line with his previous play.
The Ducks aren’t a great team but Gibson looks like he is going to make up for a lot of those flaws. If he continues his stellar play, he will likely will the Ducks into the playoffs. He will still have to compete against the Price’s and Holtby’s who get far more attention being on the east coast,
but if the Ducks make the playoffs, he should win the award.
Steve Fishman- Sergei Bobrovski, Columbus Blue Jackets.
This guy. Again.
The Norris Trophy
The Norris Trophy is awarded to the best defenseman of the year.
Michael Gutnick-Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks
The move to San Jose might just be the best thing to happen in Erik Karlsson’s professional hockey career a move that significantly increases his chances at winning the Norris Trophy. The San Jose Sharks arguably stack up as the best defense in the National Hockey League. At the forefront of the teal blue line, Karlsson makes a clear-cut case to win the Norris Trophy for a third time.
While longtime Shark Brent Burns stands as the most dangerous, aggressive offensive weapon from the point, Karlsson finds a steady combination of offense and defense to excel at both ends of the ice. The 2012 and 2015 Norris Trophy winner seeks to rejuvenate his offensive totals with theSharks after taking a dip with nine goals and 53 assists in 71 games last year.
Karlsson’s presence is always felt on defense night in and night out, skating up and down the full length of the ice with tremendous puck-handling abilities and eyes in the back of his head. The 28-year-old defenseman competes as an annual contender for the Norris Trophy award and
has a greater shot take home the accolade this year with a much-improved San Jose Sharks squad.
Lucas Burrell- Shayne Gostisbehre, Flyers
Not only are Shayne Gostisbehere’s usage and point totals impressive, Ghost lead the league last year in some pretty ridiculous underlying stats. The man lead all defenders with rebounds created at all strengths. He lead all defensemen in team SF%, and GF%. Essentially most of the Flyers offense was produced when number 53 was on the ice.
That’s a pretty overwhelming number and exhibits how much Philadelphia relies on Gostisbehere’s shot and presence in the offensive zone. Not to mention he placed in the top 3 among defenseman in SCF% and HDCF%, stats per naturalstattrick. Ghost is extremely dangerous roving the blue line for this Flyers team.
Expect Ghost to get involved in a lot of the Flyers offense. They might have some impressive forward groups, but Coach Hakstol’s offensive strategy relies heavily on shots from the point. This gives a skater with Ghost’s shooting ability opportunities to fire into open shooting lanes generated by his talented group of forwards in front of him.
He probably won’t be shielded from any tough defensive assignments considering he is partnered with Ivan Provarov, but with all things considered don’t be surprised if you see this young defender in the discussion for the Norris.
David Boettcher- Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks
He is tied for the best defender on arguably the best defensive corps in the league. If it weren’t for Marc-Edouard Vlasic, he would clearly be the best defender on the Sharks roster. He doesn’t have the shutdown defensive ability of Vlasic, but he is no slouch there, and makes up for it with his
offense.
Some of Erik Karlsson’s critics try to key in on his inability to defend. After seeing him play in person, that is hogwash. He has already shown how deft he is at defending. He uses his elite skating to close gaps and prevent transition through the neutral zone. He has been nothing but great in own end in two regular season games and is used by Coach DeBoer in critical defensive situations.
Although Karlsson has only scored one point (an assist)this season, expect an uptick as the power play starts to produce and the team gets more comfortable with him. His incredible on ice awareness has helped him to produce several scoring chances, sifting passes through traffic all over the ice. Also, his neutral zone play has sprung the Sharks on several rushes, as he is quickly able to move the puck the other direction. Don’t worry Sharks fans, the points will start coming.
Steve Fishman- P.K Subban, Nashville Predators
There is one defensive corps in the league that you could argue are better than San Jose’s, and that’s the Nashville Predators. The likes of Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and PK Subban can hold water to Karlsson, Burns and Vlasic on San Jose’s blue line.
The best of those three is actually Ellis, but Ellis doesn’t have the offensive numbers that his teammate P.K Subban does. Subban finished tied for second among defensemen last season in goals with 16. A career high for the Subbanator. P.K had 59 points with the Preds last season, in his first fully healthy year with Nashville.
Look for Subban, if he can stay healthy, to repeat and exceed those numbers this season as Nashville will be vying for the number one spot in the Western Conference.
The Hart Trophy
The Hart Trophy is awarded to the most valuable player in all of hockey. The surprise winner last year was New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall (who was traded for Adam Larsson), who came almost out of nowhere to win the award for the first time. It was also the first time a New Jersey Devil had won the trophy.
Michael Gutnick- Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid is the fuel that lights the lamp on a nightly basis for the Edmonton Oilers. Known for his unstoppable speed, acrobatic reflexes and incredible playmaking abilities, McDavid stands as the heart and soul of the Edmonton Oilers organization.
The 2015 1st overall pick has made a name of his own over his first few years in the league, drawing remarkable comparisons to legendary Oiler Wayne Gretzky. After suffering an injury during his impressive rookie campaign (48 points in 45 games), McDavid continues his unbelievable pace, tallying at least 100 points in the following two full seasons.
The 21-year-old center enters his fourth season with Edmonton in what appears to be a year of revenge after missing the playoffs in 2017. With new linemates Ryan Nungent-Hopkins and Ty Rattie on the top forward group, McDavid seeks to reclaim the Hart Trophy he earned back in 2016.
Lucas Burrell- Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Nathan MacKinnon is coming off a spectacular 2017 – 2018 campaign. He was only on the ice for 74 games last season and compiled a monster 97 points.
Mackinnon came up big in clutch situations, potting a league high 12 game winning goals. He was on the same scoring pace as Hart Trophy favorite Connor McDavid but was hindered by an upper body injury. The Avalanche come into next season with relatively the same roster and MacKinnon is looking to perpetuate similar results.
MacKinnon is a piece of arguably one of the best lines in hockey. He clicks very well with line mates Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanten. The 23 year old is coming into his 6th official season in the NHL. He experienced a 44 point jump in production from the previous season He shot at a 13%, that’s 4.0% points above his career average of 9.4%.
One would think that a player with such a low career shooting percentage is a perfect candidate for regression, but the Avalanche had a bit of a renaissance last season and are more than capable to continue their accession into contender status.
His chemistry with his linemates, the continual usage in offensive zone, PP time, along with another year of development is the reason why I believe MacKinnon is capable of putting together another Hart Trophy caliber year.
David Boettcher- Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Last season, Nate was the runner up in the Hart Trophy vote. Taylor Hall was a worthy candidate, but was absolutely the wrong choice. While Hall was likely the reason the Devils made the playoff last season, Nathan McaKinnon was the heart and soul of the Colorado Avalanche’s unlikely single season recovery from worst to playoffs.
MacKinnon scored 97 points in what was a masterpiece of a season. Leading an Avs team bereft of top 6 forward talent, more often than not, MacKinnon lofted the entire team on his back and willed them to victory. This however, is not what made him the heart and soul of the Avs. He frequently shouldered and accepted the responsibility for his teams failures, and he did so willingly, though often the only reason he should have, was because of the letter on his jersey.
So far, MacKinnon seems to be picking up where he left off last season. If he continues, expect him to hoist hardware at the end of the season.
Steve Fishman- Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
Picture it. The young American from Arizona is the top pick in the 2016 NHL draft to hockeys most famous team. He lives up to the hype in his rookie season scoring 40 goals on 69 (nice) points. Matthews gets hurt his second year, but the Leafs still make the playoffs, but he’s overshadowed by guys like Hall and MacKinnon, who had just absolutely crazy years.
Now its Matthews third season in the league. The Maple Leafs have acquired guys like John Tavares, have another year of Patrick Marleau, and their young players like Mitch Marner and Morgan Reilly are one year better. Reilly is on pace to win the Norris this year by the way. The Leafs are the odds on favorite to bring the Stanley Cup home to Canada, to Toronto, where it belongs.
If Matthews can build on what he did his rookie season, if not exceed it, he’s got to be the odds on favorite to win the Hart Trophy. No Maple Leaf has won it since Ted Kennedy in 1955.
Matthews currently leads the NHL in both goals and points. If he keeps this up, and if something catastrophic doesn’t happen in Toronto, the it will finally be Auston Matthews who will bring the NHL’s most prestigious trophy back to the home of hockey.
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That’s it. That’s all of em. We’ll probably miss on all of them, as hockey is one of the more random sports, and anything can happen at any time. But like I said waaaaay in the beginning of this article. This could be the greatest era of hockey ever. We’re seeing more and more deserving players than ever. All we know is this. Its going to be a fun year!