Who should win NHL awards
Sometimes, picking the NHL award-winners isn't all that complicated.
This, however, was not one of those years — especially when it came to picking for the Hart Trophy, given to the player deemed to be most valuable to his team.
No fewer than 10 players deserved serious consideration, and you could make a serious argument for any of my top five. Here's how I voted:
5. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
Hellebuyck was mediocre at best in 2016-17 when the Jets finished 7 points out of the playoffs. This season, though, he led the NHL with 44 victories, was fifth in goals against and sixth in save percentage.
As talented as Winnipeg is offensively, there's no way the Jets go 52-20-10 without Hellebuyck.
4. Artemi Panarin, Columbus Blue Jackets
The next-highest scoring Columbus forward after Panarin (27G, 55A, 82 points) was Pierre-Luc Dubois (48 points), so that shows you just how important the former Blackhawks winger was to this team. No way the Blue Jackets come close to making the playoffs without Panarin.
3 Claude Giroux, Philadelphia
Giroux's 102 points were behind only Connor McDavid's 108, and his 68 assists led the league. Eight of Giroux's 34 goals came as Philly went 4-1-0 in the last five games to qualify for the playoffs. Giroux had an incredible 29 multi-point games and had 3 or more 10 times. It was a truly sensational season by the 30-year-old veteran.
2. Taylor Hall, New Jersey
On a team that barely scored more than the Blackhawks, Hall put together a remarkable 39-goal, 93-point season. That goal total is even more impressive when you consider Hall scored just six times in the first 21 games. New Jersey wasn't expected to do anything this season, but Hall's breakout campaign — which included a 26-game point streak from Jan. 2-March 6 — earned the Devils the second wild-card spot in the East. Truly impressive.
1. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado
Deciding between Hall and MacKinnon was akin to choosing between the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Choose one and somebody will argue the other.
I went with MacKinnon because his 39-goal, 58-assist season was a huge reason the Avs went from being one of the worst teams in NHL history to one of the biggest shockers in NHL history. A huge selling point for me was that MacKinnon racked up 15 goals and 18 assists in 23 games against Central Division foes. That's a 118-point pace against teams that many consider to be the best in the league. His 12 game-winners also tied for the league lead. Since 1990-91, only four players had more in a single season. So give the Hart to MacKinnon — by a nose.
Calder (Rookie)
The Islanders' Mathew Barzal (22G, 63A) will win this award, but I went with Vancouver's Brock Boeser. Don't get me wrong — Barzal's stats are phenomenal, but Boeser (29G, 26A in 62 games) could have scored 40 goals had he not suffered a season-ending back injury on March 5.
What if he had missed the first 20 games, then scored 29 times in the final 62 games? Wouldn't he be neck and neck with Barzal? To me, it's unfair to punish Boeser for when the injury occurred.
My 3-4-5 picks were: Kyle Connor, who scored 31 goals and will be a headache for years to come for the Blackhawks; Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy; and the Hawks' Alex DeBrincat, who led the team with 28 goals.
Norris (Defense)
This was a difficult call between Los Angeles' Drew Doughty and Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman. I went with Doughty mostly because of his sensational finish (27 assists last 36 games), but also because he averaged a league-high 26:50 time on ice and his team allowed 33 goals fewer than Hedman's.
There were plenty of great candidates and it was difficult leaving Nashville's P.K. Subban and Roman Josi, and Dallas' John Klingberg off my ballot. My 3-4-5 choices were Philadelphia's Shayne Gostisbehere, Washington's John Carlson and San Jose's Brent Burns.
Vezina (goalie)
The league's GMs vote for this award, but why not throw my 2 cents in? I'd give the slight edge to Nashville's Pekka Rinne (42-13-4, .927, 2.31 GAA) over Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck (44-11-9, .924, 2.36).
It's very close, but Rinne had more shutouts (8-6), a better quality start percentage (.678 to .609) and a much better even-strength save percentage (.939 to .929).
My 3-4-5 choices are Boston's Tuukka Rask, Columbus' Sergei Bobrovsky and Vegas' Marc-Andre Fleury.
Other awards:
Jack Adams (coach)
Gerard Gallant (Vegas); Jared Bednar (Colorado); John Hynes (New Jersey); Paul Maurice (Winnipeg); Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay).
General manager
George McPhee (Vegas); Joe Sakic (Colorado); Jarmo Kekalainen (Columbus); Kevin Cheveldayoff (Winnipeg); Don Sweeney (Boston).
Lady Byng (sportsmanship)
Auston Matthews (Toronto); Johnny Gaudreau, (Calgary); Jared Spurgeon, (Minnesota); Logan Couture, (San Jose); Alex DeBrincat; (BLACKHAWKS).
Selke (defensive forward)
Aleksander Barkov (Florida); Patrice Bergeronn (Boston); Sean Couturier (Philadelphia); Sidney Crosby, (Pittsburgh); Taylor Hall, (New Jersey).
Note: Coach and GM awards are voted on by league broadcasters.