NHL: NHL Awards
USATSI

With the NHL regular season effectively over, the finalists for the various year-end awards given to players and coaches have been announced. This, of course, will be the latest the finalists and winners have been announced in a calendar year. The coronavirus pandemic forced the NHL to suspend its season back in March.

In July, ahead of the playoffs, the league announced the finalists for every major award. Below is a breakdown of every one:

Hart Trophy

  • Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl
  • Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon 
  • New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin

This award is given to the league's most valuable player and is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Draisaitl lead the league with 110 points, 43 goals and 67 assists, and came in first in points per game with 1.55. The 24-year-old had 33 multi-point games, at least one point in 56 games and had 10 game-winning goals, tying Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak for first.

MacKinnon is a second-time Hart Trophy finalist and this season helped lead his team to the second-best record in the Western Conference. The 24-year-old was fifth in points with 93 points, 35 goals and 58 assists.

Panarin was one of the most dynamic goal scorers in the league and tied Pastrnak for third in the NHL with 95 points, 32 goals and 63 assists. He would be the fifth ever Ranger to win the award and the first since 1991-92.

Calder Trophy

This award is given to NHL's best rookie. Makar leads all rookies in points per game with 0.88. Hughes led all rookies in assists (45), points (53) and power-play points (25) through the 68 games he played. Kubalik leads all rookies in goals with 30.  

Jack Adams Award

The award is given to the league's Coach of the Year. 

Cassidy led Boston to a league-leading 100 points on the season, the third of its kind since 2017-18, with a record of 44-14-12. This is the fifth time Tortorella has been nominated for this award. He led Columbus to a 33-22-15 record with 81 points on the season after not only losing the team's best goal scorer (Artemi Panarin) and goalie (Sergei Bobrovsky) to free agency, but also in the face of 419 man games lost due to injury among his players. Vigneault turned around a Flyers squad that had its worst season in 13 years and made them a top-6 team. 

Ted Lindsay Award

This award is voted on by the players and is given to the league's most outstanding player.

Draisaitl led the League with 110 points, 1.55 points per game, 67 assists and 44 power play points. He also scored 10 game-winning goals and had 33 multipoint games, which included earning at least one point in 56 of 71 games. MacKinnon was fifth in the league with 93 points (35 goals, 58 assists) and had 29 multi-point games, scoring points in 53 of 69 games. Panarin was third in the league 95 points (32 goals, 63 assists) in 69 games. He led the NHL in even-strength points (71) and all forwards in plus/minus (plus-36).

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

This trophy is given to the player exhibiting the most gentlemanly conduct and sportsmanship.

MacKinnon only took 12 penalties in minutes this season despite a high time-on-ice average of 21:13. Matthews set a career-low penalty minutes, but his nomination brings with it the controversy of being not even a year removed from dropping his pants in front of a female security guard while trying to enter her car. Charges against him were dismissed in November. O'Reilly is a mainstay in this category, with this being his third consecutive season among the finalists. He notched just 10 PIM, the sixth season of his 11-season career where he had 10 or fewer.

Frank J. Selke Trophy

The Selke trophy is given to the player "who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game," is voted by the Professional Hockey Writers.

Bergeron has been nominated for the ninth straight year and is looking to take it home for the fifth time, which would be a record. He helped lead the Bruins to the Presidents Trophy and allow the fewest goals in the league. He scored 56 points, 31 goals and 25 assists, before the season was halted. 

Couturier is a second-time finalist and came in second in 2017-18. O'Reilly is last year's winner and is also a second-time finalist. He lead the league in face-off wins for the third consecutive year. This season he scored 61 points, 12 goals and 49 assists. 

The Selke Trophy is not the only category where he is a finalist. He is also in the running for the Lady Byng Trophy, which goes to the player who best displays a combination of sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct and ability.

Norris Trophy

The trophy is awarded to defenseman who "demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position" and is voted on by the by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Carlson is a first time finalist after leading the the position with 75 points and 60 assists this season. The defenseman clocked an average of 24:38 of ice time per game. Hedman is a finalist for the fourth straight season and was awarded the Norris Trophy in 2017-18. This season he had 98 blocked shots and 47 takeaways with an average of  24:04 of ice time per game. Josi finished the regular season with the third-most ice time per game at 25:47. He came in second among defenseman in goals (16), assists (49) and points (65). 

Vezina Trophy

The league's general managers vote to determine who will be awarded the Vezina Trophy, given to the NHL's "goaltender judged to be the best at his position."

Rask helped the Bruins allow the fewest regular-season goals this season alongside backup goalie Jaroslav Halak. He was second in save percentage at .929. Rask is no stranger to the award, taking it home in 2014.

Hellebuyck was tied for first in games played (58), shots faced (1,796), saves (1,656) and shutouts (6) this regular season. He had a .922 save percentage and accounted for 83.8% of the team's wins. 

Vasilevskiy is a third-straight finalist for the trophy and took home the award last year. He leads the league with 35 wins and went on an impressive 19-0-2 run to help catapult the Lightning into contenders this season.