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The Professional Hockey Writers Association is casting its ballots for NHL Awards this week, as are the Professional Hockey Broadcasters Association (which votes on the Jack Adams) and the general managers (who vote on the Vezina).
In the end, the nominees for each award are usually worthy of the honor. But that doesn’t mean we all don’t have our rooting interests in seeing someone make the cut.
Here are Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski, Sean Leahy, Jen Neale, Josh Cooper and Ryan Lambert on their wants and ‘Do. Not. Wants.’ of the NHL Awards voting for 2016-17.
WHAT’S THE ONE NHL AWARDS NOMINATION YOU REALLY HOPE YOU’LL SEE?
WYSHYNSKI: Victor Hedman as a Norris finalist, and hopefully winner. I wish the same ‘we gotta get this guy a Norris, pronto!’ campaign that’s backed Brent Burns and Drew Doughty in the last two seasons would do the same for Hedman eventually. He had 72 points in 79 games, drove possession to the tune of a 53.4-percent Corsi, averaged 24:30 time on ice and played in all situations. And for once, it can’t be said he’s a product of Anton Stralman, as he played more minute away from him than with him this season at 5-on-5.
It’s a crime if he doesn’t join Burns and Erik Karlsson in the Norris top three. And a strong case can be made that he belongs ahead of them in the voting, too.*
LEAHY: I’d love to see Craig Anderson end up a finalist for the Vezina Trophy. He only made 40 starts while he was taking care of his wife during her cancer battle — which is the reason why he’ll likely win the Masterton — but when he was in goal, he was phenomenal for the Sens. He has the top even-strength save percentage for goalies with at least 40 appearances and has five shutouts to his name.
NEALE: Zach Werenski as the third nominee for Rookie of the Year. Lost in the Patrik Laine-Auston Matthews (and the rest of the young Leafs) show of this year is the outstanding rookie campaign for Werenski. The defenseman was sixth on the Blue Jackets in scoring with 47 points in 78 games; 21 of those points came on the power play. Werenski is the top scoring defensemen among rookies and on Columbus. He’d have even more points if he didn’t get his face smashed in at the end of the season.
COOPER: Nikita Kucherov for the Hart Trophy. Sure the Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t make the playoffs – which could hurt Kucherov’s vote total – but that shouldn’t take away his importance for his team, which missed the playoffs by one point and played without captain Steven Stamkos from November onwards.
Kucherov’s 1.15 points per-game ranked third amongst players who played over 70 games. From March 1 onward Kucherov went on a tear with 14 goals and 27 points in 20 games played as the Lightning tried to make a late playoff push. In that stretch he was held without a point in just four games. Without Kucherov it’s hard to imagine that the Lightning would have been as close as they were to actually making the playoffs.
LAMBERT: I really hope Erik Karlsson wins the Norris this year after getting screwed out of it last year. He’s about as deserving as Burns is, in my estimation, and the look on certain voters’ faces will be almost worth Drew Doughty winning last year.
I also acknowledge that this simply will not happen. But I want it to.
WHAT’S THE ONE NHL AWARDS NOMINATION YOU REALLY HOPE YOU DON’T SEE?
WYSHYNSKI: John Tortorella winning the Jack Adams. It’s pointless to hope that Tortorella doesn’t get a Jack Adams nomination, because the Blue Jackets’ 32-point improvement is a big chewy narrative that the broadcasters who vote on the award won’t ignore.
But the fact that two different voting bodies cast their ballots on coach and goalie of the year means that sometimes teams have a Vezina Trophy winning goalie and a Jack Adams-winning coach. With due respect to Barry Trotz and Braden Holtby – and every other coach/goalie winning combination at the awards – I’d rather see the Jack Adams go to someone that doesn’t have the best team save percentage in the NHL (.923) like the Blue Jackets do.
Maybe someone that has a .913 team save percentage and a 26-point turnaround in the standings. Yeah, that guy.
LEAHY: Any involving the Mark Messier Leadership Award*
NEALE: Claude Julien for Jack Adams. The NHL Broadcasters’ Association is in charge of the Jack Adams Award nominees and winners, not the PHWA. They love a good ‘turnaround’ story, but the Habs weren’t exactly a turnaround per-se. The team just needed a new voice in the room. Oh and a healthy Carey Price helps, too.
COOPER: Anze Kopitar for the Selke Trophy. Kopitar has been a finalist for the Selke trophy three times and won the award last year. This season, he shouldn’t get voted into the top three. This was a down year across the board for Kopitar – both offensively and defensively – and he shouldn’t be rewarded based on his history.
LAMBERT: Anyone but Connor McDavid winning the Hart. This is self-explanatory. He spent the majority of the season as a rowdy teen and scored 100 points on the Oilers, for pete’s sake!
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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