All Rookie Team:
Goalie: Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
Defense: Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres, Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars
Forwards: Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Lightning, Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks, Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
First Team All Star:
Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
Defense: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks, Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
Forwards: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers, Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning, Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Second Team All Star:
Goalie: Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars
Defense: John Carlson, Washington Capitals, Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks, Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
William M. Jennings Trophy (Goaltenders of team with fewest goals against): Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss, New York Islanders
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (Top goal-scorer): Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals (51 goals)
Art Ross Trophy (Top Point Scorer): Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning (128 Points)
Mark Messier Leadership Award (Leadership and community activities): Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers/Nashville Predators
King Clancy Memorial Trophy (Leadership and humanitarian contribution): Jason Zucker, Minnesota Wild
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (Sportsmanship and excellence): Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
NHL General Manager of the Year Award: Don Sweeney, Boston Bruins
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (Perseverance, Sportsmanship, and Dedication): Robin Lehner, New York Islanders
Frank J. Selke Trophy (Defensive forward): Ryan O'Reilly, St. Louis Blues
Ted Lindsay Award (Outstanding player voted by Players Association): Nikita Kucherov Tampa Bay Lightning
Jack Adams Award (Best coach): Barry Trotz (New York Islanders)
Not going to lie here, this one came as a tad bit of a surprise. Not to say that I'm not thrilled for Barry Trotz, because I am overjoyed that he became only the second Islanders coach, behind Al Arbour in 1979, to claim the trophy. With what he manged to do with this Islanders team, taking them on a 23 point improvement and turning them from the highest goals against last year to the lowest this year says a lot. This isn't taking anything away from the other two coaches. Jon Cooper lead the bolts to 62 wins tied for most in NHL history and getting them their first Presidents Trophy. Then there's Craig Berube, who I felt should have had stronger consideration for winning the award. Why? Because he helped take the Blues from the worst record in hockey on January 2nd to a playoff birth and an eventual Stanley Cup title., At the end of the day, what I think cost Berube winning this award was the fact that he was an interim coach and not there from the start of the year.
Calder Trophy (Rookie Of The Year): Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
Pretty big night for Petterson, who became the second Canucks player to win top rookie honors, joining Pavel Bure in 1991-92 to do it. Pettersson set a Vancouver rookie record with 66 points, on 28 goals and 38 assists in 71 games. Those numbers pass Pavel Bure (1991-92) and Ivan Hlinka (1981-82), who each had 60 points. Strongest case to top him in the ballot for top rookie could have gone to Jordan Binnington of the Blues, who was called up to the big club on January 7th and went 24-5-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage and five shutouts in 32 games to help the Blues return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs following a one-season absence. He's the only one who came close to taking the title away from Petterssson, who was playing on another level for the Canucks. At the rate this kid went this year, there's a bright future in Vancouver that's for sure.
Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender): Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
Andrei Vasilevskiy had himself a great year in the Tampa nets, winning 18 of his final 21 starts. That helped the Lightning tie the NHL record for wins in a season (62) and win the Presidents' Trophy with 128 points. He led the NHL with 39 wins, tied for fourth with six shutouts, and had a 2.40 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in 53 games. Great numbers for a great goaltender, becoming the first ever Lightning netminder to come away with the highest honor for a goalie in this game. Both of the other finalists, Robin Lehner of the New York Islanders and Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars, had fine seasons. In some regards Bishop and Lehner put up better numbers than Vasilevskiy did, but Vasy had a bigger overall impact on his team than the other two netminders did.
Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman): Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
Seems like this award at times has been about which blueliner has put up. Sure Brent Burns of the Sharks put up more points this year, Burns had 84 while Giordano had 74, it was Girdano who walked away with the award. He finished with 17 goals and 57 assists. But it was more to it than that for the Flames captain. He led Calgary in average ice time per game (24:14), had 21 power-play points, six shorthanded points (four goals), and was an even or plus-rated player in 58 of 78 games this season. What helped the cause for Giardano was what he was able to help lead the Flames to do this season. He helped the Flames, who had a 50-25-7 record, finish first in the Western Conference and second in the NHL with a plus-66 goal differential (Tampa Bay Lightning, plus-104). He's the first ever Flames player to win the Norris and, at age 35, is the fourth player age 35 or older to win the Norris Trophy since it was first awarded in 1954. The others were Nicklas Lidstrom did it four times, Doug Harvey three times, and Al MacInnis once.
Hart Trophy (League MVP): Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Both Sidney Crosby and Conor McDavid had great years, but they both fall short of the year that Kucherov had down in Tampa Bay. He became just the 2nd Lightning player to ever win the award, joining Martin St Louis in 2004 to claim League MVP Honors. The numbers Kucherov put up should be able to speak for themselves. Kucherov played in all 82 games this year, leading the NHL with 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists), breaking Alexander Mogilny's single-season record of 127 set with the Buffalo Sabres in 1992-93 for most by a Russia-born player. It was also the most by any NHL player since 1995-96, when Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux had 161 and teammate Jaromir Jagr had 149. The Lightning went 54-5-3 when he had a point and 8-11-1 when he didn't. If those numbers don't tell the whole story then I don't know what will.
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