Predicting the 2019 NHL Awards
By Charles Nason
Wednesday night, the NHL will host their annual award ceremony, honoring the best players, coaches and general managers from the regular season. With all the stars out on the red carpet in Las Vegas, we'll see the season's best forward, defenseman, goaltender, rookie, and coach all given their respective and prestigious awards. Here are our predictions for the NHL's most notable awards.
Jack Adams Award: Craig Berube
The regular season's top head coach is a complete toss up. John Cooper's Lightning were one of the NHL's historically dominant clubs and Barry Trotz led the Islanders to the second round of the postseason in the year after winning the Stanley Cup. However, Craig Berube led the St. Louis Blues from last place in the league to Stanley Cup glory. With the impressive turn around of the Blues, Berube should be adding the Jack Adams Award to his list of achievements this year.
Norris Trophy: Mark Giordano
Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano could become the fourth player aged 35 or older to win the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman. After a 2018-2019 campaign that included a career-high in points (74) and his team finishing first in the Western Conference, it looks like Giordano's year to win. Although both Brent Burns and Victor Hedman had incredible seasons for the Sharks and Lightning, what Giordano has provided for his team at the age of 35 is truly remarkable and should be recognized by the league.
Calder Trophy: Elias Pettersson
The Vancouver Canucks 20 year-old Swedish star Elias Pettersson is one of the most promising young stars in the NHL. So it makes sense that he should bring home the award for the league's top rookie. Although Jordan Binnington led his team to the Stanley Cup and Rasmus Dahlin had an amazing year with the Sabres, neither match what Pettersson did in the regular season. He led all rookies in every scoring category, with 28 goals and 38 assists for a Canucks rookie-record of 66 points.
Vezina Trophy: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is finally going to get his first Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie. The Lightning's historic season wouldn't have been possible without Vasy's 39 wins, six shutouts, and .925 save percentage. Both Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars and Robin Lehner of the New York Islanders were indispensable for their teams this season, but neither hold comparison to the regular season of Vasilevskiy. He could also become the first Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender to win the award.
Hart Trophy: Nikita Kucherov
The voting for the league's most valuable player should be landslide. Nikita Kucherov of the Lightning had an unbelievable year to go along with his club's historic regular season run. Finishing with 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists), Kucherov tallied the highest point total since the 1995-1996 season when Mario Lemieux put up 161 points. Despite a breakdown in the postseason, Kucherov should have no trouble beating out Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby for the Hart Trophy.