Draisaitl, Makar headline major NHL award winners
In a flurry ahead of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, the NHL announced the major award winners from its elongated 2019-20 season.
Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl won his first Hart Trophy, beating out finalists Nathan MacKinnon and Artemi Panarin. Draisaitl set the high-bar for production in the pandemic-shortened season, counting 43 goals and 110 points in 71 games. Panarin and MacKinnon led their respective teams into the postseason with massive individual campaigns and perhaps without the same level of superstar help, but weren’t able to convince voters to overlook the considerable production discrepancies after finishing with 95 and 93 points, respectively.
Leon Draisaitl of the @EdmontonOilers was the top choice on 91 of the 170 ballots cast, accumulating 1,309 voting points to edge out Nathan MacKinnon (1,162 points), who finished second. #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/lMGTeP51sj
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) September 21, 2020
Kicking off the string of announcements, Cale Makar won a decision over fellow star defenseman Quinn Hughes for the Calder Trophy and the league’s top rookie. Makar had 50 points in 57 games, which was three less than Hughes, who appeared in 11 more games than the Colorado Avalanche star. It was expected to be a narrow vote between the two, but Makar did wind up securing the trophy in reasonably convincing fashion, securing 116 first-place votes compared to 53 from Hughes.
Roman Josi won his first Norris Trophy as a first-time nominee for the league’s top defenseman, edging Washington Capitals blueliner John Carlson and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Josi did not have quite the same offensive numbers as Carlson, but finished second in both goals and points in his ninth season with the Nashville Predators, and commanded 109 first-place votes.
Roman Josi of @PredsNHL was a top-three pick on all 170 Norris Trophy ballots, including 109 first-place selections – a total of 53 first-place votes higher than the next-closest finalist. #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/lWjTUqZq7J
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) September 21, 2020
Finally, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets captured his first Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender, taking the vote over Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins and defending winner Andre Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hellebuyck had the most shutouts, second-most wins and the seventh-best save percentage among qualified netminders in support of a Jets team that was decimated on defense before the season began.
Connor Hellebuyck of the @NHLJets received 19 first-place selections in amassing 123 voting points to edge out second-place Tuukka Rask (99 points), a first choice on 10 ballots. #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/DLlktM08Ze
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) September 21, 2020
The NHL also released its All-Star first and second teams, as well as its all-rookie squad.
First team
Leon Drasaitl, David Pastrnak, Artemi Panarin
Roman Josi, John Carlson
Connor Hellebuyck
Second team
Nathan MacKinnon, Nikia Kucherov, Brad Marchand
Victor Hedman, Alex Pietrangelo
Tuukka Rask
All-Rookie team
Dominik Kubalik, Victor Olofsson, Nick Suzuki
Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes
Elvis Merzlikins
More NHL coverage from Yahoo Sports