Connor McDavid, who achieved 150 point season in NHL since the 1990s, Erik Karlsson, a defenseman to reach 100 points after 30 years, and Boston Bruins making history by setting a new single-season wins record. All these amazing things happen, so it’s clear who will win the league awards this year.
Connor McDavid from Edmonton could be the MVP of the league, Erik Karlsson is likely to become the Norris Trophy winner again and the Bruins may get awards in three different categories – best goalkeeper, defensive forward, and coach.
HART:
Who will win: Connor McDavid, Edmonton.
Other contenders: Mikko Rantanen (Colorado), David Pastrnak (Boston), Jack Hughes (New Jersey).
Betting Odds- unavailable.
Connor McDavid won a special award in 2021 and he showed that he is one of the best hockey players ever. He even scored more than 60 goals which is an amazing achievement. In the past, two other famous players named Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky also managed to score 150 points each in a single season which is even more impressive.
The Avalanche, who were last year’s Stanley Cup champs, have had a lot of injuries but Rantanen hasn’t missed any games and is their shining star. Pastrnak scored 60 goals and Hughes has made the playoffs with the Devils again after not qualifying since 2018. The likely winner of the Norris trophy this season will be Erik Karlsson from San Jose but Adam Fox (Rangers), Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg), Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo), Miro Heiskanen (Dallas) are all contenders too.
The odds say Karlsson (-400) is the clear favorite to be the first defenseman since Brian Leetch in 1991-92 to get 100 points. He’s 32-years-old, so even though his team hasn’t been doing great, he’s still got a good chance. Fox (+1000) and Morrissey (+1200) have slightly lower chances compared to Karlsson .
Fox won an award called the Norris in 2021 and now he is helping the Rangers team to succeed in the playoffs. Morrissey has almost doubled his highest record in points, Dahlin is doing very well at age 22, and Heiskanen can now score more goals in addition to playing really good defense.
The person most likely to win another award known as Vezina will be Linus Ullmark from Boston. However, other people that could also win this reward are Juuse Saros (from Nashville), Ilya Sorokin (from N.Y. Islanders), Jake Oettinger (from Dallas) and Connor Hellebuyck (from Winnipeg).
According to FanDuel odds, Ullmark has the highest chance of winning, followed by Saros and Sorokin who have a pretty equal chance of winning.
Ullmark has done great this season with 47 games and helped his team get the William Jennings Trophy, which is given to teams that allow fewest goals. He also had a very high save percentage of .938 and an excellent 1.89 goals-against average – both higher than any goalie since 2010-11.
Sorokin and Shesterkin of the Rangers both had good years, but Ullmark had his best year ever for the top NHL team. Patrice Bergeron from Boston is most likely to win the Selke award, however Mitch Marner from Toronto and Jordan Staal from Carolina are also potential contenders. Any bets placed on who will win the Selke award cannot be taken as FanDuel has not accepted any betting on it right now.
Bergeron has won the Selke award 5 times and been in the final selection for 11 straight seasons. He is 37-years-old and one of the top forwards in the league. He wins 60.6% of his faceoffs (3rd best in the league), plays almost two minutes each game killing penalties, and often battles against very tough players – winning most of those matchups.
When Bergeron retires, many people will compete for who is the best defensive forward in the league. Until then, there is no disagreement about it. The odds are that Matty Beniers of Seattle will win, but some other players such as Stuart Skinner from Edmonton, Mason McTavish from Anaheim, Owen Power from Buffalo, Matias Maccelli from Arizona and Wyatt Johnston from Dallas may also have a chance. FanDuel puts Beniers’s chances of winning at -750 while Skinner’s are +750 and the other contenders’ odds each stand at +2000.
Beniers is leading his class in scoring and also helped the Kraken team make it to the playoffs for their second season. Skinner is now the Oilers’ starting goalkeeper, which has made it easier for them to keep opponents from scoring. Maccelli has been working hard and has a shot of being the second highest scorer among rookies, yet the Coyotes have not had any success making it to the playoffs like the other teams. In conclusion, Jim Montgomery of Boston might be getting Jack Adams award this year.
Three other coaches besides Montgomery were also up for the award. You can’t bet on who will win. Montgomery has already led his team to the most wins ever in the history of NHL, after he was fired from Dallas in 2019. Scotty Bowman, an amazing coach with nine Stanley Cups under his belt, thinks Montgomery should be given the award because of his performance.
“The coach is really sure of himself, and that seems to have earned him and his team plenty of trust,” Bowman said.
McLellan has led the King’s back to the playoffs and Hakstol did a great job turning around the Kraken so quickly. Lastly, Brind’Amour is talked about a lot for how consistent the Hurricanes are doing.
