Here are the winners — if the NHL awards were handed out now
Gaudreau or Kucherov? Giordano or Burns? Vasilevskiy or Rinne?
For the second straight year, the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association voted on mid-season awards, which will be released on the Thursday before the all-star game. And for the second straight year, it wasn’t just the Hart, Norris and Vezina Trophies that were voted on.
Here are my picks, which include the winners of the Rod Langway Award for the top defensive defenceman, as well as the league’s comeback player of the year.
HART
Johnny Gaudreau — Nikita Kucherov has five more points, but Calgary’s Gaudreau has scored eight more goals, including six game-winners.
NORRIS
Mark Giordano — Ranked third amongst defencemen with 11 goals, second with 52 points and first with a plus-29 rating for the Flames.
CALDER
Elias Pettersson — He’s missed 11 games with Vancouver, but his 44 points in 39 contests are almost double that of the next-best rookie.
LADY BYNG
Morgan Rielly — The Maple Leafs defenceman matches up against the other teams’ top-line, but has taken only two penalties this year.
SELKE
Sidney Crosby — In a year where Patrice Bergeron has been hurt, it’s time to recognize Crosby’s 56.4 winning face-off percentage and solid two-way game for Pittsburgh.
VEZINA
Andrei Vasilevskiy — Tampa Bay ranks 22nd in shots against, but you wouldn’t know it because Vasilevskiy has a 2.50 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
JACK ADAMS
Bill Peters — The Flames no longer look like the same team that crashed and burned all the way to 11th place in the second-half of last season.
GENERAL MANAGER
Brad Treliving — Signing James Neal hasn’t panned out — yet — but hiring Bill Peters as Calgary’s head coach and trading for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin sure has.
ROD LANGWAY
Mattias Ekholm — On a Nashville team stacked with Norris-calibre defenceman, Ekholm has stood out with his two-way play.
COMEBACK PLAYER
Max Domi — Had nine goals and 45 points with Arizona last season. With 32 games remaining, Domi already has 16 goals and 44 points with Montreal.