Norris Trophy
(Best defenseman)
Most deserving: John Carlson, Washington Capitals
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
Goaltenders have to make saves and two netminders stood above the rest, Rask of the Boston Bruins and Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets. Those two were virtually even in goals saved compared to what you would expect from an average netminder facing a similar rate of shots against, too. However, Rask was much better than Hellebuyck on the penalty kill.
For example, Rask posted a save percentage of .939 at even strength this season, stopping 10 more goals than you would expect from high-danger areas such as the slot or crease, per data from Natural Stat Trick. Hellebuyck posted a .927 save rate with nine more high-danger goals saved than average. On the penalty kill, Rask not only had a higher save percentage than Hellebuyck, .886 to .872, he saved his team two highdanger goals over average whereas Hellebuyck allowed six more than expected.
Calder Memorial Trophy
(Rookie of the year)
Most deserving: Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks led all rookies with 53 points in 68 games. Makar has 50 points in 57 games. Hughes got slightly more ice time (21 minutes and 53 seconds) than Makar (21 minutes a night) but Hughes was more sheltered, starting 275 of his 660 faceoffs in the attacking zone (42%) compared to 202 of 521 face offs (39%) for
Alain Vigneault, Philadelphia Flyers
The Jack Adams Award is bestowed by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association to “the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.” It can be hard to evaluate how much a team’s performance is due to the players or the coach, but I think we can all agree expectations are important. After all, if you coach a team that is expected to make a run at the Presidents’ Trophy you shouldn’t get extra credit for winning the Presidents’ Trophy.
To determine expectations, we will look at the preseason point percentage set by the oddsmakers and compare that to a team’s actual point percentage earned during the regular season. If a team exceeds those expectations then their coach deserves some praise. This method isn’t a fail-safe way to establish expectations but it is a decent enough proxy. We will also use the odds for each team to make the playoffs. For example, the Columbus Blue Jackets had an implied playoff probability of 70% in the preseason but an actual playoff probability of 34% per Hockey Reference at the time of the season’s end (not including the change to a 24-team format), hardly living up to expectations in this case.
Alain Vigneault, on the other hand, guided his Philadelphia Flyers to 89 points (41-21-7) and a second-place finish in the Metropolitan division, earning the club a bye week through the play-in round. They were expected to earn 90 or 91 points over a full season, which equates to 76 points over their 69-game shortened season, exceeding expectations by 13 points. They were also only given a 50-50 chance to make the playoffs before the puck dropped on the regular season.