The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs are officially upon us, but before we jump headfirst into the postseason, let’s take a quick look back at what was another eventful regular-season campaign across the NHL.
Most NHL Awards will not be doled out until late June, but it’s never too early to take a look at a couple of the top candidates for the Hart, Norris, Vezina, Selke and others. On to the predictions:
NORRIS TROPHY
The usual suspects are all here, but it should once again be a wide-open field for an award that has had six different winners over the last six seasons. You can pretty much go with the either/or route with Tampa’s Ryan McDonagh and Victor Hedman for anchoring a Lightning D corps that has generated the third-best PK (84.9 percent) and sixth-best defense (2.69 goals allowed per game).
Norris Trophy voters also love high-scoring players on the blue line, giving playmakers like Brent Burns (81 points over 81 games) and Natick’s John Carlson (70 points) a good chance to lock up a finalist spot.
However, if we want to continue with the fresh faces, Calgary’s Mark Giordano is a great choice. An undrafted free agent back in 2004 when he signed with Calgary, the 35-year-old defenseman has steadily raised his game during his 13 years in Calgary — tallying 74 points over 77 games while averaging 24:17 of TOI a night. Giordano has excelled in all areas of the game for Calgary this season — recording 21 points on the power play while ranking second on the club in shorthanded TOI at 2:42.
Give me the Flames veteran for this one.
Winner: Giordano
Other Finalists: John Carlson, Victor Hedman
CALDER
It wasn’t quite the landslide that Mathew Barzal enjoyed last year when he separated himself from the pack with an 85-point rookie campaign, but Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson was doing his best to make it a one-man race thanks a blistering first half in which the 20-year-old forward tallied 22 goals and 42 total points over his first 37 games.
Since then, the forward has only tallied five goals over the following 34 matchups — paving the way for Blues goalie Jordan Binnington to serve as a spoiler. While he only became entrenched in St. Louis’ rotation during December, the 25-year-old netminder has been the key cog in his team’s turnaround this season, posting a record of 24-5-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and five shutouts.
Future franchise defensemen in Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin (42 points over 81 games, 21:10 ATOI) and Dallas’ Miro Heiskanen (33 points over 81 games, 23:07 ATOI) will also earn likely spots as finalists, but I think Pettersson’s full body of work this season (66 points over 71 games) puts him over the top — although it will be close between him and Binnington.
If anything, this has to decide it, right?
Winner: Pettersson
Other Finalists:
Rasmus Dahlin, Jordan Binnington
VEZINA
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Toronto’s
Frederik Andersen
(36-16-6, .917 save percentage) will also get props this season for excelling with a porous defense in front of him (3.04 goals allowed per game - 20th in NHL), although he too has also benefited from having a top-flight offense on his side (3.49 goals for per game - 4th in NHL). Dallas’
Ben Bishop
has been stellar this season (.934 save percentage), but much like Binnington, Bishop’s smaller workload (45 starts) might be his undoing.
Winner: Vasilevskiy
Other Finalists:
Ben Bishop, Frederik Andersen
ADAMS
Usually bestowed to the bench boss at the helm of the most overachieving team in the NHL every year — as opposed to the best overall coach — the Jack Adams Award almost always generates quite the debate, even though Vegas’
Gerard Gallant
made voting much easier last season en route to a run to the Cup Final.
This year, there are no fewer than six or seven candidates that are all more than deserving to be one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams.
Bruce Cassidy
certainly deserves to be a finalist — as he guided the Bruins to their second straight 100-point campaign in his second full season as head coach. What sets him apart as a potential finalist is his efforts to keep the Bruins afloat even when the club’s regular starters lost over 200 combined games to injury.
However, one dominant club and many other surprising teams might push Cassidy outside of the top-three picks. Like it or not given the roster he had at his disposal, but
Jon Cooper
is all but a lock to be a finalist after helping the Lightning tie the record for most wins by a team in a single season (62) and generate a downright bananas goal differential of plus-103.
The Lightning have been scorching all season long, but the only team to edge them in accrued points since Jan. 2? The St. Louis Blues, who went from a last-place total of 34 points on that date to 99 points and a playoff berth in April. Seems like a given that
Craig Berube
will be in the running as a result, especially after taking over a sub-.500 Blues team in late November.
At this point, it seems as though the man to beat is going to be
Barry Trotz
after putting the Islanders back on track in his first season on Long Island. Expectations were low for the Islanders after
John Tavares
departed in free agency, while New York’s D corps relinquished an average of 35.6 shots and 3.57 goals per game. This year? New York is set to host the Penguins for a playoff series after compiling 103 points — due in large part to a tenacious defense that has only allowed an average of 2.33 goals per game. A year removed from guiding the Capitals to a title, Trotz is set to collect even more hardware this summer.
Winner:
Trotz
Other Finalists:
Craig Berube, Jon Cooper
SELKE
While candidates for other awards have been knocked for losing playing time due to injuries, Bergeron’s reputation (four Selke Trophies) and the absurd level of production he generated while in the lineup will once again put him in the running this season.
A finalist in 2017-18 while only logging 64 total games, Bergeron sat out of 17 games this season but still managed to tally 32 goals and 79 total points — in other words, a 100-point pace over a full-82 game season. While also racking up points, Bergeron ranked sixth among all NHL forwards in goals above replacement (19.80) while winning 56.6 percent of his draws at the faceoff dot.
However, if there was ever a year for a winger to take home a Selke, it might be in 2018-19 with Vegas’
Mark Stone
leading the way. The league leader in goals above replacement (26.90) and ranking first overall in takeaways over the last four seasons (241), Stone is a vacuum when it comes to getting the puck on his stick — while his impressive scoring totals (73 points over 77 games) also could put him over the top.
While other candidates like Florida’s
Aleksander Barkov
(franchise-record 95 points, 21.70 GAR) and St. Louis’
Ryan O’Reilly
(75 points, 56.9 FO%) will be in the running, I have Bergeron taking home the fifth Selke of his career — a new record for one player.
Winner:
Bergeron
Other Finalists:
Mark Stone, Aleksander Barkov
HART
When it comes to narrowing down Hart Trophy finalists to just three deserving candidates, things can get pretty arduous. After all, six players have reached the century mark in scoring, while regulars like
Alex Ovechkin
(51 goals)
aren’t slowing down any time soon.
But no question — the winner is pretty much set in stone in Lightning winger
Nikita Kucherov
. The best player on the unquestioned top team in the NHL, Kucherov has simply annihilated the competition this season — tallying 128 points through 82 games this season.
The dynamic right winger has maintained a torrid scoring pace all season long, notching an absurd 71 points through the first 41 games of the year — while eventually breaking
Joe Thornton’s
13-year record for the most points scored by a single player in the salary-cap era. A key cog on Tampa Bay’s league-leading offense (3.86 goals per game), 53 of Kucherov’s 87 assists this season have been primary helpers.
Connor McDavid
has been stellar as always with 116 points over 78 games this season, but another futile season for the Oilers will likely put the 22-year-old pivot out of contention. Since the turn of the millennium, no player has taken home league MVP honors on a club outside of the playoff picture.
After becoming the first Bruins player to hit triple-digits in scoring since Thornton in 2002-03,
Brad Marchand
could very well find himself as a Hart Trophy finalist, while
Johnny Gaudreau's
impressive play (99 points over 82 games) has helped Calgary go from the 27th-ranked offense in 2017-18 to second overall the following year.
Voter fatigue aside, it seems likely that
Sidney Crosby
will get another nod as a finalist. Along with his 100 points scored this year, the 31-year-old pivot has put together one of the finest defensive efforts in his impressive career.
Winner:
Kucherov
Other finalists:
Sidney Crosby, Johnny Gaudreau
First-round matchups announced
With regular-season action coming to a close on Saturday, all of the matchups for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been set in stone.
Here’s my ranking of the most intriguing first-round series:
8. Nashville Predators vs. Dallas Stars
A preview of the 2020 Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl, this matchup will see Dallas’ second-ranked defense (2.44 goals allowed per game) and Nashville’s fourth-ranked D (2.58 GA/G) start a war of attrition. This will be the first meeting for both clubs in the playoffs — and the victor may be decided on which goalie (
Pekka Rinne
and
Ben Bishop)
blinks first. Rinne is due for a bounce back after last year’s debacle against Winnipeg.
7. St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets
Viewed as one of the favorites to hoist the Cup going into the season, the Jets have fallen into a bit of a rut as of late, posting a 4-5-1 record in their last 10 games. Meanwhile, the surging Blues have only dropped one loss in regulation during the same stretch and have collected 65 points since the start of the new year. If Binnington stays hot in net, the Blues could carry this hot streak all the way to the Cup Final.
6. Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
What does Columbus get for going all in at the deadline and essentially mortgaging the next couple of seasons with deadline deals for
Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel
and others? A first-round matchup with the Lightning. Woof. If anything, the Jackets can at least keep things competitive, especially if they counter Tampa’s skill with big bodies like
Josh Anderson
Seth Jones.
5. Calgary Flames vs. Colorado Avalanche
Calgary will be heavy favorites in this series, even if
Philipp Grubauer
has posted a .952 save percentage since the start of March. If Colorado wants to stay afloat in what should be a shootout on most nights, it’s going to need to get
Mikko Rantanen
back in the fold after missing the last couple of games of the regular season due to an undisclosed injury.
4. Washington Capitals vs. Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes play an up-tempo style of play in which
Rod Brind'Amour’s
club loves to pepper the net (league-high 34.4 shots on goal per game), while the Capitals have most of their roster back from last year’s Stanley Cup run. The top question remains: What do we see first — a “Storm Surge” or another celly from
Evgeny Kuznetsov
?
3. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Islanders
2. San Jose Sharks vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Similar to the top matchup on our list, it’s a shame that one of these two teams will be sent packing in the first round. Both clubs are a ton of fun to watch, and there’s plenty of star power involved in
Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, Marc-Andre Fleury, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns
San Jose has enough experience and skill both up front and on the blue line to contend for a title. As for
Martin Jones
in net (2.94 GAA, .896 save percentage)? Yiiiiikes.
1. Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Two Original Six clubs. Two 100-point campaigns. A rematch from last year’s seven-game showcase. And plenty of consequences for both teams if they come up short. Sign me up.
McDavid exits with injury
What has already been a miserable season for the Oilers managed to somehow get even worse during their regular-season finale, as
Connor McDavid
suffered a scary injury after slamming his leg into the Flames’ goal post during Saturday's matchup. While X-rays were negative on the star center, McDavid will undergo MRI testing on Sunday.
Time to burn the film from this whole year, Oilers fans.
Craig Cunningham returns to the ice
Less than three years after suffering a heart attack before an AHL hockey game and subsequently losing his leg due to a resulting infection, former Bruins product
Craig Cunningham
has returned to the ice, using a new prosthetic skate attachment to take some laps on the sheet.
Now a full-time scout for the Arizona Coyotes, Cunningham’s love of hockey hasn’t wilted at all. Major props to a true gamer.
