NICKS NOTION - NHL AWARDS PART 2

Nick De Cicco

Through the roughly 30 games played in this NHL 2022-’23 regular season, there has been some incredible hockey action that has had fans on the edge of their seats. Based on the results from the last three months of hockey, we are going to update my projections into the league’s yearly awards. Starting off the biggest and most difficult trophy to win in all of sports.

Stanley Cup Champions

Colorado Avalanche

I continue to maintain faith in the defending Stanley Cup Champions because of the fire power on the team. The core has had a slow start and the injuries to Mackinnon, Manson, Byram and Landeskog haven't helped their cause.

The goaltending with Alexandar Georgiev has been solid with 11 wins, 2.65 GAA, 0.920 save percentage and 1 shutout to show for. This team is stacked in all areas of the ice, they are still the team to beat. The Avalanche are currently just outside of a playoff spot and looking in, I expect a significant turn around in the coming weeks with the return of the team’s captain.

Runner-ups: Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs

President's Trophy

Boston Bruins

The most surprising start of this season was the absolute dominance by the Big Bad Bruins. They are atop the Atlantic division with 22 wins. Their most impressive feat was a 17-game home winning streak that propelled them through the standing. A few teams are creeping close to the Bruins’ top position, but I think the winning ways will continue.

Runner-up: Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, New Jersey Devils

The Hart Memorial

Alex Ovechkin

The Great Eight is on a tear with 17 goals and 30 points to begin this season with an even point per game. The 37-year old continues to climb the all-time goals leaderboard with fewer than 100 tallies to beat Gretzky’s record.

The Capitals face an upward challenge of sneaking into the playoffs with some extremely dominant Metropolitan division teams in New Jersey, Pittsburgh and Carolina ahead of them. With Ovi at the helm, the offensive superstar might be the most valuable asset in the lineup for the Washington franchise.

Runner-ups: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Jason Robertson.

The Vezina

Linus Ullmark

The dominant Boston Bruins mentioned earlier could not be as powerful as they are without their superstar between the pipes. Linus has stood on his head for his team as he stands on top of the NHL goaltending ranking with the most wins, 1.77 GAA, .941 SV% and 2 shutouts. Boston’s command of the top spots in the standings doesn’t seem to be going away and neither does Ullmark’s mastery in the net.

Runner-ups: Jake Oettinger, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Igor Shesterkin.

James Norris Trophy

Cale Makar

As mentioned above with my Stanley Cup prediction, the Avs should be the team to beat this year and Makar stands on the same ground.

Cale’s incredible defensive abilities brings him 39 blocked shots, 33 hits and offensive counterpart continues to shine again this year with 25 points so far this season. This Norris trophy race will be tight between Makar and Erik Karlsson, but I’m predicting Makar for the win.

Runner-ups: Erik Karlsson, Adam Fox, Josh Morrissey.

Art Ross

Connor McDavid

The former first-overall pick in 2015 has come out of the gates flying as he sits atop of the NHL scoring standings with 55 points. The magnificence with Leon Draisaitl should elevate the Oilers superstar to overwhelm the remaining nominees. It’s truly time for the three-peat of this illustrious trophy since Jaromir Jagr won the award 4 years in a row between 1998-2001.

Runner-ups: Jason Robertson, Leon Draisaitl.

Maurice “Rocket” Richard

Connor McDavid

His performance has been so nice, he’s on the list twice. You can’t sway away from Connor’s consistency with goal scoring, especially with the recently snapped seven game streak that accumulated 9 goals over that span. McDavid is an incredibly talented athlete with no signs of stopping and deserves the award if he keeps up this pace.

The heart-pumping NHL action has been nothing but extraordinary with astonishing plays by the superstars of this league. The awards are packed with history from legends of the past and there is no doubt that this year’s winners will be legendary superstars of the future!