NHL Midseason Awards: Evaluating the Frontrunners for Each Award

3 years ago  /  The Hockey Writers  /  Read Time: 10 minutes 4 seconds

• Additionally, let’s look at who the honorable mentions are for each award.
• Honorable Mentions: Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak, Mark Stone, Nathan MacKinnon & Nikolaj Ehlers.
• He has 20 goals, 38 assists, and 58 points in 33 games.
• The 23-year-old has 21 goals, 15 assists, and 36 points in just 27 games.
• He has a 60 Corsi for percentage and 64.15 expected goals for percentage.
• He’s been dominant this season and is on pace for a career-high in goals too.
• The five honorable mentions are all deserving a frontrunner spot and have been among the best players in the league.
• An annual award given to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.
• Honorable Mentions: Justin Faulk, Adam Fox, Adam Pelech, Devon Toews & Cale Makar.
• He has 11 goals, 16 assists, and 27 points in 30 games which is good for third in defenseman scoring.
• Likewise, he has a 56.32 Corsi for percentage and 52.46 expected goals for percentage.
• He has notched three goals, 14 assists, and 17 points in 28 games too.
• The 22-year-old defenseman has five goals, 17 assists, and 22 points in 26 games.
• There are some strong honorable mentions that could rise over the second half of the season, especially Makar who has been solid this season, albeit it was a small sample size before he sustained an injury that sidelined him 10 games.
• The Vezina Trophy is an annual award given to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position.
• Honorable Mentions: Semyon Varlamov, Phillip Grubauer, Calvin Petersen, Igor Shesterykin & Darcy Kuemper.
• Let’s examine two very telling metrics which include goals saved above expected and goals saved above average, the former taking into account shot quality and the latter essentially taking into account the workload each goalie faces.
• It would take an incredible second half of the season for a goalie that isn’t on the honorable mention list to have any significant chance at stealing the Vezina.
• Honorable Mentions: Josh Norris, Nils Hoglander, Tim Stutzle, Kaapo Kahkonen & Kevin Lankinen.
• The 23-year-old winger has 10 goals, 15 assists, and 25 points in just 28 games.
• Selke Trophy is an annual award given to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.
• Honorable Mentions: Joe Pavelski, Andrew Mangiapane, Jack Eichel, Jesse Puljujarvi & T.J Oshie.
• The Selke is supposedly given to the best defensive forward yet that couldn’t be further from the truth.
• Some of the most decorated defensive forwards in the league are bottom-six forwards.
• For example, the Wild’s Marcus Foligno is one of the best defensive forwards by any defensive metric yet would never be given consideration.
• He carries 2.2 even-strength defensive goals above replacement – a comprehensive metric that takes into account all defensive aspects of the game – which is undeniably strong.
• He has truly been a two-way force and one of the best defensive forwards league-wide?
• The five honorable mentions round out the top contenders for the Selke Trophy
• The Sabres’ trio of forwards in Eichel, Reinhart, and Skinner have all been top defensive forwards this season which is very interesting too
• It has been an exciting season so far that has resulted in unexpected frontrunners for numerous awards and several expected leaders being buried in poor starts
• While the sample size is biggest enough to judge players and evaluate the frontrunners for each award, there is still roughly half a season remaining

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