The NHL season officially started on Wednesday and the Rant Sports staff couldn’t be more excited. In an effort to contain our excitement, I was joined by three of our NHL columnists in order to break down each award and best predict who we think will take home the hardware when the season wraps up next June.
Joining me in breaking down the awards are Troy Pfaff, our featured columnist for the Pittsburgh Penguins, our Capitals writer Matt Geiser, and Johnny Machurek, who covers the New York Rangers.
Hart
Holt – Evgeni Malkin
Pfaff – Alex Ovechkin
Geiser – Ovechkin
Machurek – Ovechkin
With the Capitals able to add more talent around Ovechkin, many are expecting a huge year for Ovi, after a bit of a down year last year. There’s no doubt that he’s a top three player in the league, but Malkin could get an early start on the race if he leads the Penguins to a hot start without Sidney Crosby.
Vezina
Holt – Jonathan Quick
Pfaff – Pekka Rinne
Geiser – Tim Thomas
Machurek – Henrik Lundqvist
Perhaps the award that had the most disparity among the four, there are a host of candidates for the Vezina, at least for now. Geiser has Tim Thomas replicating his success from last year, while Pfaff and Machurek both went with guys that are favored after stellar years last season. Quick might be a darkhorse, but he’ll join the race if he can avoid fizzling out like he did last season.
Art Ross
Holt – Malkin
Pfaff – Malkin
Geiser – Malkin
Machurek – Brad Richards
Malkin was a monster in the preseason and doesn’t look like he’s going to need any extra time to recover from his knee injury that ended his season last year. Richards is an intruging pick, but Machurek is definitely banking on the potential for greatness from a line with Richards and Marian Gaborik.
Rocket Richard
Holt – Ovechkin
Pfaff – Ovechkin
Geiser – Steven Stamkos
Machurek – Stamkos
Two obvious candidates to lead the league in goals, Machurek is counting on Stamkos entering the ranks of the league’s elite, once he puts together a complete season, while Geiser attributed the Tampa Bay power play to a main reason that Stamkos will top the NHL in goals.
Norris
Holt – Nicklas Lidstrom
Pfaff – Shea Weber
Geiser – Lidstrom
Machurek – Lidstrom
Many thought Weber could win the award last year, but the Norris Trophy might as well be called “The Lidstrom”. Myself, Geiser, and Machurek all figure Lidstrom will cap off his Hall of Fame career with one final Norris campaign, while Pfaff predicted that Weber will approach the 70-point mark on the Nashville blue line.
Calder
Holt – Adam Larsson
Pfaff – Larsson
Geiser – Blake Geoffrion
Machurek – Gabriel Landeskog
Larsson was considered one of the best fits in this year’s draft class when the New Jersey Devils drafted him, and he should excel for an improved New Jersey squad. Landeskog has the size and is considered by many, including Machurek, to be one of the most NHL ready prospects from this year’s class, as his making the team out of camp indicates.
Selke
Holt – Jonathan Toews
Pfaff – Pavel Datsyuk
Geiser – Datsyuk
Machurek – Datsyuk
Similar to Lidstrom’s success with the Norris, his teammate Datsyuk has dominated the Selke conversation, even with Ryan Kesler winning it last year. I went with Toews though, who will just miss out on the Hart, but will be recognized for his two-way play for a Hawks team that is expected to return to the top of the Central Division.
Lady Byng
Holt – Martin St. Louis
Pfaff – St. Louis
Geiser – St. Louis
Machurek – Datsyuk
Martin St. Louis is to the Lady Byng Trophy as Modern Family is to an Emmy.
