Welcome to Top-Shelf Takes, a weekly series from staff writer Mary Clarke all about the NHL. Lace up your skates as we dive deep into the epic highs and lows of this little sport called hockey.
If you can believe it, the NHL regular season is almost over. In a few weeks, we’ll finally know which teams have made the playoffs and which ones will be spending a long spring and summer at home.
While we’ll have more end-of-season and playoff content coming to you over the next few weeks, now feels like a good time to take a look at who the frontrunners are for the major NHL awards. From the Hart Trophy to the Calder Trophy, here are our picks for the 2023 NHL awards with just a few weeks left in the regular season.
Hart Trophy: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
McDavid is a no-brainer to walk away with the Hart, Rocket Richard, and Art Ross trophies after a career season in Edmonton. As of Wednesday, McDavid leads the NHL with 58 goals and 134 points, numbers we haven’t seen in the NHL since well before the 2004-05 lockout. By now, we all know that this is McDavid’s world and we’re just living in it.
Norris Trophy: Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks
The Norris is definitely the most wide open of the NHL awards, by my count. The biggest factor here is whether or not voters decide to crown Karlsson based on his historic offensive season alone. Karlsson has had quite the bounce-back season, with 85 points in 70 games. He is also on pace to become the first NHL defenseman to hit 100 points since Brian Leetch did so in 1991-92.
Personally, I think the Norris will eventually go with Karlsson here, since he’s had a fantastic feel-good season. That being said, don’t be surprised if Adam Fox, Rasmus Dahlin, or Hampus Lindholm pick up some late momentum from voters weighing defensive acumen more highly than offensive production.
Vezina Trophy: Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins
Out of everything that has gone right for the Bruins this year, Ullmark having the best season of his career in net might be the most important. After all, goaltending can make or break teams in the NHL and Ullmark has gone above and beyond for the Bruins this year. Ullmark leads the NHL in wins (34), save percentage (.935), and goals against average (1.97) and no doubt had the Vezina locked up months ago with his stellar performance.
Calder Trophy: Matty Beniers, Seattle Kraken
The Kraken have surprised many this season by playing well enough for a playoff spot come spring. While it’s been a team effort all around, the contributions of rookie Beniers can’t be overlooked. Beniers has 19 goals and 49 points in his first NHL season, leading all rookies in points as April draws near. While the Calder race was a bit more wide open earlier in the year, Beniers has shored up his claim over the last few weeks.
Selke Trophy: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
As long as Bergeron is playing in the NHL, he always has a shot at winning the Selke Trophy. While it’s hard to say what the future holds for the 37-year-old Bergeron, the forward deserves to pick up his sixth-career Selke this offseason. Bergeron plays nearly 18 minutes a night as the NHL’s best defensive forward and is a key contributor to the Bruins offense. It would be absolute robbery to award the Selke to anyone else this season.
Jack Adams Trophy: Jim Montgomery, Boston Bruins
Given that the Bruins are well on pace to absolutely coast by the NHL’s wins record this season, Montgomery is a shoo-in for the Jack Adams. And lest we all forget, this is Montgomery’s first year coaching in Boston as well and the Bruins came into the 2022-23 season with key injuries too. No team, so far, has been able to come close to the Bruins’ dominance this season and it seems like that’s only going to continue come playoff time.
Three stars
3. The Flames have some extremely bad luck, huh
To say things haven’t gone well for the Flames this year would be an understatement. Calgary is on the verge of missing the playoffs after a rough year no one really expected. Head coach Darryl Sutter likely already has one foot out the door as well.
All of Calgary’s misfortune this year can be summed up in one cringe-inducing graphic. Flames fans, you might want to look away now.
File under: 𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 😳
(via R/brokensword15) pic.twitter.com/VJi1qt9V8O
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 21, 2023
Ouch. Also 77 posts hit this season? That’s just brutal.
2. Connor Bedard watch continues on
Bedard is going to make one team very, very happy later this summer. Earlier in the week, Bedard scored goal No. 70 on the season, a number not often seen in the WHL.
🎥HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT 🎥
Get off the couch. Go score 70.@WHLPats | #NHLDraft | #CB98 | #WHLHoN pic.twitter.com/8bIVD10Mwi
— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 20, 2023
Right now, the Blue Jackets have the best lottery odds coming into the final few weeks of the season. But, as we all know, having the best odds doesn’t guarantee the No. 1 selection in the upcoming draft.
1. Mattias Ekholm is making his mark in Edmonton
The Oilers are already seeing this trade deadline acquisition pay dividends in some early returns. In 10 games with the Oilers since being traded from the Predators, Ekholm has three goals and nine points as Edmonton has gone 8-2-0.
As seen on @timandfriends
Mattias Ekholm has made an immediate impact to the Oilers lineup since being acquired pic.twitter.com/jgHgDxNsqn
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) March 21, 2023
We’ll see if the Oilers can keep this up down the stretch but so far, this trade is paying off and then some.
What to watch
Avalanche vs. Penguins – Wednesday, March 22
There’s a very real possibility that the Penguins will miss the playoffs this season. Coming into Wednesday, Pittsburgh has lost its last four games and is sitting out of a wild card spot. This game against the reigning Stanley Cup champions has to be a must-win one for Sidney Crosby and crew, but will likely be an uphill battle given the talent on the Avalanche roster.
Panthers vs. Maple Leafs – Thursday, March 23
On the other side of the coin, the Panthers took over the Penguins playoff spot earlier in the week and need to do all that they can to keep hold of it. Facing off against one of the best teams in the Atlantic will be no easy task, but Florida has been on a tear recently with a 7-2-1 record in its last 10 games. This is definitely a must-watch due to playoff implications.
Kings vs. Jets – Saturday, March 25
Swinging over to the Western Conference, the Jets are also barely clinging onto a playoff spot and have been in the midst of a 4-5-1 funk over their last 10 games. For a lot of NHL teams, it’s do-or-die time and the Jets are no doubt feeling the pressure to close out a playoff spot before it’s too late.
You can watch the 2022-23 NHL season streaming on ESPN+.
