Welcome to the eighth annual installment of our Year-End Awards here at The Hockey Writers.
At the conclusion of every National Hockey League regular season, we ask all active writers to submit their picks for the following categories. Voting was conducted by e-mail between April 9 and May 31, while voters were instructed to provide up to three choices (a first, second and third-place vote) for each category. All active THW contributors were eligible to vote, regardless of their experience level.
First place votes were worth 5 points, second place votes were worth 3 points and third place votes worth 1 point apiece. Ties were broken by way of first place votes. Overall, 13 ballots were cast for these awards.
THE WAYNE GRETZKY AWARD (MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER)
Modeled after the NHL’s Hart Trophy, this award seeks to acknowledge the player who had the best year and whose contributions most helped his team succeed.
WINNER: Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning
RUNNERS-UP: Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins
PAST WINNERS: Taylor Hall (2018), Connor McDavid (2017), Patrick Kane (2016), Carey Price (2015), Sidney Crosby (2013 & 2014), Evgeni Malkin (2012)
DETAILS: Ten different players received votes for this award, but only two (Kucherov and McDavid) received first-place votes.
THE TEEMU SELANNE AWARD (MOST OUTSTANDING ROOKIE)
Modeled after the NHL’s Calder Trophy, this award showcases the first-year NHL player who had the most outstanding season.
WINNER: Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks
RUNNERS-UP: Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues and Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres.
PAST WINNERS: Mathew Barzal (2018), Auston Matthews (2017), Artemi Panarin (2016), Aaron Ekblad (2015), Nathan MacKinnon (2014), Jonathan Huberdeau (2013), Gabriel Landeskog (2012)
DETAILS: Six players received votes and three players (Pettersson, Binnington and Dahlin) received first-place votes.
THE MARTIN BRODEUR AWARD (MOST OUTSTANDING GOALTENDER)
Modeled after the NHL’s Vezina Trophy, this category celebrates the goaltender who had the most outstanding season.
WINNER: Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars
RUNNERS-UP: Andrey Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Robin Lehner of the New York Islanders
PAST WINNERS: Pekka Rinne (2018), Sergei Bobrovsky (2013 & 2017), Braden Holtby (2016), Carey Price (2015), Semyon Varlamov (2014), Jonathan Quick (2012)
DETAILS: Eight goaltenders received votes, with four (Bishop, Vasilevskiy, Lehner and John Gibson) earning first-place votes.
THE BOBBY ORR AWARD (MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSEMAN)
Our version of the Norris Trophy, this award is given to the defenseman who had the most outstanding season, focusing on all aspects of the position.
WINNER: Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames
RUNNERS-UP: Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks and Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs
PAST WINNERS: Victor Hedman (2018), Erik Karlsson (2012, 2015, 2016 & 2017), Duncan Keith (2014), P.K. Subban (2013)
DETAILS: Giordano was the runaway winner. Three players (Giordano, Burns and John Carlson) received first place votes.
THE EDDIE SHORE AWARD (MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN)
This category that celebrates the shutdown defender, awarding this to the defenseman who had the most outstanding season, focusing primarily on the defensive aspects of the position.
WINNER: Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames
RUNNERS-UP: Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic of the San Jose Sharks
PAST WINNERS: Drew Doughty (2015, 2016 & 2018), Ryan Suter (2017), Marc-Eduoard Vlasic (2014), Zdeno Chara (2012 & 2013)
DETAILS: 19 received votes for this ward with six of them (Giordano, Parayko, Vlasic, Jared Spurgeon, Esa Lindell and Erik Karlsson) receiving first-place votes.
THE DOUG JARVIS AWARD (MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE FORWARD)
Our version of the Selke Trophy, this honours the forward who had the most outstanding season, focusing primarily on the defensive aspects of the position.
WINNER: Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins
Bergeron has been the winner (seven times) or runner-up (once) in this category every year we’ve done voting. When he retires, we’ll probably just rename this award after him.
RUNNERS-UP: Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights and Ryan O’Reilly of the St. Louis Blues
PAST WINNERS: Patrick Bergeron (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 & 2019), Jonathan Toews (2015)
DETAILS: 12 players received votes, with five (Bergeron, Stone, O’Reilly, Sidney Crosby and Mikael Backlund) receiving first-place votes.
THE SCOTTY BOWMAN AWARD (MOST OUTSTANDING COACH)
Our version of the Jack Adams Award, this goes to the coach who had the most outstanding season.
WINNER: Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders
RUNNERS-UP: Craig Berube of the St. Louis Blues and Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning
PAST WINNERS: Gerard Gallant (2018), Mike Babcock (2017), Barry Trotz (2016), Bob Hartley (2015), Patrick Roy (2014), Paul MacLean (2013), Ken Hitchcock (2012)
DETAILS: Seven coaches received votes, with four (Trotz, Berube, Cooper and Rod Brind’Amour) earning first-place votes.
THE SAM POLLOCK AWARD (MOST OUTSTANDING GENERAL MANAGER)
Awarded to the general manager who had the most outstanding season.
WINNERS: Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues
RUNNERS-UP: Brad Treliving of the Calgary Flames and Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins
PAST WINNERS: George McPhee (2018), Steve Yzerman (2014, 2015 & 2017), Jarmo Kekalainen (2017), Jim Nill (2016), Ray Shero (2013), Dale Tallon (2012)
DETAILS: 12 different GMs received votes, with nine receiving first-place votes.
THE BEST SALARY CAP VALUE AWARD
This award is given to the player voted to be the best bang for the salary cap buck.
WINNER: Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning
Kucherov carried a $9.5 million cap hit, but he also had 41 goals and 128 points to lead the NHL in scoring.
RUNNERS-UP: Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning
PAST WINNERS: William Karlsson (2018), Jonathan Marchessault (2017), Artemi Panarin (2016)
DETAILS: 18 different players received votes, with seven different players getting first-place votes.
THE WORST SALARY CAP VALUE AWARD
This award is given to the player voted to be the worst bang for the salary cap buck.
WINNER: Milan Lucic of the Edmonton Oilers
Lucic has a contract with a $6 million cap hit and a no-move clause. He had six goals and 20 points for the Oilers in 2018-19.
RUNNERS-UP: Jason Spezza of the Dallas Stars and Dion Phaneuf of the Los Angeles Kings.
PAST WINNERS: Loui Eriksson (2017 & 2018), David Clarkson (2016)
DETAILS: 20 different players received votes.
BIGGEST SURPRISE OF THE SEASON
Left deliberately open-ended, this award honours the biggest surprise of the regular season – the player or team that most wildly exceeded expectations.
WINNER: The New York Islanders
The Islanders lost John Tavares in free agency, then had a tremendous season anyway.
RUNNERS-UP: The Carolina Hurricanes and Jordan Binnington
PAST WINNERS: The Vegas Golden Knights (2019), The Toronto Maple Leafs (2017), The Florida Panthers (2016), The Calgary Flames (2015), The Colorado Avalanche (2014), The Columbus Blue Jackets (2013), The Ottawa Senators (2012)
DETAILS: 16 different teams and players received votes.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE SEASON
The flip-side of the previous award, this award signifies the team or player who most wildly fell short of what collective wisdom said they should be.
WINNER: The Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers get the, uh, “honour” of being this award’s first repeat winners.
RUNNERS-UP: The Philadelphia Flyers, the Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabres
PAST WINNERS: The Edmonton Oilers (2018), The Dallas Stars (2017), The Montreal Canadiens (2016), The Los Angeles Kings (2015), The Vancouver Canucks (2014), The Philadelphia Flyers (2013), Alex Ovechkin (2012)
DETAILS: 13 teams (and players) received votes.