The NHL regular season is going to be ending soon and there are a lot of trophies up for grabs at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas. Who will win each award? Let's take a look.
Art Ross: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Crosby is having the worst season of his career and he's still only one point behind John Tavares for the scoring league. He's at 71 points right now and could very well pass him by the season's end. I think he will pass him by season's end because Crosby puts up more points on a nightly basis than Tavares does and he's also been playing very well lately. We'll see if he wins his second Art Ross Trophy in a row.
Other Candidates: Alex Ovechkin, John Tavares, Evgeni Malkim and Jakub Voracek.
Vezina Trophy: Carey Price, Montreal Canadians
This trophy is without a doubt going to Carey Price, who has been the best goaltender in the world this season and has Montreal sitting atop the East. If they didn't have Price playing the way he has, they probably would only be around fourth since the Habs offense hasn't been that great this year. He has 38 wins, a 0.935 save percentage, and a 1.93 GAA, which is just amazing.
Ted Lindsay Award: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
There are a lot of candidates for this trophy, but if Crosby continues the way he's playing right now, there's no doubt a lot of the players will vote for him. Crosby also won the trophy last year, so even the players think he's the best player in the world and may still think that this season, despite having an off year.
Other candidates: John Tavares, Alex Ovechkin.
Jack Adams Award: Peter Laviolette, Nashville Predators
There's no doubt that this award will go to Laviolette as he has coached a team that wasn't good at all last season to a team that's in first place in the Central division standings. They started out red hot to the season and they haven't stopped since. Laviolette has proved that he is one of the best coaches in the game.
Other Candidates: Paul Maurice, Mike Yeo.
Selke Trophy: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
Bergeron has won this award a few times and I think he will win it again this year. He's one of the best two-way players in the game and proven it this season. Even though he doesn't rack up points like Crosby and Ovechkin, he plays very good defensive hockey and is an excellent penalty killer.
Other candidates: Jonathan Toews, Pavel Datsyuk.
Masterton Trophy: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins
This trophy is for sportsmanship and dedication to hockey and there's no doubt Letang should win this. Just over a year ago, Letang suffered a stroke and a lot of people feared whether or not he was going to play again. He came back just ten weeks later and was still playing well. Now, he's playing at an elite level and is one of the best defenseman in the world right now. He's also a strong candidate for the Norris Trophy, which is awarded to the best defenseman. I'll dive into that later. There's no other player in the NHL more deserving of this trophy then Kris Letang.
Norris Trophy: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins
Originally, I had put Mark Giordano as my Norris winner but when he got injured and ruled out for the season, my thought for the trophy turned to Kris Letang who should be next in line to win it. He's played the best hockey of his career this year and is second among defenseman for points (52). One of the biggest things that has helped Letang this year has been being injury free. He hasn't missed that much time with injuries this year, which is huge for the Penguins. We'll see if he wins.
Other candidates: Shea Weber, Drew Doughty.
Rocket Richard: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Ovechkin almost always leads the NHL in goals when he's healthy and this season is no different. He won it last season as well. He's going to get over 50 goals easily and could very well reach 60 if he keeps up the pace that he is on right now.
Hart Trophy: Carey Price, Montreal Canadians
The MVP has to be Carey Price. He's been the most valuable player all year long for the Canadians and they wouldn't be where they're at without him. It's very rare for a goaltender to win the Hart because they aren't valued as high as other star players but I really think this is the year a goaltender wins it. Other candidates: John Tavares, Alex Ovechkin.