On the Fly: Predicting the award winners

"On the Fly," theScore's NHL roundtable series, continues, with contributions from our NHL team: Justin Bourne, Justin Cuthbert, Josh Gold-Smith, Craig Hagerman, Ian McLaren, Navin Vaswani, and Ben Whyte. In the latest edition, editors predict the major award winners for the 2015-16 season, because the ability to predict the future never gets old.

Art Ross Trophy

Cuthbert: Remember the mumps outbreak that spread across the NHL last winter and misshaped Sidney Crosby's cheek? That was all that stood between the Pittsburgh Penguins captain and a third Art Ross Trophy. Crosby led the league in points per game in a so-called down season, and returns this year with one of the planet's purest snipers on his wing - and perhaps a little extra incentive, with media types anointing Connor McDavid. Thirty-five goals and 65 assists. Book it.

Hart Trophy

McLaren: For the fourth time since entering the NHL a decade ago, Alex Ovechkin will take home the Hart Trophy. Though he's not the best all-around player in the league, no one shoots and scores at Ovechkin's rate, which, at the end of the day, is the crux of the game. As the straw that stirs the drink in Washington, Ovechkin is surrounded by arguably the best Capitals roster of his era. Set to challenge for the Rocket Richard trophy once again, he'll have this squad at or near the top of the Eastern Conference standings, and earn MVP honors as a result.

Calder Trophy

Whyte: Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel look destined to engage in the most exciting Calder Trophy race since the 2005-06 season, when both Ovechkin and Crosby topped the 100-point barrier as rookies without either having a teammate reach 60. This year's rookie phenoms will both have more talent to work with, but the award is ultimately the No. 1 pick's to lose. While Eichel and the Sabres are regularly facing the likes of Carey Price, Ben Bishop, Tuukka Rask, and Roberto Luongo within their division, McDavid, Hall, and the rest of the Oilers' young guns will be wreaking havoc on everyone not named Jonathan Quick in the Pacific.

Jack Adams Award

Vaswani: The Predators are going to make sweet hockey music in Nashville, and even improve on their 47 wins from a season ago. They'll win 50 games for the second time in franchise history, thanks to their impeccable goaltending and deep defense, and Peter Laviolette will win the Jack Adams Award for the first time, after being runner-up twice.

Norris Trophy

Gold-Smith: P.K. Subban will reclaim the Norris Trophy, edging Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson and the Tampa Bay Lightning's Victor Hedman. Subban's first Norris came after the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. This time, he'll demonstrate over an 82-game schedule that he's the league's best. Playing alongside the ageless Andrei Markov and having Jeff Petry's 22 minutes per game for a full campaign will greatly benefit Subban, who will post 60 points for the second straight year. His offensive production has improved in each of the last three seasons, and there's no reason to believe that trend won't continue.

Rocket Richard Trophy

Bourne: Excuse me while I do contortions trying not to blurt out "five-time-Rocket-Richard-winner-coming-off-a-whopping-10-goal-win Alex Ovechkin." Steven Stamkos has won the Trophy twice before, once hitting 60. He's in his dead prime at 25, while Ovechkin is sliding out of his. The Lightning are, fittingly, going to be electric, and the Triplets have earned enough respect to occasionally allow Stamkos to see easier competition. Their power play has room to improve and likely will. So I'll just say it: Stamkos will win his third Richard.

Vezina Trophy

Hagerman: Ovechkin may be the face of the Capitals, but Braden Holtby can be considered the glue that keeps everything in place. The netminder had a breakout season, ranking among the league's best in nearly every statistical category and ultimately finishing fourth in Vezina Trophy voting. He elevated his game even higher in the postseason, finishing second in both save percentage and goals-against average. He played the most games and faced the most shots during the regular season, and thrived under the heavy workload. The Capitals are in win-now mode, and Holtby will be in win-Vezina mode.