On the Fly, theScore's NHL roundtable series, continues. With the NHL Awards set to be handed out Wednesday night, we're predicting who will take home some hardware.
Hart Trophy
Nominees: Jamie Benn, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane
Ian McLaren: With all due respect to Kane's 106 points (17 more than second-place Benn), the distinction of Most Valuable Player isn't reserved exclusively for the league's highest scorer. So while the Chicago Blackhawks winger celebrates his Art Ross Trophy win on awards night, the Hart Trophy should go to Crosby.
Like his team, the Pittsburgh Penguins center got off to a slow start, but amid suggestions his game was in decline, Crosby recorded 66 points in 52 games following the hiring of Mike Sullivan as head coach. Crosby led the NHL with 58 points after Jan. 1, and played a large role in lifting the team from outside the playoff picture to second place in the Metropolitan Division by season's end. He accomplished all this with Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Marc-Andre Fleury sidelined due to injury at various points throughout the season.
Crosby has already won two Hart Trophies (2007, 2014) and, based on his performance and impact on the Penguins' fortunes this season, should leave Las Vegas with a third.
Vezina Trophy
Nominees: Ben Bishop, Braden Holtby, Jonathan Quick
Ben Whyte: After tying an NHL single-season record with 48 wins and guiding the Washington Capitals to their second Presidents' Trophy, Holtby should win the Vezina Trophy for the first time in his career.
The 26-year-old finished in the top 10 in goals-against average (fifth) and save percentage (eighth), and led the league in both categories during the playoffs despite his team bowing out in Round 2.
Holtby's season was highlighted by a 22-game streak without a regulation loss from November to January, when he went 20-0-2 with two shutouts.
His incredible play also earned him a nomination for the Ted Lindsay Award, which is given to the league's most outstanding player as judged by the players.
Bishop will be Holtby's biggest competition after pacing an injury-plagued Tampa Bay Lightning team to the postseason with a 35-win campaign, while finishing among the leaders in all major goaltending categories.
Norris Trophy
Nominees: Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson
Sean O'Leary: Karlsson is an easy choice for the Norris Trophy.
No disrespect to Doughty or Burns - who are both more than worthy finalists - but Karlsson deserves to be this year's winner. Few players make the game look so effortless, and his impact on a middling Ottawa Senators team is unprecedented.
Karlsson recorded a career-high 82 points, which was more than everybody except Kane, Benn, and Crosby.
He takes risks - some of which are ill-advised - but his skill set is so unique, it's futile to compare him to his peers and better to simply appreciate everything he brings to the sport.
For the defensive-zone pundits, Karlsson finished 11th in the league with 175 blocked shots - more than Doughty and Burns, for what it's worth.
Karlsson's will likely win his third Norris Trophy - and he's only 26.
Calder Trophy
Nominees: Shayne Gostisbehere, Connor McDavid, Artemi Panarin
Navin Vaswani: In a simple world, the Calder Trophy would always be awarded to the rookie with the most points to his name in his first NHL season, which would make Panarin a lock to win the award. But it's not that simple.
While Panarin's absolutely right in saying he didn't pen the rules, and while his his 77 points playing shotgun alongside Kane are damn impressive, McDavid averaged 1.07 points per game as a 19-year-old among the world's finest hockey players. That matters.
The argument against McDavid is he only played 45 games, and it's a valid one. There's a difference, however, between playing 45 games and dominating while playing the toughest position in the game as a teenager. The Edmonton Oilers phenom failed to record a point in only 15 games.
Only Kane (1.29) and Benn (1.09) averaged more points per game than McDavid in the NHL this past season. Panarin finished 10th.
McDavid may not have played the most games among rookies, but he's the cream of the crop.
Selke Trophy
Nominees: Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Kesler, Anze Kopitar
Justin Cuthbert: Bergeron isn't ready to relinquish his title as the NHL's best defensive forward.
He made gains on his Selke Trophy campaign from a year ago as the Boston Bruins' fulcrum, being on the ice for a considerably greater amount of goals for than he was against despite taking on an enhanced defensive role.
Bergeron took and won more faceoffs than any other player, which includes more than a third in his own end. He was also a top-15 forward in shot-based possession, and began more shifts in the defensive zone than any player in that elite class.
On top of that, and enduring as a commanding penalty killer, he enjoyed his best offensive season in almost a decade, scoring a career-high 32 goals and totaling 68 points.
Jack Adams Award
Nominees: Gerard Gallant, Lindy Ruff, Barry Trotz
Cuthbert: Let's change this up a bit; it's time to honor excellence with the Jack Adams Trophy.
With 58 wins under Trotz, Washington turned out the best year in franchise history, and also one of the greatest in the post-lockout era. The Capitals boasted both the second-ranked offense and defense, scoring 59 goals more than they allowed. They went on to win the conference by 16 points and the Presidents' Trophy by 11. They also won more games on the road than all but two postseason entries, and owned the league's second-best combined special teams.
This was the greatest season for one of the league's greatest modern-day coaches. And certainly no one-off.
Lady Byng Trophy
Nominees: Aleksander Barkov, Loui Eriksson, Anze Kopitar
Vaswani: A perennial Lady Byng candidate, Kopitar is a gentle giant who should win the award for the first time Wednesday night.
The Slovenian had his best offensive season since 2011-12, shaking off a slow start that saw him finish October with only three goals in 10 games. He exploded in the second half and had 21 points in the Los Angeles Kings' final 20 games.
Always in the lineup, Kopitar's the No. 1 center on a forever-competitive team in the mighty Western Conference. He took only 16 minutes in penalties - none in October or March, which amounted to a 25-game stretch.
They don't come much more gentlemanly or skilled than Mr. Kopitar.
