LAS VEGAS -- Many of the brightest stars in the NHL will be on the League’s biggest stage in the one of the world's glitziest cities at the 2024 NHL Awards, being held at Fontainebleau Las Vegas on Thursday.
Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and freshly minted Stanley Cup champion Sergei Bobrovsky, the goalie for the Florida Panthers, are among those up for the NHL’s major awards.
Comedian Matt Friend will host the show, which will air on ESPN and Sportsnet at 7 p.m. ET.
The Hart is given annually to the NHL player voted most valuable to his team by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The race for this award might be the most interesting, featuring MacKinnon, McDavid and Kucherov. Combined, these three players did all there was to do during the 2023-24 season.
McDavid won the Conn Smythe Award as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after the Oilers lost to the Panthers in a seven-game Stanley Cup Final, finishing with an NHL-best 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) in 25 games. He is attempting to win the Hart for a second straight season and fourth time in his first nine NHL seasons, also winning in 2021 and 2017.
McDavid was third in regular-season scoring with 132 points (32 goals, 100 assists) in 76 games. The center has had more than 100 points in four straight seasons and seven overall.
“He’s the greatest player to ever play in my books,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. “There are so many things that people don’t see that he does. He single-handedly turned our franchise around, pretty much. I just love sharing the ice with him and he’s a really, really special person.”
Kucherov led the NHL with 144 points (44 goals, 100 assists) in 81 games, the highest point total of the forward’s 10-season NHL career and the most in Tampa Bay Lightning history.
Kucherov, who won the Hart in 2019, and McDavid were the first players with 100 assists in a season since Wayne Gretzky had 122 for the Los Angeles Kings in 1990-91.
MacKinnon was second in the NHL this season with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) in 82 games. The center had a home point streak of 35 games (77 points; 29 goals, 48 assists) to start the season, the second-longest home point streak in NHL history behind Gretzky’s 40-game run for the Kings in 1988-89 (103 points; 33 goals, 70 assists).
Kucherov and MacKinnon are also up for the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the player voted to be the most outstanding during the regular season by the League’s players. They are joined by Matthews, who led the NHL with 69 goals.
Matthews had an NHL career-high 107 points in 81 games, which was sixth in the League. The center had six hat tricks this season to become the 10th player in NHL history with at least that many in one season.
Bobrovsky is one of three players up for the Vezina Trophy, given annually to the goalie voted the best at his position by NHL general managers. Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and Thatcher Demkoof the Vancouver Canucks are the other finalists.
Bobrovsky, who won this award in 2013 and 2017, went 36-17-4 with a 2.37 goals-against average and .915 save percentage, and tied for the NHL lead with six shutouts in 58 games. He allowed two goals or fewer in 32 starts.
Hellebuyck, who won the Vezina in 2020, went 37-19-4 with a 2.39 GAA, .921 save percentage and five shutouts in 60 games. He ranked second in wins and save percentage.
“He’s No. 1, for me. It’s very well deserved. He is the backbone,” said Rick Bowness, who coached the Jets the past two seasons before announcing his retirement May 6. “Every great team has a great goaltender, and this guy is a great goaltender. He deserves it.”
Demko, a first-time finalist, was leading the NHL in wins when he sustained a knee injury March 9 that sidelined him for 14 games. He finished 35-14-2 with a 2.45 GAA, .918 save percentage and five shutouts in 51 games.
Quinn Hughes of the Canucks, Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators and Cale Makarof the Avalanche are the finalists for the Norris Trophy, given annually to the top defenseman in the NHL as voted by the PHWA.
Hughes led NHL defenseman with an NHL career-high 92 points (17 goals, 75 assists) in 82 games. A first-time finalist for the award, Hughes would be the first Canucks player to win it.
Josi, a finalist last season and winner of the Norris in 2020, was first in goals (23) and third in points (85) among defensem*n. Josi led Nashville and ranked 12th in the NHL in ice time per game (24:38), and was first on the Predators with 151 blocked shots.
Makar won the Norris in 2022 and has been a finalist for four straight seasons. He finished second in points (90), goals (21) and assists (69) among defensem*n and was first in points per game (1.17). He was also first in power-play points (39) at the position.
Center Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks and defensem*n Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild and Luke Hughesof the New Jersey Devils are the finalists for the Calder Trophy, given annually to the best rookie in the NHL as voted by the PHWA.
Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, led rookies in goals (22) and points (61) and tied Faber for first in assists (39) despite missing 14 games with a broken jaw. The 18-year-old had 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in his final 29 games.
Faber tied Hughes for second among rookies in points with 47 (eight goals, 39 assists) and played all 82 games.
Hughes played all 82 games, led rookie defensem*n in power-play points (25) and power-play goals (four), and was second in shots (135) and ice time per game (21:28).
