2022-2023 NHL Award Predictions
Via NHL.com
The wait is finally over! The 2022-2023 NHL season is officially underway and is bound to be a good one. While we all should sit back and enjoy the season while it lasts, it’s always fun to look ahead to late June to see whom we think will take home the league’s most prestigious awards. Here are my predictions for the players I believe will walk away from the NHL awards with the Calder, Vezina, Norris, Ted Lindsay, and Hart trophies.
The first award I will give my prediction for is the Calder Memorial Trophy, which is given to the rookie who is most proficient in his first year of play. I think that there is a lot of stiff competition for this award as there are a lot of very talented rookie players. I see this award coming down to the second and third picks of the 2021 NHL draft, Matty Beniers of the Seattle Kraken and Mason McTavish of the Anaheim Ducks.
While I really could see it going either way, I am going to pick Mason McTavish.
The 2021 third-overall pick is fresh off an outstanding World Juniors where he led Team Canada to gold as their captain and saw him put up 17 points in only seven games. He was given tournament MVP Honors for his performance. Picking up right where he left off in Anaheim’s season opener notching two assists in a 5-4 win over Beniers and the Kraken. If McTavish keeps this hot streak going, he will surely be given the Calder in June.
The next award is the Vezina Trophy, given to the league’s top goaltender in the regular season. This is probably the award that I go the most back and forth on as I constantly am switching between Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
While I do think the odds of Shesterkin winning for the second year in a row are very high, I am picking Vasilevskiy to win. I feel that Tampa Bay is on a mission this season to prove they are still a juggernaut after losing the Stanley Cup Final and that will all start between the pipes with Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Moving on to the next award which is the James Norris Memorial Trophy, given to the best all-around defenseman. This is a very easy one for me as there is a player whom I can realistically see winning this award every year for many years to come.
That player is the defending Conn Smythe and Norris winner, Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.
Makar is one of the best offensive defensemen, not just in the league, but of all time in my opinion. He has completely reshaped how you can play the position. The offensive skills he has can be compared to those of McDavid and Mackinnon, while still playing phenomenal defense, is what’s going to win him the Norris.
The second to last award is the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the most outstanding player this season. I believe this award will go to arguably the best player in the league, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.
I am predicting that McDavid will go off this year for at least 130 points to win his third straight Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer. McDavid putting up that many points will be what gets him the votes to win the Ted Lindsay.
The final award is the Hart Memorial Trophy, given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team. While McDavid may seem like the obvious choice, I think that the winner will be another player who I also see having an incredible season but in goals rather than points, the defending winner Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Matthews hit the 60-goal mark last season and I think he’s going to pass it this season and score 62 goals. While I believe that McDavid will of course have an outstanding season and could win the Hart, Matthew’s 62 goals will get him the Hart for the second straight year and deem him the NHL’s MVP for the 2022-2023 season.
