(Tampa) Center Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Hart and Ted Lindsay trophies, awarded to the most valuable player to his team and the most valuable player in the National Hockey League, respectively.
Updated yesterday at 9:24 p.m.
In the hunt for the Hart Trophy, an honor determined by the Association of Professional Hockey Journalists, Matthews earned 119 first-place votes and 49 second-place votes, for a total of 1,630 points.
He edged out Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, who had 1,111 points thanks to 29 first-place votes, and New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (738 points).
“I can’t lie, the feeling is really good. […] It’s really special,” Matthews commented, though he admitted receiving the honor in Tampa, where the two-time defending champion Lightning and Colorado Avalanche will face off in the fourth Stanley Cup Finals game on Wednesday elicited bittersweet feelings.
“There is a bit of disarray, we would like to still be playing,” he added.
Matthews, who also won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top scorer with 60 goals in 2021-22, is only the third player in Maple Leafs history to win the Hart Trophy, and the first since Ted Kennedy, at the end of the 1954-1955 season.
In addition, Matthews became the first ever Maple Leafs player to be presented with the Ted Lindsay Trophy, an honor voted on by members of the Players Association. The other two finalists were Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi and McDavid.
As a result, Matthews became the 15e player in NHL history to achieve the Hart-Lindsay double, a feat that McDavid notably achieved last season. The list of double winners also includes Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Martin St-Louis, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.
In 73 games, Matthews achieved personal career highs with his team-high 60 goals, as well as 46 assists and 106 points.
Shesterkin, Makar and Seider rewarded
Failing to receive the Hart Trophy, Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy, given to the goaltender deemed the best at his position, according to the general managers of the National Hockey League.
Finalist for this honor for the first time in his career, Shesterkin is the third color bearer in Rangers history to be awarded this trophy, according to the selection criteria put in place in 1981-1982, after Henrik Lundqvist, in 2011-2012, and John Vanbiesbrouck, in 1985-1986.
Shesterkin emerged as a nearly unanimous choice, garnering 29 of 32 first-place votes. He placed second on the other three ballots, for a grand total of 154 points.
Photo Nathan Ray Seebeck, USA TODAY Sports Archive
Igor Shesterkin
Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames was second in voting with 53 points, ahead of Juuse Saros (32 points) of the Nashville Predators.
Meanwhile, the other three first-place votes went to Frederik Andersen of the Carolina Hurricanes, Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders. These three porters finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Shesterkin led the NHL with a 2.07 goals-against average and .935 save percentage, helping the Rangers (52-24-6) to 110 points, good for third in NHL history. the organization.
Shesterkin finished the season with a 36-13-4 record and six shutouts in 52 games.
In addition, Cale Makar became the first player in Colorado Avalanche history to receive the Norris Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding defenseman in the NHL, according to the Association of Professional Hockey Journalists.
Under a close ballot, Makar racked up 1,631 points, 25 more than Josi, even though the latter got more first-place votes (98 to 92). Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning was third with 940 points.
The difference in the result comes from second place votes, where Makar outscored Josi 98-76. The journalists had to identify five players in their ballot and the points were distributed as follows: 10-7-5-3-1.
A Calder Trophy winner in 2019-20, Makar led all NHL defensemen with 28 goals. His 86 points left him second among NHL defensemen, 10 points behind Josi.
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider won the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s most outstanding rookie, following a vote by members of the Professional Hockey Journalists Association.
PHOTO RAJ MEHTA, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES
Moritz Seider
Seider largely dominated the poll accumulating 1,853 points, thanks in part to 170 first-place votes.
Trevor Zegras (1,191 points) of the Anaheim Ducks and Michael Bunting (877 points) of the Toronto Maple Leafs rounded out the top-3.
Lucas Raymond, another Detroit Red Wings player, was fourth, while Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield had 31 points, good for ninth.
Seider played in all 82 games for the Red Wings and had seven goals and 50 points.
On a separate note, the NHL announced that Julien BriseBois of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Chris Drury of the New York Rangers and Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche are the finalists for the obtaining the Jim-Gregory trophy, awarded to the general manager of the year in the NHL.
BriseBois is a finalist for the second time in his career, having placed second in the 2019-2020 season. Drury, appointed Rangers general manager in May 2021, will obviously be a finalist for the first time, as will Sakic.
The winner will be known at the NHL drafting session, July 7 and 8 in Montreal.