Voting on the NHL awards was both an honor and a daunting task. The winners are forever immortalized in hockey history, so I couldn’t take it lightly.
The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association strives for full transparency in award voting by revealing each voter’s ballots. I’m going to go even further by explaining why I chose certain players.
My process
All season long, I kept a spreadsheet of frontrunners, complete with notes on why I believed their respective seasons were award-worthy. These were by no means set in stone. They changed on a regular basis to reflect the observations I made as I watched each team play.
When it came time to submit my ballot, I did a final review. This was a several-hour process that included deep statistical research, watching film, reading articles and talking to those who could affirm or negate my opinions.
I think I got most of it right, though I’ll gladly entertain conversations contrary to my opinions.
Hart Trophy: Most valuable player to his team
My ballot:
1. Connor Hellebuyck
2. Zach Werenski
3. Quinn Hughes
4. Dustin Wolf
5. Alexander Ovechkin
Winner: Connor Hellebuyck
Contrary to what some believe, the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay award are based upon different criteria. Many simplify the Hart as the MVP and the Ted Lindsay as the player-voted MVP — but that’s not true.
The Hart is awarded to the player adjudged to be most valuable “to his team.” In other words, it’s for the guy who put his team on his back and carried it to new heights.
It’s not for the “most outstanding player” — that’s the definition of the Ted Lindsay.
With that in mind, Connor Hellebuyck was the easy choice. He kept the Winnipeg Jets in games all season long, helping them capture the Presidents’ Trophy as the best team in the regular season. Of course, his playoff play would have changed my vote and, I’m sure, those of many others, but this is a regular season award.
You’ll also notice that I left Leon Draisaitl and Nikita Kucherov off my Hart ballot. While both were outstanding this year, neither guy had to carry his team.
Lastly, I should address the fact that I was the only one to vote for Dustin Wolf. The Calgary Flames were largely expected to be a lottery team, but they missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker (one lucky bounce would have gotten them into the playoffs). That’s because Wolf was between the pipes.
With him in net, the Flames were 29-16-8. Without him, they were 12-11-6.
Norris Trophy: Top all-around defenseman
My ballot:
1. Cale Makar
2. Quinn Hughes
3. Zach Werenski
4. Jaccob Slavin
5. Josh Morrissey
Winner: Cale Makar
I really battled internally on the Cale Makar/Quinn Hughes debate, but I settled on Makar for two reasons:
- His offensive output.
- An array of advanced statistics.
I know, people hate it when offensive contributions factor into the defensemen’s award, but by definition, the award is for the best all-around defenseman. Points aren’t the be-all, end-all, but they do matter. Makar was the first defenseman with 30 goals in a season since 2009 and he had 92 points, which counts for something.
The defensive stats I took into consideration are far too numerous to list here, but they’re available on the NHL stats site as well as Money Puck. Makar was significantly above Hughes in too many categories to not put him in first place.
Calder Trophy: Most proficient in his first year of competition
My ballot:
1. Lane Hutson
2. Dustin Wolf
3. Macklin Celebrini
4. Matvei Michkov
5. Logan Stankoven
Winner: Lane Hutson
The 2024-25 season was the year of the rookie. All of the guys on my ballot, plus a few others, deserved to be in the running — but Lane Hutson’s season was too special to overlook.
Not only did he lead all rookies in scoring as a defenseman, he also became the fourth-highest-scoring rookie defenseman of all time.
For the reasons mentioned above, I also would have been totally fine with Wolf winning it, though there’s only room for one first-place vote on each ballot.
Lady Byng Trophy: Sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with high standard of playing ability
My ballot:
1. Jaccob Slavin
2. Anže Kopitar
3. Matt Duchene
4. Nick Suzuki
5. Brayden Point
Winner: Anže Kopitar
Let me take this opportunity to state an opinion: The winner of the Lady Byng Trophy should be decided by the players. The media know the players on a surface level, but only the players know who’s truly sportsmanlike.
My main criteria were good reputation and lack of penalty minutes, both of which each of these players have.
Selke Trophy: Forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game
My ballot:
1. Sam Reinhart
2. Alex Barkov
3. Brandon Hagel
4. Jack Eichel
5. Alex Tuch
Winner: Alex Barkov
There was no question the Selke Trophy winner would come out of Florida. My top three all play in that state, as was the case, more or less, for many voters.
My bold decision was to put Sam Reinhart above Alex Barkov. Here’s the why I did it.
When the Panthers were in Utah in January, I noticed that Reinhart was always in position to make the right play defensively. From then on, every time I watched the Panthers, I’d iso-cam him to see if that game was an anomaly.
It was not.
That’s not to take away from Barkov, who is also an elite defensive forward. But it does push back against players winning based on reputation alone. My vote was based on what I personally noticed, rather than what everyone says.
NHL All-Star Teams: Best players at each position
My ballot:
Center
1. Leon Draisaitl
2. Nathan MacKinnon
3. Connor McDavid
Right Wing
1. Nikita Kucherov
2. David Pastrňák
3. Sam Reinhart
Left Wing
1. Kyle Connor
2. Alexander Ovechkin
3. Brandon Hagel
Defense
1. Cale Makar
2. Quinn Hughes
3. Zach Werenski
4. Jaccob Slavin
5. Josh Morrissey
6. Jakob Chychrun
Goaltender
1. Connor Hellebuyck
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy
3. Dustin Wolf
Winners:
First team
C- Nathan MacKinnon
LW- Kyle Connor
RW- Nikita Kucherov
D- Cale Makar
D- Zach Werenski
G- Connor Hellebuyck
Second team
C- Leon Draisaitl
LW- Brandon Hagel
RW- David Pastrňák
D- Quinn Hughes
D- Victor Hedman
G- Andrei Vasilevskiy
You’ll notice that aside from Victor Hedman, every player selected for either all-star team was on my ballot. That final defenseman spot and the race for first place at the center position were the only particularly close ones.
For that reason, I don’t have much to say here.
NHL All-Rookie Team: Best rookies at each position
My ballot:
Forward
1. Macklin Celebrini
2. Matvei Michkov
3. Logan Stankoven
Defense
1. Lane Hutson
2. Drew Helleson
Goaltender
1. Dustin Wolf
Winners:
Forward
1. Macklin Celebrini
2. Matvei Michkov
3. Cutter Gauthier
Defense
1. Lane Hutson
2. Denton Mateychuk
Goaltender
1. Dustin Wolf
Three of these selections were unanimous: Wolf, Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson. Additionally, Matvei Michkov received votes on 186 of the 187 ballots.
I’m surprised Logan Stankoven didn’t receive more votes. I wonder if some people didn’t realize he was still classified as a rookie, having played one game less in 2023-24 than the 25 required to relinquish rookie status. He certainly didn’t play like a rookie.
Hutson was the only rookie defenseman to play anywhere close to the full season, so pickings were slim for the other defense spot. I chose Drew Helleson over Denton Mateychuk because he played more games this season while contributing on similar levels all around. That one was a toss-up for me.
Thoughts?
NHL awards are always up for debate.
If you have a particular opinion on who should or should not have been on my ballot, join the conversation either in the comment section of this article or in the replies of my X posts for the various awards.