The 2024 NHL Awards show has come and gone. The winners have been revealed. Now it’s time to explain how I arrived at my final ballot on three major awards that were announced on Thursday night.
For the first time, I got the chance to vote on the NHL Awards as a member of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association. Once the winners are announced, all votes are made public for the sake of transparency. I am taking it one step further to explain my rationale on the Calder, Norris and Hart Trophies.
Before we dive into those three awards, some winners in which we got to vote on were previously announced. Aleksander Barkov won the Selke Trophy. He was first on my ballot. No one had a more complete year as a defensive forward than Barkov. He has a chance to become the next Patrice Bergeron with multiple wins. Auston Matthews was second on my ballot. His season was worthy of MVP consideration. More on that when we get to the Hart.
The Lady Byng Trophy was won by Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin. He was second on my ballot. I had Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor first. I looked at things such as role, time on ice and penalty minutes. Both played a lot and played the game that captures the spirit of the award. Slavin was a deserving winner.
Alright, without further ado, let’s look at my final ballot on the Calder, Norris and Hart trophies.
Calder Trophy
Winner: Connor Bedard
Mark’s Ballot
- 1. Connor Bedard
- 2. Brock Faber
- 3. Pyotr Kochetkov
- 4. Luke Hughes
- 5. Logan Cooley
Rationale: I had Faber winning this until the last month of the season when Bedard made a late charge. This went back and forth all season.
While Bedard’s offense popped, Faber’s defensive presence popped more. His TOI was in the top-10 of all defensemen. For a rookie to do that is beyond impressive. The fact that Bedard’s game was one sided gave me even more reason to put Faber first for most of the season.
The thing about these awards are that it’s the totality of the season. In that sense, Bedard being almost a point per game on that Blackhawks team when he was the clear driver put him over the top. Take nothing away from Faber’s season. For Bedard to put up those kind of numbers as a rookie when he was the focus of every opposition’s game plan just shows how special a talent he is. Kochetkov got my third-place vote as he does meet the definition of rookie. His play was a major factor in how the Hurricanes finished the regular season given Frederik Andersen’s blood-clot issue. Hughes and Cooley were each impressive in their own right and deserved a place on the ballot.
Bedard won the Calder with 152 first-place votes. Faber was second and had 42 first-place votes.
Norris Trophy
Winner: Quinn Hughes
Mark’s Ballot
- 1. Quinn Hughes
- 2. Roman Josi
- 3. Josh Morrissey
- 4. Adam Fox
- 5. Evan Bouchard
Rationale: Credit to Josi for making this a two-horse race. He ended the season with more goals and primary assists than Hughes did. Where Hughes came out on top was defensively.
Hughes consistently drew tougher minutes and matchups and had better results than Josi did. The Norris says it’s the defenseman “with the greatest all-around ability.” With that definition in mind, Hughes earned my top spot, but not by much.
What you will notice on here is no Cale Makar. All things being equal, Makar is the best defenseman in the world. Looking back, I think I penalized him too much for time missed due to injury. Morrissey, Fox and Bouchard all had Norris-worthy seasons and deserved a place on the ballot. Makar’s ending to the season was great. However he wouldn’t have been higher than third anyway. This was always a two-man race between Hughes and Josi.
Hughes won going away with 172 first-place votes.
Hart Trophy
Winner: Nathan MacKinnon
Mark’s Ballot
- 1. Nathan MacKinnon
- 2. Auston Matthews
- 3. Nikita Kucherov
- 4. Connor McDavid
- 5. Connor Hellebuyck
Rationale: This vote was expected to be a doozy. It did not disappoint in that sense. This was as agonizing as everyone said it would be. This by far took the longest amount of time to ponder. All five players have compelling cases to be the MVP of the league.
For me, the choice of MacKinnon on top comes down to one concept. While he wasn’t the best in every category, he was the most consistent in every category. In this kind of race, that was my determining factor. Only one player had a season of 50-80 or more and was also great defensively. That was MacKinnon.
The way MacKinnon rose up especially at Ball Arena and could flat-out dominate at will was just something that always stuck out. Every time he stepped out on the ice at home, you could count on points.
You May Also Like
- THW’s Mark Scheig Explains His 2024 NHL Awards Ballot
- Canucks Re-Sign Tyler Myers to 3-Year Contract
- Canucks’ Quinn Hughes Wins 2024 Norris Trophy
- Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard Wins 2024 Calder Memorial Trophy
- Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon Wins 2024 Ted Lindsay Award
But then of the Hart contenders, only Matthews rated higher defensively. MacKinnon outscored Matthews by over 30 points and also outscored every other Hart contender at 5-on-5. It actually wasn’t that close with MacKinnon at 79 and McDavid second at 72. MacKinnon also outscored Kucherov 79-67 at 5-on-5. Kucherov was perhaps the most productive player offensively. However MacKinnon was the most complete player.
MacKinnon earlier in the night won the Ted Lindsey for most outstanding player as voted on by the players. On his Hart win, MacKinnon won easily with 137 first-place votes. Kucherov ad 50 first-place votes and was second.
Matthews had 69 goals and was high on many Selke ballots. That has to be recognized given the overall impact. That’s why he came in second.
Then it went Kucherov and McDavid third and fourth on the ballot. Hellebuyck absolutely deserved a place on the ballot given his importance to the Jets. He was by far the league’s best goaltender. His play was elevated enough that without him, the Jets don’t finish where they did in the standings.
I’ve said my side of the story. Now it’s your turn. Who would you have voted for and why? And where do you think I went wrong? Sound off in the comments or on X.