NHL 2016-17 Dark Horse Award Candidates

iThe NHL Awards will be held in Las Vegas again this year, and many of the big awards have names already attached to them. Still, there will be a lot of speculation going forward about who will win, and there a few dark horse candidates.

Whether it’s John Gibson for the Vezina or somebody not named Craig Anderson for the Masterton, a dark horse is someone who is not expected to win it. But in each case, it’s somebody who should be considered to win. The NHL Awards likely won’t feature any of the following names, but it’s fun to speculate.

Hart Trophy: Nikita Kucherov

It’s also because of Nikita Kucherov, who’s stepped up into the role of Stamkos, willing to play the leader of this Tampa Bay team. He’s got 80 points, good for fourth in the scoring race. It’s because of Kucherov’s abilities that the Lightning have surged of late. They’re now looking like they could make the playoffs.

In 29 of the Lightning’s wins, Kucherov has played a scoring role. That includes six game winning goals and 17 power play goals. That last stat leads the league. Kucherov has been at the very least the most valuable right wing, as Patrick Kane has plenty of company on the Blackhawks this year.

Kucherov’s closest teammate in terms of points is Victor Hedman, who’s 15 points back. Of Hedman’s 50 assists, 15 have come on Nikita Kucherov goals. Six of them have come when both Hedman and Kucherov were the two assists. And of Hedman’s 15 goals, seven have come on Kucherov assists.

So when his leading teammate is significantly affected by his performance, and he himself is in the Art Ross race, Nikita Kucherov needs to be in this conversation. Especially if the Lightning somehow find a way to make the playoffs.

Calder Trophy: William Nylander

Everybody’s talking about the other two Toronto rookies, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Matthews is tied for the lead in points and goals for all rookies. Marner leads all rookies in assists. But very quietly, William Nylander has gotten as many points as Marner, with more goals.

Nylander is kind of the odd man out in Toronto. He plays with Matthews most of the time, but in dire cases, he is replaced by Marner – Marner plays the same position, right wing. Nylander’s points have mostly come off playing with Auston Matthews.

13 of Nylander’s goals were assisted by Matthews, Nylander has 11 assists on Matthews goals, and there have been 6 goals where they were the two assists. Still, that’s 30 shared points. So Matthews is the better for having played with Nylander as well.

That’s also more points than Marner and Matthews have together. So it turns out having Nylander play on the top line has helped develop the Leafs number one center of the future. Nylander’s not in the conversation, but he does have a case to make.

Lady Byng Trophy: Vladimir Tarasenko

This is maybe the hardest one to define. Who gets it? The people with the fewest penalty minutes possible? That would be Jordan Schroeder of Minnesota, who leads players (with zero penalty minutes) with 34 games played.

What about the players who played the best, and had very few? Johnny Gaudreau has four penalty minutes. Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad have eight. They deserve to be finalists.

If that’s the definition we’re going with, it’s hard to find a dark horse. Somebody who has few enough penalty minutes but enough games played. Enough talent but plays a clean game.

Can Rickard Rakell, who has eight PIM, be defined as a dark horse? Or will his 32 goals mean he’s a finalist? If so, who does he replace? These are the hardest to define finalists. But if I’m assigning dark horse status, it’s whoever doesn’t make the finals out of those four: Johnny Gaudreau, Brandon Saad, Marian Hossa, and Rickard Rakell.

It could also be Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko has more penalty minutes, 12, but also has more points than any of the aforementioned. He’s been one of the most valuable players on a team that is playoff bound, but he’s not been mentioned in the Hart race, and neither should he be. His play is exemplary – he’s one of the most exciting players to watch on the ice.

And the fact that he’s only racked up 12 penalty minutes, while higher than players like Hossa and Gaudreau, is also a testament to his ability to play a clean game. In 75 games, Tarasenko has only been penalized six times. That’s in a league that averages three penalties per side during a game.

Masterton Trophy: Patrick Sharp

The trophy that has essentially become an award for overcoming the biggest tragedy will go to Craig Anderson. He’s played excellent hockey while his wife is battling cancer, and he took time away from the game to be with her. He returned to the Senators and has helped them with the back end of their playoff push.

There’s no doubt that Anderson deserves the trophy. But how heavily favored he is to win it makes it easy to choose a dark horse. Patrick Sharp will likely be a finalist himself. But because he stands no chance of winning it, he has earned the title of the dark horse.

Sharp has fought battles of his own. His father is dealing with leukemia. He’s battled through an injury, to help the Stars try and make the playoffs. It was only once it was clear that Dallas couldn’t that Sharp got the necessary surgery. He’s helped to define perseverance in the NHL.

Sharp is also likely in his last year in the NHL. His contract, signed with Chicago, before being traded to Dallas, is up. His injury streak is risky for any team. But he’s played the game as long as he could in the face of obstacles, and he deserves the Masterton nomination.

Jack Adams: Joel Quenneville

Yes, I’m biased again. But Joel Quenneville has never earned the Jack Adams as the coach of the most successful team of the new millennium. He helped turn the Blackhawks around, transforming the games of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane into ones that helped win three Cups.

He’s won a Presidents Cup with the Blackhawks. He’ll help them win the West in a year where they had to work in new rookies. It’s for that reason that perhaps of all years, Q deserves the Jack Adams the most this year. He helped incorporate rookies into the Blackhawks roster, and the Hawks haven’t missed a beat.

The favorites of the Jack Adams are Bruce Boudreau, Mike Babcock, Guy Boucher, and John Tortorella. They helped their teams become surprises and proved themselves to be some of the best coaches in the NHL. But the greatest coach in the NHL also made his team a surprise.

Next: Is Todd McLellan a Dark Horse for Jack Adams?

Is it really a bad thing that Quenneville didn’t have to take a “bad” team and make it good? Doesn’t his track record with the Blackhawks earn him another award? It should, and that’s why he’s my coaching dark horse.