NHL Awards Watch: Artemi Panarin enters Hart Trophy race with a bang

NEWARK, NJ - OCTOBER 17: New York Rangers center Artemi Panarin (10) during the second period of the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers on October 17, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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Jack Adams Award

The candidates: Alain Vigneault (Philadelphia Flyers), Jared Bednar (Colorado Avalanche), Mike Sullivan (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Winner: Vigneault

The Philadelphia Flyers came into this season with a ton of talent, but quite a few questions. New head coach Alain Vigneault is a huge reason why they’ve been able to answer those questions. He’s gotten everyone to buy into his defense-first system while still posting impressive scoring totals.

Also, the Flyers are a great team across the board in terms of underlying stats. Their penalty kill has vastly improved, as they’ve gone from the 27th-ranked PK to the 11th-best PK. Moreover, Vigneault has done a great job utilizing the Flyers forward depth.

Their 220 goals rank sixth in the NHL despite having no players in the top 30 in goals and only one (Travis Konecny) in the top 30 in points. The Flyers have also allowed the fewest shots against per game in the league at 28.9. That’s a heck of a way to improve your goaltending – don’t allow many shots to begin with.

Now, with that said, this is a very close race. Things can easily change in a month. The Flyers current run has put Vigneault on top, but Bednar and Sullivan aren’t far behind. Neither are Travis Green, Dave Tippett, and John Tortorella.

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