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TAMPA, Fla. — Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews received the Hart Trophy for the NHL’s Most Valuable Player and the Ted Lindsay Award for the NHLPA’s Most Outstanding Player at Tuesday night’s NHL Awards.
Matthews, 24, scored 60 goals and led the NHL for the second straight season. He set a Maple Leafs franchise record and the season record for most goals by an American-born player. He led the NHL in tied goals (44), goals per game (.82), and shots (348). He finished sixth with 106 points – the highest score of his career.
Matthews received 119 first-place votes for the Hart Trophy, which is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA). Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid finished second in voting while New York Rangers’ goaltender Igor Shesterkin finished third.
Matthews was the first Maple Leafs player to win the NHLPA’s Outstanding Player Award, a player-voted award first presented in 1971. McDavid and Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi finished second to Ted Lindsay. Matthews is the second American-born player to win the award, alongside Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane in 2015-16.
“To be honored by players you play every night,” he said, “just means a lot to me.”
The closest vote of the night was the Norris Trophy, presented by the PHWA to the NHL’s top defenseman. Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar won his first Norris with 1,631 points in voting and 92 first-place votes. Josi finished second (1,606) with more votes in first place than Makar (98). The scoring on the ballot that ranks the top five choices is 10-7-5-3-1. Makar was named on 195 ballots while Josi was elected on 194.
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman finished third for the Norris.
“We have some important things to do [Wednesday]”Makar said at the show, quickly turning attention back to the Stanley Cup finals. “But for the boys, that goes to them.”
Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender, as voted for by the NHL’s general managers. The other finalists were Calgary Flames’ Jacob Markstrom and Nashville Predators’ Juuse Saros.
“It’s a great honor for me to be here,” Shesterkin said at the ceremony. “It’s good to play for the New York Rangers, it’s an amazing feeling.”
Shesterkin led the NHL with a 2.07 clean sheet average and a .935 save percentage in 53 games, which took the Rangers to 110 regular-season points, the third-highest total in franchise history. He was a first-time Vezina candidate, joining Henrik Lundqvist and John Vanbiesbrouck as Rangers who won the Vezina since the current criteria for the award were established in 1981-82.
Some expected he might be a unanimous choice, but Carolina’s Frederik Andersen, Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and the New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin also had first-place votes.
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider won the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year as voted on by the PHWA. He played all 82 games for the Red Wings and averaged 23:02 ice time per game, highs among rookies. He led all rookie defensemen in points (50), the third-highest for a freshman blueliner in the past 30 years. He led all rookies in assists (43) and power play points (21).
“It’s a really great honor, I haven’t really prepared for a speech so I’m just going to go with the flow here,” he said. “It’s a great organization with Detroit, it’s a lot of fun to be a Red Wing.”
Seider collected 170 first place votes. Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras, who has scored several outstanding goals this season, finished second with 15 votes in first place. Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Michael Bunting, who was notable for his age at 26, finished third in the voting.
Tampa Bay Lightning’s Julien BriseBois, New York Rangers’ Chris Drury and Colorado Avalanche’s Joe Sakic are the three finalists for the 2021-22 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Awards. The winner will be announced at next month’s NHL Draft in Montreal.
The NHL Awards were presented on the day off between Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Tampa’s Armature Works. The league previously announced several awards during the playoffs: Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award: Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings; Jack Adams Prize: Darryl Sutter, Calgary Flames; Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens; Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award: Noel Acton of Baltimore, Md. Frank J. Selke Trophy for Best Defensive Forward: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins; Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for Distinguished Player: Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets; King Clancy Memorial Trophy for Community Service: PK Subban, New Jersey Devils.
