The 2016 NHL Awards ceremony is set to take place tomorrow evening in Las Vegas. Online sportsbook Bodog.eu has made it possible to bet on the NHL Awards this year with odds being offered on each of the major awards.
In this post I’ll go through each of the odds found at Bodog.eu and provide my pick for who I expect to take home the hardware tomorrow night.
Calder Memorial Trophy
- Artemi Panarin 1.308
- Connor McDavid 3.55
- Shayne Gostisbehere 9.00
Even though Connor McDavid was the best rookie this year when he was in the lineup with 48 points in 45 games, playing just more than half the games in your rookie season doesn’t help your chances of winning the Calder. I expect Artemi Panarin to take down the Calder based on his 77 points in 80 games, which is a remarkable amount on its own. Who knows if McDavid could have kept up his pace for the entire 82 game season.
Play: Panarin 1.308
Frank J. Selke Award
- Anze Kopitar 1.909
- Patrice Bergeron 2.00
- Ryan Kesler 9.00
I think Kopitar is finally starting to get the credit he deserves for being one of the best two-way players in the league. The Kings made the playoffs this year, while the Bruins didn’t and this could play a factor between Bergeron and Kopitar, who are neck and neck as the top two way players in the game.
Play: Kopitar 1.909
Hart Memorial Trophy
- Patrick Kane 1.10
- Jamie Benn 8.00
- Sidney Crosby 8.00
This one is a no-brainer. Kaner had a ridiculous year with 106 points and 46 goals. He definitely deserves this trophy. It’s strange that Crosby is even on this list, but that shows his star power amongst the voters for this trophy.
Play: Kane 1.10
Jack Adams
- Barry Trotz 1.87
- Gerard Gallant 1.952
- Lindy Ruff 9.00
This is another award that I find usually goes to the wrong coaches. Basically, if you have a team with good players that is expected to do well it is extremely difficult for the coach to win this award. It might as well be considered the over-achieving award based on expectations. For this reason I think Gerard Gallant is most likely to take home the trophy this year.
Play: Gallant 1.952
James Norris Trophy
- Erik Karlsson 1.714
- Drew Doughty 2.55
- Brent Burns 5.50
Erik Karlsson had the best offensive season for a defenseman that I can remember. He finished tied for 4th in scoring in the entire league which is just ridiculous for a defenseman. That said, writers seem to be in love with Doughty this year even though he really did nothing special. It’s lucky for Doughty that this is a regular season award because he was thoroughly outplayed by Brent Burns in the first round. This will be a travesty if Karlsson doesn’t win the Norris after this spectacular season, but it seems to me the sports writers want to give it to Doughty as a lifetime achievement award. Let’s not forget the voters gave Doughty more first place votes last season even though the Kings missed the playoffs, so the whole playoffs argument is somewhat silly now, but I still see voters not wanting to give it to Karlsson again. And the fact Doughty had more first place votes than Karlsson last year really shows that a lot of the voters want Doughty to get one of these Norris trophies.
Play: Doughty 2.55
Here’s hoping the trophies go to the correct individuals, but I somewhat doubt it. I’ll be watching tomorrow night though and I’ll have a few bucks on some of these, but I won’t be surprised if the action is for not.
Tagged with: NHL Awards