It’s time to roll out the red carpet for our 2016-17 Fantasy Hockey Awards. For Part 1, picture the NHL Awards, only they are being given out in the fantasy hockey universe instead (sorry, no suits or bad jokes). We’ve managed to keep most of the regular NHL awards, although our awards won’t always replicate exactly how the NHL awards will play out.
Just like the NHL Awards, we’re expecting some debate here. So remember that all we’re trying to do is have some fun as well as add some food for thought for next season’s fantasy leagues.
Art Ross Trophy
Nominees: Connor McDavid, Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby
Winner: McDavid
Pretty self-explanatory here – it’s the player with the most points. That player is McDavid, who in his second NHL season is on his way to capturing his first Art Ross Trophy. Sidney Crosby may have had a better points-per-game total for much of the season, but in the end he couldn’t keep up with hockey’s next big superstar, who scored at nearly a point-and-a-half-per-game pace in March. This could be the passing of the torch in terms of hockey’s top scorer, which would make McDavid the first overall pick in many fantasy leagues in 2017-18.
Maurice Richard Trophy
Nominees: Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand, Auston Matthews
Winner: Crosby
Also self-explanatory here – the player with the most goals. Although Crosby could not capture the overall scoring title, he is the NHL’s leading goal scorer with his highest total since the 2009-10 season. Had Crosby not missed six games, perhaps he would have been the NHL’s only 50-goal scorer. With goals more valuable than assists in fantasy leagues, Crosby has punched his ticket as a candidate to be fantasy hockey’s most valuable player. Crosby is not known specifically as a goal scorer, so don’t be surprised if there’s a slight dip in the goal total in 2017-18.
Jennings Trophy
Nominees: Washington, Columbus, Montreal
Winner: Washington
This trophy is awarded to the goalies on the team with the lowest goals-against average. This is not only an indication of a strong starting goalie, but also a strong backup that you should handcuff to your starter if you are in a deep enough league. So this trophy should recognize another fine season from Braden Holtby, who is following up a Vezina Trophy win from last season. Although Holtby’s backup Philipp Grubauer does not meet the required 25 games needed to win this award, Grubauer was able to post similar ratios to Holtby.
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Lady Byng Trophy
Nominees: Vladimir Tarasenko, Mikael Granlund, Johnny Gaudreau
Winner: Gaudreau
In fantasy leagues, this is awarded to a significant scorer with a low penalty minutes total. This runs counter to those fantasy leagues that count penalty minutes as a positive. Could it be time for those leagues to consider the reversal, since taking a penalty normally hurts a team? Gaudreau’s scoring is down in 2016-17, thanks to a slow start and broken finger. But the Flames seldom had to kill a penalty taken by Gaudreau, who has received only two minor penalties all season. If that doesn’t say fantasy Lady Byng, we don’t know what will.
Calder Trophy
Nominees: Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Mitch Marner
Winner: Matthews
This would normally be a season in which a player such as Laine would win, or maybe even Marner or William Nylander. However, Matthews has lived up to the hype and then some, putting together the finest rookie season that the Leafs have had in their long and storied history. The foreshadowing occurred during Matthews’ first game, when he scored four goals against the Senators. Matthews, Nylander, and Marner have fast-tracked the Leafs’ rebuild, turning an also-ran squad into one of the NHL’s top offences in short order.
Norris Trophy
Nominees: Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman
Winner: Burns
This award is strictly for the league’s top-scoring defenceman, without regard for the defensive aspects of the game. When the calendar turned to March, Burns was actually a contender in the league’s scoring race – as a defenceman. Both Burns and Karlsson have posted back-to-back 70-point seasons, which is unheard of for defencemen. Hedman has 67 points. These three have been head and shoulders above the rest of the league’s defencemen, as the fourth-highest scoring blueliner is more than 10 points behind this group.
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Vezina Trophy
Nominees: Sergei Bobrovsky, Braden Holtby, Devan Dubnyk
Winner: Bobrovsky
Think about what Bobrovsky has accomplished this season. Then think about where he was drafted in your league. Bobrovsky is at or near the top in all major goaltending categories: wins, goals-against average, save percentage, and shutouts. It’s no coincidence that his resurgence matches the sudden ascent of the Blue Jackets. This success is a result of playing an entire year in defensive-minded coach John Tortorella’s system, as well as managing to stay injury-free. Bobrovsky has been an up-and-down option since winning his real-life Vezina Trophy in 2012-13.
Hart Trophy
Nominees: Brent Burns, Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby
Winner: McDavid
If you play in a league that counts numerous categories, Burns had this award in the bag until the final month of the season. But we can’t award this trophy to a player who disappointed many fantasy owners when the games mattered the most. Up until March 1, Burns was a point-per-game player, scoring 66 points in just 62 games. But Burns fell to earth in March, scoring just seven points in 16 games.
Meanwhile, McDavid firmed his place as the league’s top scorer during that time, scoring 19 points in 13 games during March. In pure points leagues, he’s undoubtedly your MVP. We’re talking about a player whose assist total is higher than all but 25 players’ point totals. The amazing part is that we have not seen McDavid’s ceiling yet.
First-Team Fantasy All Stars
G: Sergei Bobrovsky
D: Brent Burns
D: Erik Karlsson
LW: Brad Marchand
C: Connor McDavid
RW: Patrick Kane
Second-Team Fantasy All Stars
G: Braden Holtby
D: Victor Hedman
D: Dustin Byfuglien
LW: Alex Ovechkin
C: Sidney Crosby
RW: Nikita Kucherov
For Part 2, we will hand out awards that will be specifically designed for fantasy teams. Look out for these awards next week.
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