Rapid Rewind: Ted Lindsay Award Finalists
The NHL announced the finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award and they come as no surprise. The award is given to the most outstanding player in the NHL and is voted on by the National Hockey League Players Association. The NHL Awards were originally scheduled for June, but with the season paused, no new date has been announced yet. The plan is to announce the winner of the award either during the Conference Finals or before the Stanley Cup Final starts.
The finalists include some familiar faces, who did some damage throughout the shortened season. The finalists will all participate in the NHL postseason, whether the qualifying round or round robins games to determine seeding. The three finalists are Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers.
The Case for Leon Draisaitl
In 71 games, Draisaitl had 43 goals, 67 assists, 110 points and 10 game-winning goals. He already has some hardware to his name this season as he won the Art Ross Trophy as the League’s leading scorer with 110 points. The center won 52.1 percent of his face-offs taken and was a big contributor at even strength, on the power play, and saw a decent amount of time while the team was short-handed this season. The 24-year-old led the League in points (110), points per game (1.55), assists (67), power play points (44), and time on ice (22:37).
The kid was tied for second in the NHL with 66 even strength pointS and 16 power play goals. He has 33 multipoint games and managed to put up one point in 56 of 71 games. He even had two five point outings this season and they came against the Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators. Draisaitl was tied with David Pastrnak for game-winning goals (10). The Oilers were 24-5-2 when he scored, and 13-20-7 when he didn’t score. Yes, he played with Connor McDavid some this season, but go watch an Oilers game because this kid can flat out play.
The Case for Nathan MacKinnon
In 69 games this season, MacKinnon had 35 goals, 58 assists, 93 points and four game-winning goals in 21:13 of ice time per game. His 93 points, were tops on the Avalanche, and his next closest teammate only had 50 points. He did most of the heavy lifting for the Avalanche, who saw Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen miss significant time due to injuries. The 24-year-old led the Avalanche in goals (35), assists (58), points (93), and power play points (31).
He had 29 multipoint games and managed to get at least one point in 53 of 69 games played. MacKinnon’s 93 points were fifth-best in the NHL, while his 62 even strength points were good for third in the league. The center played a significant role in keeping the injury-ladened Avalanche above water and into the qualifying round bye. The Avalanche had the second best record in the Western Conference at 42-20-8.
The Case for Artemi Panarin
The left wing exceeded all expectations in New York this season, and helped the Rangers clinch a spot in the qualifying round of the playoffs this season. In his first full season, Panarin set career highs in a lot of categories including goals, assists and points. In 69 games, he had 32 goals, 63 assists, 95 points and was a plus-36. The left wing led the Rangers in points and assists, but came in second in goals behind Mika Zibanejad.
Panarin played at even strength and on the power play in the regular season for the Rangers. His 95 points were tied for third with David Pastrnak in the league. His 71 even strength points were right at the top of the league. Panarin managed to have 28 multipoint games and had at least one point in 54 of the 69 games he played in this past season. Panarin had a major impact on a team that was supposed to be rebuilding on the fly.
Predicting the Winner
Leon Draisaitl is going to win the Ted Lindsay Award. The kid can flat out produce, with or without McDavid in the lineup. He has stepped up when the team needed him, and played in all situations for the team. I know that MacKinnon had to do a lot for his team because of the injuries and played with a variety of players, but overall Draisaitl was the most outstanding player in the NHL this season.
