The 2017 NHL award underdogs you should be rooting for

The door has officially closed on the 2016-17 NHL regular season. It’s been a long road to get here to the edge of the playoffs, but we did it.

With the regular season complete, we’re ever closer to the NHL awards and even closer still to arguments on whether Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid deserves the Hart Trophy. What if we told you, however, that there were other choices for your consideration? Sure, Crosby or McDavid and many of the NHL’s stars will win awards this year, but there are other players that have had seasons worthy of your consideration.

We floated this idea last season that for every favorite to win one of the NHL’s many awards, there’s an underdog that might just be as deserving. It can be boring to root for the expected winners, so why not spice up your life with some originality?

Sure, it’s highly unlikely these underdogs will topple the favorites at the top, but Drew Doughty won the Norris Trophy last year so really, anything can happen.

The Hart often goes to the player — rightly or wrongly — with the most points at the end of the season. Last year it was Patrick Kane. This year, it will be Connor McDavid. Something McDavid has over other past winners, however, is that he’s absolutely the player most valuable to his team. The Oilers wouldn’t have been sniffing the playoffs if it wasn’t for McDavid’s 100 points in 82 games. Even I can’t argue with this pick, sorry Crosby fans.

It’s hard to call Crosby an underdog in anything, so unfortunately he won’t get his due here. Instead, we’ll give this to Marchand, who leads the Bruins in points with 85 in 80 games played. There’s a handful of other forwards that could have, and still can, be called underdogs here, but Marchand put himself into the conversation with an incredible last month of play.

We gave Marchand the underdog nod over Nikita Kucherov because Boston’s playoff berth is thanks in part to his contributions. But, if you’re not feeling Marchand because of his spearing antics, Kucherov is a solid choice. Though the Lightning were unable to make the playoffs, Kucherov is second only to Crosby in goals with 40 and has had some real beauties this year.

McDavid has triple digits in points. No one else does. Case closed.

Halfway through the year, this award was Devan Dubnyk’s award to lose. And he did just that after putting up a .908 save percentage in 36 games played since the start of January.

Now, there’s really only one choice for the Vezina and his name is Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Blue Jackets goaltender leads the NHL with a .931 save percentage. In 63 games, he has seven shutouts and has only gotten better while Dubnyk got worse. Arguably, he’s a big reason why Columbus is in the playoffs in the first place, as Bobrovsky has bounced back considerably from his horrific start last season.

Talbot has played an incredible 73 games this year for the Oilers and is the second reason not named Connor McDavid as to why Edmonton is in the postseason. He’s got 4,294 minutes played this season, the most in the NHL, and he’s tied with Braden Holtby with 42 wins at the top of the league.

His .919 save percentage isn’t too shabby either, and his workhorse of a season should at least be recognized with a nomination.

Bobrovsky is the best goaltender in the league this season. Even Talbot’s incredible showing this year can’t take away from what Bobrovsky has done in net.

Burns has 76 points in 82 games and has made enough noise that at one point this season, he was a Hart Trophy candidate. Though he’s slid down those standings, his defensive contributions this season will likely net him the Norris. The 2016-17 season was a career high for Burns by just one point, but he’s stood out this year in a lacking defensive field.

It’s almost unthinkable that Karlsson is actually an underdog for this award. Though he may or may not have been robbed last year after putting up a point per game over 82 contests, he followed up his career year with 71 points.

And before Tampa Bay screams at me, yes Victor Hedman should also get some love here. The Lightning defenseman had 72 points in 79 games, though his points-per-game statistic is just lower than Karlsson’s. My heart goes out to Karlsson here, though, because he’s the heart and soul of the Senators and is the reason they even were able to limp into the playoffs to begin with.

Neither Karlsson nor Hedman can match Burns’ offensive numbers. His 29 goals on the year lead the NHL’s defensive crop by double digits.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Auston Matthews gets the bid here. The Maple Leafs rookie has eclipsed 40 goals, is at an incredibly nice 69 points on the year, and has broken countless records in his first NHL season.

Some of Matthews’ teammates like Mitch Marner deserve credit for Toronto’s surprise run, but the 2016 No. 1 overall pick has more going for him. Matthews has the team’s fourth-best Corsi at 51.43 percent, according to Corsica, while playing in Toronto’s top-six all year. His two-way play puts him head and shoulders above the rest of the rookie crop for this season.

It’s hard not to feel for Laine a bit here. He’ll always be seen in the shadow of Matthews as the No. 2 pick from 2016. Plus, an injury derailed a Calder race that likely would have been his had he not missed nine games.

Laine also has some incredible offensive numbers. He’s got 64 points in 73 games and the best points-per-game percentage of the lot with .88 for the season. While Matthews and the kids have fun in the playoffs, the Jets and Laine sit at home after putting together a seven-game win streak to end the season.

Matthews has the better numbers, plain and simple. Laine might eventually outscore Matthews through their respective careers, but that injury has dashed us of the Calder race we were promised.

No one expected the Blue Jackets to be this good. Certainly not after their season last year, and most definitely not with the head coach of Team USA from the World Cup who led the Americans to a disasterous showing.

And yet, here Tortorella stands with the Blue Jackets at 50 wins and 108 points, a franchise record in each category. Columbus went from the NHL’s basement to a third-place finish in the Metropolitan Division. It’s a story the Jack Adams always rewards, and I don’t see it changing here.

Babcock gets the nod here over Joel Quenneville because the latter has names like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Corey Crawford on their roster. Sure the Blackhawks weren’t expected to grab the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference due to injuries and icing a lineup of rookies, but it’s more of a marvel that the Maple Leafs have gone from the NHL’s worst team to a playoff spot in a year.

Incredibly, Babcock has never won a Jack Adams in his 14-year NHL coaching career and his season with the Maple Leafs might really turn heads. Toronto has 40 wins and 95 points a year removed from winning just 29.

The Blue Jackets have broken franchise records without changing the core of their team from last year. Their 16-game win streak back in December practically cemented this decision months ago.