5 New Jersey Devils Who Could Win Awards This Season

Nico Hischier – Selke Trophy

With Patrice Bergeron out of the league, the race for the Selke Trophy is wide open once again. There are a few players who have been waiting to win their Selke. Elias Pettersson, Mark Stone, and Mitch Marner are some of the stars who never got their hands on the award. That’s what happens when Bergeron is over here winning six Selkes. However, while there are others waiting for their turn, Hischier might have the inside edge.

Hischier was the runner up for the award last season. Bergeron had 187 first-place votes for the Selke. Hischier had three. So it was a landslide, but Hischier’s 68 second-place votes was by far the most of any player. A total of 161 voters had Hischier on their list.

Usually, that narrative bleeds into the next year. We’ve covered this. Just because Hischier was close last year will likely lead to him being close or win the award every year.

That’s not to say Hischier doesn’t deserve it. He was 10th of all players with 1,000 minutes played in xGF percentage. (His linemate Tomas Tatar was actually number one.) He was 16th in xGA with the same metrics. There were hundreds of hockey players who were on the ice for over 1,000 minutes, and Hischier was one of the best defenders. He can easily repeat that.