5 New Jersey Devils Who Could Win Awards This Season

Every year, we put out an article talking about the pie-in-the-sky predictions that would lead to New Jersey Devils players winning awards. Sometimes there was an outside chance (usually for the Calder Trophy since it was all rookies), but usually, it was a long shot at best. Some actually came true. One year, we created our own NHL Awards just so the Devils could win something. This year, it’s different.

The Devils are legit contenders, and the players and personnel have legit shots at winning the biggest awards in the league. We’re talking Hart, Selke, Norris, Calder, Jack Adams, and everything in between. Heck, the Devils could legit be a Presidents’ Trophy contender. They were third in points last season. One would expect them to be a little better this year.

So, now we can make some realistic predictions as to who will be in the awards discussion this season.

Jack Hughes – Hart Trophy

Let’s start with this; we think Jack Hughes is going to win the Lady Bing this season. He’s been really close, he rarely gets penalties, and he’s one of the league’s biggest stars. Speaking of stars, he’s also going to be one of the primary MVP favorites going into the season. He’s not Connor McDavid level yet, but he’s much higher up the list than he was last year.

Right now, Hughes is in the top 10 on almost any sportsbook when it comes to MVP odds. He finds himself close to Kirill Kaprizov, Auston Matthews, and David Pastrnak. Those are some of the biggest names in the NHL, where Hughes finds himself.

If the Devils win the Presidents’ Trophy and Hughes ends up with something like 120 points, it will be hard to deny him short of a ridiculous Connor McDavid season. Here’s the thing about McDavid, if he scores 120 points, that’s a 32-point drop from last season. The perception could open the door for Hughes to take home the franchise’s second Hart Trophy.

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.

Luke Hughes – Calder Trophy

We’ve covered this already. The Calder Trophy race might be the best race ever. Yes, even better than Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin, which the Capitals star won. (They both had 100 points in their rookie seasons. It was insane.) This season is better than that. Luke Hughes is obviously the top defenseman on the list, but he’s hardly the only defenseman. The Columbus Blue Jackets are going to find a way to bring David Jiricek up. Brandt Clarke is going to eventually be in Los Angeles.

However, outside of Hughes, it’s all about the forwards. Connor Bedard is an actual generational player. He looks like a future MVP and an easy pick for heir apparent to Connor McDavid. Adam Fantilli can be a spoiler in this race, looking great for the Blue Jackets. Matthew Knies is very good on a very good Maple Leafs’ team. Logan Cooley looks to be beyond NHL-ready for the Arizona Coyotes. Shane Wright has the story, and if he does anything, he will get a lot of votes.

However, Hughes has the luxury of being on one of the best teams in the league. He is going to get a ton of points because this offense is insane. He’ll also get power play time, and that looks like a positive this season.

Hughes is a great candidate for the Calder. Bedard is obviously the favorite, but his team (despite the win Tuesday night) is not going to be good.

Tom Fitzgerald – Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year

Talk about a makeup award. Tom Fitzgerald absolutely deserved to be a finalist for the Jim Gregory GM of the Year award last season. The issue is when voters fill out their ballots. Unlike other awards, those ballots are filled out after the second round of the playoffs. It’s almost exclusively teams that are in the final four.

Fitzgerald not only put together a Devils team that couldn’t get out of the basement and turned them into a Stanley Cup contender, but he did it while make a miraculous trade for the biggest piece before the NHL Trade Deadline. Timo Meier is not a New Jersey Devil for the next eight years. So is Jesper Bratt.

That’s what is going to get Fitzgerald this award. It is the work he did this past offseason. Signing Bratt and Meier to eight-year deals after the hard negotiations was a miraculous move. Then, there was the underrated move of letting Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian hit free agency just to immediately re-sign them and trading Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick for Tyler Toffoli.

Fitzgerald might be the most likely winner on this list. The Devils just have to get to the third round of the playoffs. If they don’t, Fitz isn’t winning the award.