NHL award winners handicap races for next season

While Roman Josi watched the "2020 NHL Awards presented by Las Vegas," when he won the Norris Trophy voted as the best defenseman in the NHL on Monday, he couldn't help but notice the names of the nominees for the some of the other categories.

Most notable were defensemen Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, who won the Calder Trophy voted as the NHL rookie of the year, and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks, who finished second.
Josi, who became the first Nashville Predators player to win the Norris, said he can see the next wave of great defensemen coming, and they might just be coming for the award he won Monday.
"I think if you look at the awards today, guys like Makar and Hughes are two young kids that, they're unbelievable," Josi said. "I love watching them play. They're unbelievable players."
That was the sentiment espoused by each of the award winners Monday, as they were asked for the players who might take their spots in 2021 as the winners of the Norris Trophy, Hart Trophy for most valuable player in the NHL, Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player in voting by the NHL Players' Association, Calder Trophy, and Vezina Trophy for best goalie, the five top awards handed out by the NHL. All four players -- Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl won the Hart and the Lindsay -- commented on how much talent there is in the NHL, and how many candidates there are for each award.

In that vein, the rookies weren't the only names Josi mentioned. The 30-year-old also gave a nod to Predators teammate Ryan Ellis as a possible defenseman to watch for the Norris next season, calling him "still very underrated." But the young players -- 21-year-old Makar and 20-year-old Hughes -- clearly were the ones who captured his attention.
"There's so many great defensemen around the League," Josi said. "But just thinking about the awards show, there are some young defensemen that are unbelievable and I think they're going to win some Norrises in the coming years."
Hughes led rookies in assists (45) and points (53) this season; Makar was second in each category, with 38 assists and 50 points. Makar led rookie defensemen with 12 goals in 57 games. Along with players including 20-year-old Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres and 22-year-old Adam Fox of the New York Rangers, it's clear there is a wave of young defensemen who are making waves.
"It's just a new time in the League," Makar said. "Coaches and organizations are giving younger guys abilities and chances to come up on the back end. Guys are taking advantage of that."
Draisaitl said handicapping next season's Hart Trophy race is not easy, but he already has one candidate who is close to home: teammate Connor McDavid.
"There's so many good players in this league. It's impossible," said Draisaitl, who led the NHL with 110 points (43 goals, 67 assists) in 71 games this season. "Connor will always be up there. He will always be talked about in the conversation. There's no doubt about that."
McDavid won the Hart Trophy in 2017 and the Lindsay in 2017 and 2018. This season he scored 97 points (34 goals, 63 assists) in 64 games, second in the NHL to Draisaitl.
Draisaitl also mentioned Nathan MacKinnon, who finished second for the Hart this season. The Colorado Avalanche forward was fifth with 93 points (35 goals, 58 assists).
"He's been very close a couple times," Draisaitl said. "But there's so many players that can win it every year. The talent in the League nowadays is just ... it's crazy. So that's a tough one."
Though Makar is the only one of the award winners Monday who cannot be a repeat winner, he declined to offer a nominee for next season. As he said, "Any young guy can step up in [training] camp, regardless of what team it is. Obviously I'll be watching to see, but I think for me it's just, I love to see young talent come in the game and I know we're going to have another good crop coming in [next] year."
Connor Hellebuyck wasn't quite ready to speculate on the next winner of the Vezina Trophy. The Winnipeg Jets goalie, who was 31-21-5 with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage in 58 games, is gunning to repeat as Vezina winner.
"There's a lot of good goalies in the NHL," Hellebuyck said. "I can't really say one guy is going to win it because every year someone blossoms and every year there's just a ton of guys that put up good numbers and are having really good years.
"But what I can say is I'm not going to back down from it. And I look forward to the fight to get back in the Vezina talk for next year. I'm going to enjoy this while I have it."