Boughner favorite for Adams Award in second season with Panthers

To mark the beginning of the 2018-19 regular season, NHL.com is running its first installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Jack Adams Award.

Bob Boughner immediately felt the excitement and energy around the Florida Panthers at the start of training camp. He said there was more flow in the first practice compared to last season, when he blew the whistle too often to correct, teach and answer questions.
"Guys really obviously knew what they were doing out there," Boughner said. "It made for a better pace and better practice. Everyone's on the same page here. They're excited."
The excitement is there, and so are lofty expectations for 2018-19 after a 25-8-2 surge last season left the Panthers one point shy of a berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The projection for success in Florida has peaked, which has made Boughner the preseason favorite to win the Jack Adams Award, according to a panel of 18 NHL.com writers.
"That's an expectation that we all have upon ourselves internally," said Boughner of Florida's postseason aspirations. "And I think the market probably agrees. I think that's probably fair. You look around, it's tough just to get in the playoffs. You almost have to have 100 points these days, so it's a heck of a regular season. If we stay healthy and we do the things I believe we can do, I think the expectations are to make the playoffs."

Returning to Panthers, whose 96 points were tied for the most in NHL history by a team that missed the playoffs (2014-15 Boston Bruins) are core players including center and newly minted captain Aleksander Barkov, forwards Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad, and defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Mike Matheson. New to the group is forward Mike Hoffman, acquired in a trade with the San Jose Sharks on June 19 after scoring at least 22 goals for the fourth straight season.
"The guys have that little bit of bad taste in their mouth," Boughner said. "We didn't like the start to our season last year (19-22-6), but saying that, we like what's happened in the summer with a couple of the additions and think guys are hungry. I've been talking to a lot of the players, and they're anxious to get back and train, get going the way we finished off basically."
Boughner earned 43 points from the NHL.com panel, 11 more than Peter DeBoer (San Jose Sharks). Mike Babcock (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jim Montgomery (Dallas Stars) and Bill Peters (Calgary Flames) tied for third with 23 points.
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis): Bob Boughner, Panthers, 43 points (three first-place votes); Peter DeBoer, Sharks, 32 points (four first-place votes); Mike Babcock, Maple Leafs, 23 points (three first-place votes); Jim Montgomery, Stars, 23 points (one first-place vote); Bill Peters, Flames, 23 points (one first-place vote); Jon Cooper, Lightning, 14 points (one first-place vote); Phil Housley, Buffalo Sabres 13 points (one first-place vote); Paul Maurice, Winnipeg Jets, 13 points (one first-place vote); Mike Yeo, St. Louis Blues, 12 points (one first-place vote); Gerard Gallant, Vegas Golden Knights, 11 points; Barry Trotz, New York Islanders, 10 points (one first-place vote); Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes, 7 points (one first-place vote); Bruce Cassidy, Boston Bruins, 6 points; John Hynes, New Jersey Devils, 6 points; Jared Bednar, Colorado Avalanche, 6 points; Rick Tocchet, Arizona Coyotes, 6 points; Dave Hakstol, Philadelphia Flyers, 5 points; Todd Reirden, Washington Capitals, 4 points; Peter Laviolette, Nashville Predators, 4 points; John Tortorella, Columbus Blue Jackets, 3 points; John Stevens, Los Angeles Kings, 3 points; Joel Quenneville, Chicago Blackhawks, 2 points; David Quinn, New York Rangers, 1 point.