2024-25 NHL Award predictions: Daily Faceoff staff picks
Soak it in, hockey fans. We’re smack in the middle of an offensive boom era, full of superstars and milestones to celebrate. Just last season, the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov became the fourth and fifth NHL players to record 100 assists in single campaign, while the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ Auston Matthews scored 69 goals, the most of any player in 28 years.
It’s thus a particularly fun exercise when projecting the NHL award winners these days. From 150 points by a forward to 100 points by a defenseman, name the jaw-dropping milestone and it’s been accomplished in recent seasons. It takes an epic performance to land yourself an NHL Award in the current era, so when we make our trophy predictions, the generational talents pop up repeatedly.
That said: our panel of voters at Daily Faceoff hasn’t simply peppered the ballot with McDavid and Matthews. There were some surprises in the process.
The prognosticators:
Anthony Di Marco, DFO contributing writer
Steven Ellis, DFO associate editor & prospect analyst
Jason Gregor, co-host of The DFO Rundown podcast
Matt Larkin, DFO managing editor & senior writer
Jonny Lazarus, DFO writer & co-host of Morning Cuppa Hockey
Brock Seguin, DFO managing fantasy editor
Frank Seravalli, DFO president of hockey content and co-host of The DFO Rundown podcast
The Awards we voted on:
Hart Trophy (most valuable player)
Vezina Trophy (best goaltender)
Norris Trophy (best defenseman)
Selke Trophy (best defensive forward)
Calder Trophy (best rookie)
Rocket Richard Trophy (leading goal scorer)
Art Ross Trophy (leading points getter)
Jack Adams Award (coach of the year)
Plus, we added a few bonus statistical predictions for fun.
The results:
– Most of us weren’t overthinking McDavid for MVP. He’s always going to be a top scorer in the league when healthy, and he’s the best player on the planet, so he’s the safest bet.
– The New York Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin got the most Vezina Trophy votes with three, but there’s momentum for the Nashville Predators’ Juuse Saros and Dallas Stars’ Jake Oettinger. The former could have a career year as a workhorse on an improved team that spent lavishly in free agency, while the latter could be trending toward a superstar level-up similar to Shesterkin’s in 2021-22.
– Could we see a Norris Trophy tug-of-war between the Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes and the Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar for the next decade? Each guy has one to his name, with Hughes holding the 2023-24 honor. Makar, a four-time finalist, got the most Norris nods on the 2024-25 panel.
– The Philadelphia Flyers’ Matvei Michkov arriving two years ahead of schedule changed the Calder Trophy debate completely. More than half the panel expects him to outshine every other rookie this season.
– Redemption in New Jersey? Sheldon Keefe, the Leafs’ coaching castoff, earned the most Jack Adams Award votes as he embarks on a journey to bring the talented Devils back to the postseason following their miss in 2023-24.
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