Tonight there are multiple Edmonton Oilers players that will or could receive one of the NHL Awards. We already know McDavid is winning the Rocket with his NHL leading 64 goals and the Art Ross for 153 point season.
In addition here are the awards we will find out about tonight.
HART TROPHY - McDavid, Pastrnak, Tkachuk
TED LINDSAY - McDavid, Karlsson, Pastrnak
CALDER - Beniers, Skinner, Power
KING CLANCY - Backlund, Nurse, Lee
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The Hart and Ted Lindsay feel like McDavid will unanimously win. McDavid led the NHL in both goals and total points and was the first player for 27 years to reach the 150 point mark. I would love to know who thinks he isn't the MVP and best player from the 22/23 season.
The Calder is the most interesting for me. Beniers likely has the edge but no one rookie really ran away with the scoring race making it more likely that a rookie goalie, particularly one who was excellent through the regular season (voting happened before post-season) could receive more votes.
No thoughts on the King Clancy aside from all three of these men have been phenomenal in their community work and contributions. All highly deserving.
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CONNOR BROWN
Very much like last season with Jack Campbell, we are still days before Free Agency and yet it seems like it's almost a guarantee that Connor Brown is going to become an Oiler. It's being reported from most well regarded insiders and in an interview himself Brown heavily implied he wants to be an Oiler. The one question that may prevent it from occurring is that the Oilers don't have much in the way of cap space and if another team offers Brown a more competitive contract than he may move on from Edmonton.
I've stated many times this off-season that the Oilers need to go value contract hunting and bring in some guys that can out-perform their contract. Brown definitely falls into that category.
DRAFT
Not much to say about the Oilers right now in regards to the Draft. Edmonton has only three picks with their highest being their second round pick. I do wonder if Edmonton isn't able to acquire any other picks this season from dealing the likes of Ceci, Yamamoto, or perhaps even Foegele Holland may trade down and try and recoup a couple picks from one.
We have seen some crazy trades and rumblings right now. Nashville is in seller mode as are the Flyers. As I was writing this reports have come in that the Bruins are trading Taylor Hall to the Blackhawks. The Flames and Jets both look to be in a seller position.
This could be a wild off season between teams that are very clearly sellers and playoff teams that are looking to clear cap space to add higher calibre levels. Holland and Edmonton have not yet gotten involved in these situations. If there is a chance Edmonton can clear some space or take advantage of a team looking to offload real talent they absolutely must.
Going to be some crazy days unfolding here. Looking forward to updating you all.