The Blue Jackets' 2014-15 campaign didn't go as planned, but thanks to a large string of wins down the stretch Columbus still managed a very respectable 42 wins.
In this post I'll be handing out my annual season awards.
Art Ross: Nick Foligno After a respectable 2013-14 campaign where Foligno scored 18 times and put up a respectable 39 points, he nearly doubled his production this season en route to a career-high 73 points.
Foligno's battle with Ryan Johansen for the team scoring title came right down to the wire, but when all was said and done Foligno managed to unseat last year's champion.
Hart Trophy: Ryan Johansen
I'm going to go with Johansen because of his ability to consistently fill the scoresheet. While he finished with a couple less points than Foligno, Johansen had three point streaks of nine games or longer, which is basically unheard-of in today's NHL.
Vezina Trophy: Sergei Bobrovsky Sergei Bobrovsky missed a good chunk of time but still managed to win 30 games, and led the team in both save percentage, and goals against average. Columbus won a lot of games down the stretch and Bobrovsky was a big reason why, as he regularly faced 35-40 shots a night. He masked a lot of their problems.
Calder Trophy: Marko Dano Alex Wennberg had a pretty good rookie campaign, but this is a no brainer. Marko Dano drove possession at a high rate, made highlight real-type plays on a nightly basis, and produced 21 points in 35 games despite seeing 12-14 minutes a night. He put a ton of pucks on net, too, and shot 9% so it wasn't as if he was getting lucky and shooting at an unsustainably high rate. He's going to be incredible next season.
Rocket Richard Trophy: Nick Foligno Scott Hartnell started to fill the net with regularity after being put on a line with Marko Dano and Alex Wennberg, however, Foligno did just enough to hold him off. His 31 goals led the way, with Hartnell scoring 28 and coming in 2nd.
James Norris Trophy: Nobody I thought James Wisniewski was the team's best defenseman, but the Jackets decided to trade him despite their defense already being suspect at best. Ryan Murray would be the other option for me, but he played in just 12 games.
I'm going to go with nobody.
Selke Award: Brandon Dubinsky Dubinsky missed a good chunk of time, but he's getting the team Selke award for the second year in a row. He posted 52.1 Corsi For percentage while playing top competition, whereas the Blue Jackets were a 47% possession team without him on the ice. Despite playing against the opposing team's top players on a nightly basis, Dubinsky still managed to record 36 points in 47 games.
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