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Before the NHL draft lottery really kicks New Jersey's off-season into gear, I want to look back at the season that was and hand out each major award to a member of the Devils.
Art Ross: Kyle Palmieri
Taylor Hall led the team in scoring with 93 points a year ago. Palmieri just led the way with *checks notes* 50 points, which tells you all you need to know about the season that was.
Nico Hischier missed 13 games, Jesper Bratt missed 31 games, Hall missed 49 games and, realistically speaking, nobody else on the roster has the talent to be in the running for the scoring title on a per 82 game basis.
Credit to Palmieri for still being productive under tough circumstances but the Devils have big problems if he leads the team again.
Rocket Richard: Kyle Palmieri
Palmieri potted 27 goals in 74 games, which equates to a nice, round, 30 over a full schedule. Blake Coleman (22 in 78 games) was the only real challenger and he fizzled out down the stretch finding the back of the net just once over the last 11 games. No other player potted more than 20.
Hart: Nico Hischier
I don't think this is even close. Hischier averaged more points per game this season than last despite playing well over half the year without Taylor Hall on his wing. He generated chances at a high clip, he posted strong underlying numbers, and he drew 20 more penalties than he took. Evolving-Hockey had Hischier worth +14.3 Goals Above Replacement, which was well ahead of his closest teammate (Palmieri was worth +10.3).
I think he can, and will, legitimately challenge Hall for this next year even if the latter is fully healthy.
Norris: Damon Severson
He led the defense in goals, assists, primary assists, points, shots and scoring chances while playing big minutes in all situations. Though there were still some tough nights defensively, I think he did a good job of limiting them without taking away from his ability to create offense.
Selke: Blake Coleman
Coleman was the best shot suppressor among the 10 Devils forwards to play 500+ minutes at 5v5. He was also fantastic – both offensively and defensively – on the penalty kill and one of the biggest reasons the Devils finished at or near the top of the league in most important shorthanded metrics. Besides taking a few too many penalties, there isn't much negative to say about the year Coleman just had.
Calder: Mackenzie Blackwood
From the time Blackwood made his first start – December 20th – until the end of the season, 42 goaltenders manned the crease for at least 1,000 minutes. Blackwood ranked tied for 12th with a .919 save percentage, and that's including a game in which he allowed nine goals and was completely fed to the wolves by both his teammates and the coaching staff.
Blackwood's .919SV% over the last few months was better than that of Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Bobrovsky, Carter Hart, Connor Hellebuyck, Pekka Rinne and John Gibson, just to name a few.
Posting those numbers behind an injury-plagued, borderline tanking team is very impressive.
Vezina: Mackenzie Blackwood
I don't care if he played 23 games. Keith Kinkaid was one of the league's worst goaltenders this season, and the same could be said of Cory Schneider until Blackwood was recalled. The latter really put it together down the stretch but .903 save percentages don't mix well with the word 'Vezina'.
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