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The end of the NHL season means that it is awards season, although we won’t know until June how most of the voting shakes out. With that being said, I wanted to do a Senators-only version of the awards and give my own picks. Of course, some of the awards are pointless to give out because they are obvious who would win such as the Norris (Chabot), Vezina (Nilsson), Calder (Tkachuk), Art Ross (Chabot), and Rocket Richard (Tkachuk). I will also not be including any player who was traded mid-season, as I feel like that lessens the significance of it. Here are my picks:
Hart (MVP): Thomas Chabot
There are really only two choices here between either Chabot or Tkachuk. I had to go with Chabot here just because he has already proven that he is a number one defenseman, whereas Tkachuk isn’t quite at that first line level just yet. It can be hard to compare forwards and defensemen, but a 1D is more valuable than a second-line winger. Brady certainly has the potential to get better, but this award is about who produced the most value
this season.
Chabot finished with 55 points in 70 games, and Tkachuk had 45 points in 71 games, which shows how dominant Chabot was offensively as a defenseman. He also ranked 7th amongst defensemen in WAR, putting him amongst the league’s best. I love what Brady did this season, but Chabot was a step ahead of him in terms of production. I think the race will be a lot closer next season though.
Most Improved: Dylan DeMelo
I was advocating for DeMelo when he was briefly a free agent last summer as an option on the third pairing as he seemed like a good fit. However, after playing with Chabot all season, I’m confident with him playing in the top-four. He also ranked very highly in WAR as he was 24th amongst all defensemen. Would I rank him in the top-25 overall? No, but I don’t mind having him on the second pairing as a long-term option, with hopefully a more talented right-handed defenseman above him (Jacob Bernard-Docker, perhaps?).
He proved that he was more than capable of playing with Chabot on the top pairing, which cannot be said for every player who gets moved up in the lineup. There’s no doubt that he benefits from playing with Chabot, but he was no slouch himself. I had very little expectations for him coming into the season, so it was nice to see that he could be an option in their top-four moving forward considering he’s only 26.
Most Disappointing: Mikkel Boedker
I put this to a poll on the last day of the season, and most of my followers thought that Boedker deserved this title:
I would have to agree as well, although there was no easy answer for this one. I had no expectations for Cody Ceci to play well, so it’s hard to call that a disappointment and same goes for Ben Harpur. Jean-Gabriel Pageau could make a case here as he was on pace for just 25 points, the lowest he’s ever had in a full season. He was also coming off of a major injury though, so it’s hard to be too upset.
I wouldn’t call Boedker’s season an absolute
train wreck considering he had essentially the same season as last year (35 points in 71 games vs. 37 points in 74 games), but it’s still frustrating to see the player that Ottawa acquired for Mike Hoffman be scratched in multiple games. The Senators were never going to get a perfect return for Hoffman, but it’s baffling as to why they needed to settle for a soon-to-be 30-year-old who is a defensively poor third line winger. So perhaps the disappointment isn’t really in what we were expecting Boedker to be, it’s more about disappointment that he isn’t anything more than what he is. Still though, he is signed for one more season at $4M (the fourth highest cap hit on the team) and it’s unclear if he will even be on one of the top three lines.
Most Exciting Prospect: Drake Batherson
You could make a case for Erik Brannstrom here, but I’m more excited for Batherson mainly because Ottawa already has some great young left-handed defensemen, but they are severely lacking on the right wing. I was cautiously optimistic about Batherson coming into his first professional season, and I would’ve been happy with around 35 points in the AHL.
However, he’s exceeded my wildest expectations, as he has racked up 58 points in 56 games so far and has been the B-Sens best player by far. Although he had a tough stretch of games when he got called up to the NHL, he still put up a respectable 9 points in 20 games, and I fully expect him to be one of the Senators better players in the top-six next season. He has the highest ceiling of any right winger in the organization, and he will get a shot to show what he can do in 2019-20.
Lady Byng: Magnus Paajarvi
Let’s be honest, it’s hard to pick who is actually the most deserving of the Lady Byng. The only way I can evaluate this is by PIMs, and Paajarvi had a measly three minor penalties on the season in 80 games. That’s pretty incredible and takes a lot of restraint to not take the odd tripping or hooking penalty. Matt Duchene also only had 6 minutes in 50 games in Ottawa and 8 on the entire season, but I’m not going to count him for this award. The only other player who has played more than half the season and even comes close is Mikkel Boedker with the same amount of PIMs but in nine fewer games. So it’s a close race, but I have to give this one to Paajarvi.
Selke: Colin White
I’m not going to lie, there aren’t many good candidates on the Senators after Mark Stone. He isn’t eligible because he isn’t on the team anymore, and White looks like he had the next best defensive season. It was far from elite, but he stands out as a competent defender amongst a group that gave up a historic amount of shots. Amongst forwards, he ranked first (even ahead of Stone) in expected goals against per 60 (2.18) and was third in corsi against per 60 (61.87). Furthermore, he was the only forward still on the team that had a positive defensive impact (-3% threat)
according to Hockeyviz.
I wouldn’t call him elite defensively like Stone is, but he looks like he is a solid two-way centre, which is exactly what he was called when they drafted him.
Fan Favourite: Brady Tkachuk
What more can I say about Brady? Obviously, the pickings are slim nowadays when it comes to fan favourites on this team, but even if their star players were still here, Tkachuk would be beloved by all. He has convinced all of his doubters that he is already a top-six forward and is only going to get better. I was unsure if he had the ceiling that some were saying he had, and he has proven to me (and others) that he does, which is very exciting. Furthermore, the way he has been interacting with fans makes him so easy to root for:
He’s also a scrappy player in front of the net, which fans love to watch on a nightly basis:
The best thing about him though is that he’s not just a “character guy” who has no skill. He is incredibly skilled and is easily the Senators best forward right now. Who knows what the long-term future holds for him in Ottawa, but for now, we have to be pretty happy that he is a Senator. I’m sure there will be tons of #7 jerseys around the rink next season.
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