Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi have been named the finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award, which honors the NHL’s most outstanding player as voted by members of the NHL Players’ Association.
Matthews and McDavid are also finalists, along with New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, for the Hart Trophy, given to the league’s top player according to the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.
Matthews won the Rocket Richard Trophy this season for his 60-goal campaign, which set a Maple Leafs single-season record and accounted for 19.2% of Toronto’s total goals. His 0.82 goals per game was the highest average since Mario Lemieux’s 0.99 in 1995-96.
McDavid won the Art Ross Trophy for the fourth time as the NHL’s top point scorer while setting career highs in goals (44), assists (79) and points (123) in 80 games. He is seeking his second straight Hart Trophy as league MVP and has won the Ted Lindsay Award in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2020-21.
Josi was the NHL’s highest-scoring defenseman in 29 years, with 23 goals and 73 assists — both career highs — in 80 games, setting Predators franchise records for a single season. Only six defensemen in the past 50 years have surpassed Josi’s 96 points in a single campaign: Paul Coffey, Phil Housley, Brian Leetch, Al MacInnis, Bobby Orr and Denis Potvin. His 59 even-strength points were the most since Ray Bourque’s 59 in 1986-87. Josi is a finalist for the Norris Trophy, the top defenseman award that he also won in 2019-20.
Source: www.espn.com