ECHL Mid-Season Awards

The Hockey News hands out its mid-season ECHL Awards to deserving players across several categories.

The ECHL All-Star Classic has come and gone, and we're seeing teams, and players, break away from the pack as the push for the playoffs commenses.

The Hockey News breaks down our mid-season award winners for a variety of categories for the 2023-24 ECHL season. 

Undrafted forward Brandon Hawkins is having his third straight monster offensive season with the Toledo Walleye. 

Hawkins, 29, has followed a 35-goal, 64-point campaign in 2021-22 with a 39-goal, 81-point effort last season with the Walleye. This year the Northwestern grad's numbers are equally stellar, putting up a league-leading 51 points through 40 games.

His 22 goals on the year put him in a three-way tie for second, only one behind goal-scoring leader Alex Kile's 23. He's put up 50 points through 34 playoff appearances in the past two seasons, with the Central-leading Walleye poised to make another deep Kelly Cup run.

Mavericks fans have reason to celebrate. Topping the league with 62 points and amid a strong 8-1-1 run in their past ten games, Kansas City's offence is bolstered by a strong core that includes Patrick Curry and Nolan Walker, and two promising, red-hot rookies in Max Andreev and Cale Borchardt.

Andreev edges out Borchardt for our Rookie of the Year vote, but only just. Andreev and Borchardt, both 25, are tied for the rookie points lead with 40, but Andreev has hit the marker in only 33 games. 

Andreev has put up nine goals and 31 assists in this his first pro season, while also suiting up for the Calder Cup finalist Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL for five contests.

The competition was steep in this year's goaltending category. Jeremy Brodeur, Cam Johnson, Colton Ellis, Matt Vernon and Brad Arvanitis, among others, put up compelling cases as to why they should be named Goalie of the Year. But Wheeling's Taylor Gauthier has put up, arguably, the season of his young career.

Gauthier, 22, holds an impressive 2.39 GAA and .920 SP in 26 games with 14 wins two shutouts, and even an assist to his credit. The sheer frequency of starts gives Gauthier the edge here, as teams like Adirondack and Jacksonville have split starts more frequently between their tandems.

The Calgary native has suited up for four starts with the AHL's WBS Penguins, after slotting in for 20 in the 22-23 campaign. 

Maine's Alex Kile has what you might call a hot hand.

Through 39 games in his third season with the Mariners, the 29-year-old had put up 23 goals, good enough for the league lead and only two goals shy of tying his pro-best 25. 

Kile is sitting at a strong 48 points, already eclipsing his 2022-23 total of 37 in a year where he suited up for 19 games with the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. 

The Kansas City Mavericks are rolling. 

We already made mention of their offensive prowess and red-hot rookie duo, but much of their success has to go towards Head Coach and General Manager Tad O'Had. 

O'Had entered his fourth season with the club in 2023-24 after the team made its first postseason appearance in four years last season, finishing in third place in the Mountain Division with a record of 34-30-6-2.

Under O'Had, the Mavericks have a league-leading 62 points this season for an outstanding 30-8-2 record through 40 games played. The 30-win marker, which the club hit on Wednesday, made the 23-24 edition of the team the second fastest to reach 30 wins in franchise history. 

The Mavericks have increased their win total in each season under O’Had.