Anaheim Ducks Mid-Season Awards

With the first half of the season officially in the books, it's time to hand out the mid-season awards.

The Ducks closed out their first half of the season in thrilling fashion with a comeback win in overtime against the San Jose Sharks.

With the All-Star break ahead, there's no better time than now to sit down and evaluate where the team is at this point of the season. Patrick and I have collaborated to make our picks for the recipients of the Ducks' mid-season awards:

ART ROSS TROPHY: Troy Terry
Patrick - After a relatively unproductive start to the season, Terry has found his groove of late. He’s back to his ways of getting to dangerous areas of the ice by hook or by crook, drawing penalties along the way. He’s recently added a layer once he gets to the middle of the ice to look for a teammate streaking down the weak side.

ROCKET RICHARD TROPHY: Frank Vatrano
Patrick - With a couple of early season hat tricks to his name, the Ducks All-Star forward is only two goals shy of his career-high goal total he set in the 2018-19 season. And he’s done it in just 50 games.

HART TROPHY: Frank Vatrano
Derek - This is a close one between Vatrano and Terry. The former came out of the gates blazing and formed a dynamic line with Mason McTavish and Ryan Strome for the first month of the season while the latter has turned it up in the last 20 games. Got to give the edge to the All-Star, who has five game-winning goals to his name.

Patrick - In a season where the Ducks have scored the fourth-fewest goals as a team in the NHL, Vatrano is filling the net at a near 40-goal clip. He’s added a playmaking dimension to his game this year as well, but the goals are what keeps the lights on.

NORRIS TROPHY: Radko Gudas
Derek - What a signing Gudas has been for the Ducks. It seems like whoever is paired with him takes their game to the next level and there's no better example to provide than the stellar play of Urho Vaakanainen this season.

Patrick - Gudas makes any of his D partners better. It’s plain and simple, just like his game. He is an excellent defender in coverage and the front of the net is a tough place to get to when #7 is on the ice.

VEZINA TROPHY: John Gibson
Derek - Both netminders have been good for Anaheim this season, but Gibson gets the nod because of a higher workload and slightly better consistency. His goals saved above expected (5.3) is 15th among all goaltenders (20 games minimum).

Patrick - The biggest thing a team can ask of their goaltender is to give them a chance to win. On most nights, Gibson holds up his end of the bargain. Athleticism and situational awareness are his bread and butter. A soft goal is a rare occurrence when Gibson is between the pipes.

CALDER TROPHY: Leo Carlsson
Derek - This one is pretty much a no-brainer, with all due respect to Pavel Mintyukov, Jackson LaCombe and Lukáš Dostál. Carlsson has made a significant impact on the team since the minute he made his NHL debut and is only getting better. He missed a couple of weeks with an MCL sprain but is still second among rookies in points per game.

Patrick - Leo Carlsson is the most polished rookie the Ducks have ever had. He is playing chess for the entire 60 minutes of each game he’s in. If he makes a mistake, it is never repeated. Often the best player on the ice, it’s wild to think this kid will only get better as time goes on.

SELKE TROPHY:

Derek - Troy Terry
Terry's two-way play is underrated by the fact that he doesn't kill penalties, but he's fantastic at disrupting opposing breakouts and zone exits. His defensive impact would be noticed a lot more around the league if he was regularly part of the penalty kill.

Patrick - Adam Henrique
Henrique is a cerebral forward who never puts his team in a bad spot. He kills penalties, forechecks effectively, and sticks to his assignment in head coach Greg Cronin’s man-on-man defensive zone coverage scheme.

MASTERTON TROPHY: Jakob Silfverberg
Derek - Silfverberg has been through a lot over the past couple of seasons, undergoing hip surgery and dealing with blood clots. The goalscoring prowess isn't what it used to be, but he's reinvented himself as a disruptive player on the forecheck who recovers pucks well in all zones.

Patrick - While he doesn’t possess the lethal shot he once did, at age 33, this season Silfverberg is finding new ways to have an impact over every inch of the ice surface. He’s spending significantly less time in the defensive zone this season and he’s added a layer of playmaking to his repertoire, especially from below the goal line.

LADY BYNG TROPHY: Isac Lundeström
Derek - It's astonishing sometimes how good Lundeström is at not taking penalties. He's always in control of his stick and rarely puts himself in bad positions, which is typically when players start taking penalties.

Patrick - For someone as adept a defensive forward as Lundeström, it’s remarkable he doesn’t find himself in the penalty box more often. He must be incredibly frustrating to play against as he can mirror your every movement in coverage, but never put himself in a position to take a penalty and have a reserve of energy to lead a rush the other way in transition.