Will Ilya Sorokin or Anders Lee take home hardware at the 2023 NHL Award show?
It's hardware time at Bridgestone Arena, as the 2022-23 NHL Award Show kicks off Monday night in downtown Nashville.
The New York Islanders have two players up for awards, as netminder Ilya Sorokin is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, while Anders Lee is a finalist for the Masterton Trophy.
Sorokin for Vezina
For the first time in his short NHL career, Sorokin is a Vezina Finalist, along with Boston Bruins Linus Ullmark and former winner Winnipeg Jets Connor Hellebuyck.
In his first season as a true No. 1, Sorokin shined, posting a .924 SV% (fifth) with a 2.34 (third) GAA and a league-leading six shutouts in a career-high 62 appearances, 60 starts, with 31 wins.
Out of 22 goalies to play 3,000 minutes or more (50 starts), Sorokin ranked first in SV%, GAA, and Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA, 36.12).
Hellebuck, in 64 appearances, owned a 2.49 GAA with a. 920 SV%.
Ullmark is likely the winner of this award, with Sorokin as the runner-up, but there's no question Sorokin is the more skilled netminder.
While wins play an important part in this award -- Ullmark winning 40 games -- Sorokin faced 382 more shots than Ullmark, 177 more high-danger shots.
BetMGM has Ullmark winning the award, at -1000, with Sorokin and Hellebuyck at +1800.
Lee for King Clancy
For the fifth time in the last six seasons, Lee was nominated for the King Clancy Trophy, due to his incredible work with Jam Kancer in the Can, a foundation raising money to combat childhood cancer.
This past season, he raised over $2 million.
Joining Lee as a finalist for the award are Edmonton Oilers' Darnell Nurse and Calgary Flames' Mikael Backlund.
This past year Nurse partnered with The Chopped Leaf and Free Play for Kids for a fundraising initiative in March. The partnership raised over $20,000, which will go towards making sports and activities more accessible to children. Most of the children who rely on Free Play for Kids are newcomers, refugees, or Indigenous youth (H/t THN's Caleb Kerney).
Backlund has been an ardent supporter of the ALS Society of Alberta in honor of the mother of his wife, Frida (a disease even more relevant with assistant general manager Chris Snow battling it for the past four years), raising over $400,000, as well as serving as an ambassador for Kids Cancer Care and Special Olympics. Backlund had a childhood friend diagnosed with cancer and another born with Down Syndrome. He and his wife recently partnered with Parachutes for Pets with Lily’s Legacy, a program that allows children in foster care to keep their pets (H/t THN's Randy Sportak).
Here's BetMGM's odds for the Hart, Norris & Calder:
Hart Trophy- Connor McDavid (-5000), David Pastrnak (+3000), Matthew Tkachuk (+5000)
Norris Trophy- Adam Fox (+1000), Erik Karlsson (-375), Cale Makar (+1000)
Calder Trophy- Matty Beniers (-800), Owen Power (+1800), Stuart Skinner (+1400)
Other awards up for grabs:
Lindsay Award- Erik Karlsson, Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak
Selke Award- Patrice Bergeron, Nico Hischier, Mitchell Marner
Lady Byng Trophy- Jack Hughes, Anze Kopitar, Brayden Point
Masterton Trophy- Clayton Keller, Kris Letang, Alex Stalock
Jack Adams Award- Dave Hakstol, Jim Montgomery, Lindy Ruff
Jim Gregory Award- Jim Nill, Don Sweeney, Bill Zito
The event begins at 7 PM CT on TNT in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada.