A Way-Too-Early Prediction Of The Canucks’ 2024-2025 Award Winners
A look at which Vancouver Canucks could find themselves with NHL Awards next season.
Photo by Sammi Silber - The Hockey News - A Way-Too-Early Prediction Of The Canucks’ 2024-2025 Award WinnersThe 2024 NHL Awards show is complete and featured a little bit of history for the Vancouver Canucks. Quinn Hughes became the first player in franchise history to win the Norris Trophy, while Thatcher Demko placed second for the Vezina Trophy. With this in mind, here is a look into the future at which Canucks players should be considered leaders to take home trophies next season.
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
Winner: Elias Pettersson
Runner-Up: Brock Boeser
Having already been nominated for the Lady Byng and placing second with 508 votes, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Elias Pettersson take home this trophy next season. Despite playing with tendinitis in his knee throughout half of the season, Pettersson was still able to put up 89 points in 82 games. He tallied 12 penalty minutes throughout the regular season, four minutes less than Jaccob Slavin, the 2023-2024 Lady Byng Trophy recipient. Another option for the Lady Byng would be Brock Boeser, who only took 14 minutes' worth of penalties in 81 games played.
Vezina Trophy
Winner: Thatcher Demko
Runner-Up: Artūrs Šilovs
This one feels like a straightforward choice, as Thatcher Demko has been thought of as Vezina-calibre for more than a few seasons now. He earned his first nomination for the award for his performance in the 2023-2024 regular season, but it’s more than evident that he’s destined for more. His 2.45 GAA, .918 SV%, and five shutouts on the season resulted in a second-place finish for this award. A reliable backup for this award would be playoff standout Artūrs Šilovs, though it’ll be tough for him to compete with Demko if both are healthy.
Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy
Winner: Brock Boeser
Runner-Up: J.T. Miller
The 2023-2024 season was fruitful for Brock Boeser, who notched his first 40-goal effort and finished with 73 points by the time playoffs came around. In a season that saw Auston Matthews score 69 and Sam Reinhart score 57, the competition was high for this award. This season proved that Boeser has the ability to pot way, way more than a few goals, so his quest for the “Rocket” Richard Trophy is by no means impossible. A sneaky candidate for this award could be J.T. Miller, whose 37 goals this season placed him in second on the team.
Frank J. Selke Trophy
Winner: J.T. Miller
Runner-Up: Elias Pettersson
Awarded to the forward “who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game,” the Frank J. Selke Trophy could very well go to J.T. Miller next season. Miller’s defensive performances have blossomed this season, with his most prominent defensive efforts emerging in the postseason. Being matched up against opposing teams’ top lineups has commanded a different kind of effort from Miller, one that makes his offensive dominance that much more impressive. His inter-team competition for the Selke Trophy is most likely Elias Pettersson, who previously finished 7th in voting for the award in the 2022-2023 season.
James Norris Memorial Trophy
Winner: Quinn Hughes
Runner-Up: Filip Hronek
Could this be a back-to-back award for the Canucks captain? Fresh off his first James Norris Trophy win, Quinn Hughes is arguably always Vancouver’s go-to pick for achieving this award. His victory came after earning 172 first-place votes out of 174 total, helping him match other nominees, Cale Makar and Roman Josi, with one win each in this category. The Canucks’ Norris-winning defenceman was not the only one to receive his flowers recently, as he had ample praise to share about the newly re-signed other half of his defensive pairing, Filip Hronek. Could Hughes’ unassuming defensive partner compete for a Norris Trophy as well?
Art Ross Trophy
Winner: J.T. Miller
Runner-Up: Elias Pettersson
Awarded to the player with the most points at the end of the regular season, the Art Ross Trophy has previously been won by over-100-point efforts by Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl. Having just had his first three-digit point season, J.T. Miller is the leading candidate for this award. His next closest effort came in the 2021-2022 season, in which he finished just one point shy of 100. The 100-point benchmark isn’t a solid rule for winning the Art Ross, however, as Jamie Benn collected this award with an 87-point regular season. Elias Pettersson follows closely behind Miller for this trophy, though this will mainly be dictated by how his offseason recovery goes.
Ted Lindsay Award
Winner: Quinn Hughes
Runner-Up: Thatcher Demko, J.T. Miller
Uniquely based on how the winner is decided, the Ted Lindsay Award is given to the most outstanding player in the regular season as voted on by the NHLPA. It’s the Hart trophy, voted on by the players themselves. This award was tricky to predict, as there are a bunch of players on the Canucks who make cases to win it. However, with how he is able to lead the team as a captain (as a 24-year-old, no less) and how effortlessly he tallies points from the blue line, a Ted Lindsay victory by Quinn Hughes wouldn’t be surprising whatsoever. Thatcher Demko and J.T. Miller were my picks as two players who could also challenge for this award.
Hart Memorial Trophy
Winner: J.T. Miller
Runner-Up: Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demko
With how offensively and defensively reliable he is for the Canucks, as well as how much he has endeared himself to Vancouver’s fanbase this season, a Hart Memorial Trophy seems like it’s in the cards for J.T. Miller. His impact on the Canucks, inside and outside of the rink, can’t be ignored. Seeing as how many voters base the Hart Trophy on how valuable a player is to their team, it’s tough to think about what a Canucks team would look like without J.T. Miller — his presence as a match against players like Connor McDavid isn’t something that can be found easily. With that being said, it’s not like players like Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko are simply lying around for teams to snatch up easily. Many have argued the case for Quinn Hughes to win the Hart Trophy, especially given the fact that he placed 7th in voting for this season.
Each of these players makes a valuable case for winning this award based on how much they mean to this team — and at the end of the team, maybe that’s more important than the award itself.
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