My 2022-23 NHL Awards Ballot

NASHVILLE — How did I vote in the 2022-23 NHL Awards?

Here’s my official ballot, along with some of my reasoning.

HART TROPHY

Winner: Connor McDavid

My vote:

1. Connor McDavid
2. David Pastrnak
3. Ilya Sorokin
4. Nathan MacKinnon
5. Erik Karlsson

I believe the MVP award should be for all players, not just forwards, so I’ve selected a goalie, a defenseman, and three forwards. It might be funny to place Erik Karlsson, who, despite his individual brilliance, couldn’t raise the San Jose Sharks close to playoffs. But my question is, where would the Sharks be without Karlsson? I suspect a bit worse. There’s no doubt how valuable Karlsson was to San Jose: He had 34 points more than the Sharks runner-up in scoring, Logan Couture. And he had 77 points more — 77! — then runner-up San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Benning.

NORRIS TROPHY

Winner: Erik Karlsson

My vote:

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Adam Fox
3. Josh Morrissey
4. Hampus Lindholm
5. Miro Heiskanen

CALDER TROPHY

Winner: Matty Beniers

My vote:

1. Matty Beniers
2. Stuart Skinner
3. Jake Sanderson
4. Owen Power
5. Wyatt Johnston

I thought Sanderson played tougher minutes than Power. There were a lot of strong candidates to round out my top-five, I went with Johnston because of his 21 even strength goals. He and Beniers (20) were the only rookies with 20 or more ES goals.

LADY BYNG TROPHY

Winner: Anze Kopitar

My vote:

1. Jaccob Slavin
2. Anze Kopitar
3. Nico Hischier
4. Aleksander Barkov
5. Esa Lindell

I look at penalty minutes, but also key is a player who plays tougher minutes, has to defend a lot. Brayden Point didn’t make the cut, despite only one minor penalty this year, because he got into a fight with teammate Mikey Eyssimont, then with the San Jose Sharks.

SELKE TROPHY

Winner: Patrice Bergeron

1. Patrice Bergeron
2. Nico Hischier
3. Anze Kopitar
4. Jordan Staal
5. Joel Eriksson Ek

NHL ALL-STAR TEAM

The @NHL has announced the 2022-23 First and Second All-Star Teams. https://t.co/MfnaxyzlFM #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/CveIFvdsOk

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 27, 2023

My Vote:

Center

1. Connor McDavid
2. Nathan MacKinnon
3. Leon Draisaitl

Right Wing

1. David Pastrnak
2. Mitch Marner
3. Nikita Kucherov

Left Wing

1. Jason Robertson
2. Artemi Panarin
3. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Defense

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Adam Fox
3. Josh Morrissey
4. Hampus Lindholm
5. Miro Heiskanen
6. Drew Doughty

Goaltender

1. Ilya Sorokin
2. Linus Ullmark
3. Connor Hellebuyck

NHL ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

The @NHL has announced the 2022-23 NHL All-Rookie Team, which includes the three players voted as finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy. https://t.co/wVFMk4HMyG #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/BVxYTiCW9O

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 27, 2023

My Vote:

Forward

1. Matty Beniers
2. Wyatt Johnston
3. Noah Cates

Defense

1. Jake Sanderson
2. Owen Power

Goaltender

1. Stuart Skinner