Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid ran away in the voting to win his second Hart Trophy as NHL MVP on Tuesday, much like he blew away the competition while leading the league in points.
McDavid became just the second unanimous Hart selection – joining Wayne Gretzky in 1982 – in receiving all 100 first-place votes from members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.
The NHL presented its awards remotely for a second consecutive season because of the coronavirus pandemic. In previous years, the awards ceremony was held in Las Vegas with an audience and players present.
McDavid doubled up on honors by also winning his third Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player, which is voted on by NHL players.
The 24-year-old McDavid, who also won MVP honors in 2017, had already won his third Art Ross Trophy in six seasons for leading the NHL with 105 points (33 goals, 72 assists) in 56 games. The next closest player to McDavid in the points standings was teammate Leon Draisaitl with 84, with Boston’s Brad Marchand a distant third with 69.
Toronto’s Auston Matthews finished second in the voting followed by Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon.
Vegas’ Marc-Andre Fleury beat out Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and Colorado’s Philipp Grubauer to win his first Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s goalie of the year. The Golden Knights’ tandem of Fleury and Robin Lehner already won the William M. Jennings Trophy, for combining to allow an NHL-low 124 goals this season.
The 36-year-old Fleury finished third in the NHL with 26 wins, a 1.98 goals-against, .928 save percentage and six shutouts in 36 games. He also closed the season with a nine-game winning streak, while moving into third place on the NHL career list with 492 wins.
New York Rangers’ Adam Fox won the Jack Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman, beating out Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman and Colorado’s Cale Makar. The 23-year-old Fox led NHL defensemen with 42 assists and second with 47 points.
He also ranked seventh among skaters in ice-time. Fox became the second player to win the Norris in his second season, joining Bobby Orr winning in 1968.
Hedman, who won the honor in 2018, was a finalist for a fifth consecutive year, matching the longest streak since fellow Swede Nicklas Lidstrom enjoyed a six-year run from 1998 to 2003.
Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year in becoming just the fourth rookie since 1993-94 to lead his team in scoring. The 24-year-old from Russia led NHL rookies with 27 goals and 51 points, and became the first Wild player to win the Calder.
Carolina goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and Dallas foward Jason Robertson were the other two Calder finalists.
The Oilers players have now won the Hart in three of the past five years, with Draisaitl winning it last year.
McDavid was informed of winning the both awards by Draisailt.
“To have your fellow peers recognize you, it means a lot. Just feel so humbled and grateful to have won this award a few times,” McDavid said, before personally thanking Draisaitl for personally helping contribute to his point production.
The NHL previously announced other winners, with Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour winning the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year, and New York Islanders Lou Lamoriello winning the Jim Gregory general manager of the year award.
Florida’s Aleksander Barkov won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward, and Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct.
Philadelphia’s Oskar Lindblom, a cancer survivor, was this year’s recipient of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, presented to a player who exemplifies perseverance and dedication to hockey.
The Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award was presented to Boston’s Patrice Bergeron. Matthews won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for leading the NHL with 41 goals.
MAPLE LEAFS: Veteran forward Wayne Simmonds signed a two-year contract extension with Toronto.
The team says his contract has an average annual value of $900,000.
Simmonds played in 38 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs during this past season, with seven goals and two assists. He had an assist in seven playoff games as the Leafs lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round after holding a 3-1 series lead.
SABRES: The Buffalo Sabres hired Don Granato as their new coach.
Granato had been the interim coach after replacing Ralph Krueger behind the bench at midseason. After losing 22 of the first 28 games under Krueger, the Sabres won nine of their final 28 with Granato and rallied to win three times when trailing after two periods.
This is Granato’s first NHL head-coaching job after assistant stints with Buffalo, Chicago and St. Louis.
Though a first-time NHL coach, Granato brings a wealth of experience and a family name well-known in hockey circles.
His older brother, Tony, played in the NHL, coached the Colorado Avalanche and completed his sixth season as Wisconsin’s head coach. His sister, Cammi, is a two-time U.S. Olympian, the first female Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and a scout for the NHL expansion team Seattle Kraken. Another brother, Rob, also played Division I hockey.
OILERS: The Edmonton Oilers signed forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to an eight-year extension with an average annual value of $5.125 million.
Nugent-Hopkins’ previous deal for seven years and $42 million expired after this season.
He had 16 goals and 19 assists in 52 games this year.
ESPN: Announcers and analysts for the upcoming season were announced. The 24 announcers, analysts and reporters include a diverse set of backgrounds along with names that will be familiar to most hockey fans.
Sean McDonough will be the lead announcer and will call the Stanley Cup final. McDonough has previously called hockey on ESPN and is back in a prime spot on one of the network’s lead packages after he called “Monday Night Football” in 2016-17.
Steve Levy will also announce games but will be the studio host for the big games and the playoffs. He will be joined by Chris Chelios and Mark Messier.
Analysts who will be paired with McDonough have not been determined. Ray Ferraro, Brian Boucher and Kevin Weekes could be under consideration as all have experience working on the top teams at NBC, TSN or NHL Network.
Network hockey stalwarts John Buccigross (play-by-play), Barry Melrose (analyst) and Linda Cohn (“In the Crease” on ESPN+) will also have roles.
Leah Hextall and Bob Wischusen are the other play-by-play announcers and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Ryan Callahan, A.J. Mleczko, Rick DiPietro and Hilary Knight were named analysts.
Blake Bolden, currently a scout and growth and inclusion specialist for the Los Angeles Kings, is joining ESPN as an in-game reporter. Bolden became the first Black woman to play professional hockey when she joined the NWHL’s Boston Pride in 2016. Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski will also have reporting roles.
Games on ESPN Deportes Will be Called by Kenneth Garay, Eitan Benezra, Carlos Rossell and Antonio Valle
ESPN’s coverage of next season begins on July 21 with the Seattle Kraken’s expansion draft on ESPN2. Two days later, ESPN2 will have the first round of the NHL Draft. The first games on ESPN will be a doubleheader on Oct. 12.
Under the seven-year agreement, the Stanley Cup final will air on ABC in four of the seven years, beginning next season. It also includes the All-Star game and 25 regular-season games, with the likely breakdown being 15 on ESPN and 10 on ABC. ESPN will also produce 75 national games per season that will stream exclusively on both ESPN+ and Hulu.
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