What to know for the NHL off-season
CBC
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After Vegas (over?)celebrated its Stanley Cup championship Saturday night on the Strip, we're about to enter the busiest stretch of the NHL off-season. It starts tomorrow with the unveiling of the 2023 Hockey Hall of Fame class and continues next week with the NHL awards show on Monday night, the draft on Wednesday and Thursday and the start of free agency on Saturday, July 1.
Here's a look at what to expect:
Hall of Fame
The only top-shelf candidate among the first-year eligibles is goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. He played all 15 of his NHL seasons with the New York Rangers, finishing sixth all-time in wins. Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy for the league's best goalie in 2012 and Olympic gold with Sweden in 2006, but never captured the Stanley Cup.
Considering the dearth of strong new candidates, the committee might turn to players it has rejected in the past. Those include star forwards Alexander Mogilny, Theo Fleury, Rod Brind'Amour, Pierre Turgeon, Henrik Zetterberg, Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick; defenceman Sergei Gonchar; and goalie Curtis Joseph. A maximum of four men can be elected in the players' category.
Up to two women's players can also be inducted. The candidates include multi-time Olympic and world champions Jennifer Botterill and Caroline Ouellette of Canada and former U.S. captain Meghan Duggan. Read more about the Hockey Hall of Fame candidates here.
Awards
There's no intrigue when it comes to the biggest prize. Connor McDavid will almost certainly win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player after piling up 153 points — the most in the league since Mario Lemieux had 161 in 1995-96 — to lead Edmonton to the second-best record in the Western Conference. This will be the third Hart for the 26-year-old McDavid, matching Lemieux, Bobby Orr and Alex Ovechkin, among others.
McDavid will also collect his first Rocket Richard Trophy after scoring a league-high 64 goals and his fifth Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in points. Only Lemieux (6), Gordie Howe (6) and Wayne Gretzky (10) have won the Art Ross more times. The Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player as voted by the players) will also presumably go to McDavid for the fourth time.
Three other players from Canadian-based teams are finalists for major awards: Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck (Vezina Trophy), Toronto's Mitch Marner (Selke Trophy for best defensive forward) and Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner (Calder Trophy for rookie of the year).
Draft
Just as predictable as the Hart Trophy winner is the player Chicago will take with the No. 1 overall pick. It'll be Connor Bedard, the 17-year-old phenom who scored 71 goals in 57 games this season for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League and added 10 more in seven playoff games. Bedard also led Canada to gold at the world junior championship in Halifax, where he set numerous scoring records and dazzled everyone with his skills — particularly on his incredible overtime winner in the quarterfinals.
Montreal, picking fifth, has the highest choice among Canadian teams.
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This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.
This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.
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This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.
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