The 2024-2025 NHL season is finally upon us and the Florida Panthers are set to defend their Stanley Cup title. We're in store for another fantastic season, especially when it comes to the early watchlists for individual awards. Last season was a battle for several honors and it should be the same in 2024-2025. Let's take a look at some early predicitions to capture the league's top individual awards this season.
Is there any easier choice for an award prediction? If he's healthy, it's his award to lose, and McDavid knows it. The league's best player is still on top of the NHL mountain, and he's your Hart Trophy winner in 2024-2025.
The players of the NHL also see McDavid as the undoubted best player. They will vote for him as the Lindsay Trophy recipient again this season.
It's a big year for Dahlin and the Sabres. He's now the captain and has recorded three straight seasons of at least 53 points, including 73 during the 2022-2023 campaign. In an incredibly crowded field, Dahlin has the chance to capture his first Norris Trophy.
Let's not overthink this. Shesterkin is playing for the largest goaltender contract ever while the Rangers are all-in on a Stanley Cup run. This will be the second Vezina-winning campaign of Shesterkin's career.
Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks is the easy pick, but this year's Calder Trophy race reminds me a lot of the 2005-2006 season with Philadelphia Flyers' phenom Matvei Michkov in the mix. A number one overall pick and a Russian superstar with professional league experience enter the NHL at the same time. Alex Ovechkin beat out Sidney Crosby for Rookie of the Year that season, and don't be surprised when Michkov beats out Celebrini.
The Kraken named Dan Bylsma their head coach this offseason, and it could be exactly the type of move that gets the team back into the postseason. A former Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bylsma has a golden opportunity to right the ship in Seattle and take home his second Jack Adams award.
Predicting who will be named the top defensive player is an impossible task. Last year's winner Alexsander Barkov was a force all season, but it wasn't clear what made him stand out as the top defensive forward in the NHL. Which is why I'm taking Roope Hintz from the Dallas Stars. He's a do-it-all player for the Stars, but his defensive game is never talked about enough. Perhaps with the Stars going on a run, it could get Hintz the recognition he deserves with the Selke Trophy.
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