The defenseman was selected by the Utah Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA)
Utah Hockey Club today announced that defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has been selected by the Utah Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) as its first-ever nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The Masterton Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
“We are thrilled for Mikhail to be nominated for the Masterton Trophy,” said Bill Armstrong, general manager of Utah Hockey Club. “Mikhail came back from a serious leg injury at the end of the 2024 season and had an incredible year for us, setting new career-highs in goals and time on ice. We are proud of his tremendous leadership, perseverance, and resilience for the team and how he sets a great example for our younger players.”
Sergachev, 26, missed 51 regular-season and playoff games with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2023-24 following a left tibia and fibula fracture that required months of surgery and intense rehabilitation. He was acquired by Utah last summer and was asked to take on an increased role while still regaining his confidence and stability, leading the team in ice time per game (25:09) and serving as an alternate captain for the first time in his NHL career.
Sergachev has tallied 15-36-51 and 30 penalty minutes (PIM) in 73 games with Utah, ranking fifth on the team in scoring and leading team defensemen in goals, assists, points, power-play points (3-18-21), game-winning goals (3) and takeaways (30). He also ranks tied for sixth in the NHL in ice time per game and is one of only four NHL defensemen with two overtime goals in 2024-25. Sergachev’s career-high 15 goals are the third-most by any blueliner in his franchise’s inaugural season since 1967-68, and his 11 goals on home ice rank tied for third among all NHL defensemen this season.
The winner of the Bill Masterton Trophy is selected in a poll of all chapters of the PHWA at the end of the regular season, and a grant from the PHWA is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minnesota, in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner.
The trophy was presented by the NHL Writers’ Association in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player for the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited, to a high degree, the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Masterton died on Jan. 15, 1968, after an injury sustained during a game.
