Ted Lindsay Award – Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Connor McDavid just produced the 15th-highest point-scoring season in league history with only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemeiux, and Steve Yzerman ever besting his 153 points. He also led the NHL in goals, helped drive the league’s best power play, and even played more penalty minutes than he ever had in his career.
No player came within 20 points of McDavid’s total, and he logged more ice time than any other forward. He was unquestionable the NHL’s greatest offensive force — and while of the NHL’s superstars might be able to claim they made a greater defensive contribution, the gap in offensive production was too big for those cases to gain steam.
Bergeron had produced a top-three finish in Selke Trophy voting in 11 consecutive seasons entering 2022-23 and his outstanding campaign has put a sixth Selke on his shelf.
Even at the age of 37, Bergeron remained a forced to be reckoned with on the defensive end. His even-strength on-ice goals allowed per 60 minutes sat at just 1.7 in 2022-23 — the third-lowest mark of his illustrious career. He also produced an Expected +/- of +22.5 based on the quality of shots each team took when he was on the ice, that was his second-best mark since 2014-15.
Put another way, Bergeron did all of the things he usually does to win this award. He dominated in the faceoff circle (61.1%), which contributed to eye-popping possession numbers (+11.6% relative Corsi), and his team locked down opponents when he was on the ice. That helped the Bruins concede 36 fewer goals than any other NHL team.
Despite his advanced age, Bergeron also played more penalty-killing minutes (138.5) than he had in any season since 2015-16.
Beniers led the NHL rookie scoring race with 57 points, and no first-year player topped his goal total of 24.
The first draft pick in Kraken history also led all rookie with a +14 rating and his strong Expected +/- (+10.1) indicates that he wasn’t an all-offence player whose team suffered defensively when he was on the ice.
The centre was a critical ingredient in Seattle’s surprising 100-point season who established himself as a top-six centre at the age of 20 and ranked fourth on the team in points.
Beniers seemed like the clear frontrunner in this race for most of the season. The most logical alternative was Owen Power, who looked strong logging a massive workload on the Buffalo Sabres blue line (23:48).
The young centre is in fine company as recent Calder winners have gone on to become some of the NHL’s biggest stars. The last 10 recipients of this trophy include superstars like Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, Kirill Kaprizov, Cale Makar, Artemi Panarin, and Elias Petterson.
This is Anze Kopitar’s second time winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top gentleman on the ice, previously taking home the award in 2015-16.
The 35-year-old also had his most productive season in six years, scoring 28 goals and registering 74 points in 82 games, finishing the season having accumulated only four penalty minutes.
Kris Letang had perhaps one of the most difficult NHL seasons in recent history, on a personal level. The 36-year-old suffered the second stroke of his career in December. He was back on the ice two weeks later, but then had to step away from the Penguins in January after his father suddenly passed away.
Despite the hardships, Letang managed to suit up for 64 regular season games, tallying 41 points while logging 24:51 of average ice time per game.
