The National Hockey League presents its annual awards show at 7 p.m. ET live from Las Vegas on Wednesday, capping off a great year throughout the league.
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The Chicago Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup last Monday and paraded it around the Windy City on Thursday and now some other players, coaches and general managers will take home hardware on Wednesday.
Here are our predictions for the Calder Trophy, Jack Adams, Vezina, Norris and Hart Trophy winners:
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Calder Trophy: Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators
All three players up for this award are viable candidates as Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad had a great campaign and Johnny Gaudreau was a spark plug for the Calgary Flames, but in the end, Stone should be the one to stand tall.
Stone tied with Gaudreau for the rookie lead with 64 points and placed second among first-year players with 26 goals and 38 assists while pacing all rookies with a plus-21 rating. Stone also had six game-winning goals to lead all players in their debut seasons.
Gaudreau had a rookie-leading 40 assists and Ekblad (12-27--39) had a great first season on the Panthers blue line, so this one could go to any of the three.
Jack Adams Award: Bob Hartley, Calgary Flames
Hartley guided the Flames to their first postseason berth since 2009 this season and to a 45-30-7 record while Calgary's 90 points were a 20-point jump from 2013-14. The team also led the NHL and set a league record by blocking 1,557 shots in the regular season.
Alain Vigneault led the New York Rangers to the most points (113) and wins (53) in franchise history and to their first Presidents' Trophy since 1993-94 while Nashville Predators coach Peter Laviolette guided the club to its first playoff berth since 2012 and a plus-35 goal differential.
While those two candidates had tremendous campaigns, Hartley deserves the nod.
Vezina Trophy: Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Price is also up for the Hart Trophy as league MVP, so with that in mind it's a no-brainer that he should also take home the Vezina Award for the first time in his career.
Predators netminder Pekka Rinne managed to win 41 games despite missing time to injury and Devan Dubnyk had a career resurgence while breathing life into the Minnesota Wild. Dubnyk had 36 wins, a 2.07 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage this season.
Price shattered records for the Canadiens in 2014-15 and could take home two pieces of hardware on Wednesday.
Norris Trophy: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
Karlsson led all defenseman in the regular season with 66 points and finished second among blue liners with 21 goals and 45 assists while rating a plus-7. Karlsson also had 30 points on the man advantage, which tied him for most among defenseman, and he averaged 27:15 time on ice and 26.7 shifts per game.
Drew Doughty (7-39--46) of the Los Angeles Kings had another great all-around season on both sides of the ice while the Canadiens' P.K. Subban (15-45--60) was yet again one of the best offensive defenseman in the league.
In the end, Karlsson had the most impressive year and deserves the honor.
Hart Trophy: Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Price led the NHL in wins (44), goals-against average (1.96) and save percentage (.933) while ranking tied for second in the league with nine shutouts. Price became the first goaltender since the 1990-91 campaign to lead the league in all three major categories.
He also became the sixth player in Canadiens franchise history to win the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the least amount of goals among netminders who have played at least 25 games.
Price, who is looking to be the first netminder to win the Hart Trophy since Jose Theodore did it in 2002, set a franchise record in Montreal for wins in a single season.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the league's highest goal scorer for the third consecutive campaign and fifth time in his career by finding the back of the net 53 times. He also set a Capitals franchise record with 25 tallies on the power play. Ovechkin is up for the award for the fifth time in his career.
New York Islanders captain John Tavares led the club to the postseason in an 82-game campaign for the first time since 2007. Tavares, who is a finalist for the second time in his career, set career-highs in points (86) and goals (38), finishing in second and fourth in the NHL in those two categories, respectively. The captain also set an Islanders franchise record with four overtime markers, giving him a franchise-best eight in his career.
While all three of these players are worthy to take home the hardware as the NHL's MVP, Price's season in the blue paint was historic and now he should be rewarded for it.
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