The 2018-19 NHL regular season begins Wednesday and one outlet already has predicted some of the players who will take home some hardware come season’s end.
Sure, it may be too early to even think about those kinds of things, but NHL.com took a stab at predicting who will finish first for the Hart, Vezina and Norris Trophies — and it doesn’t appear there is much faith in the Boston Bruins.
While it’s really not a surprise that Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid and Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby topped the list to win the Hart Trophy, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher that out of 20 players who received votes, not one Bruin made the list. Although no one from the B’s put up 100-plus points last season, Boston had Brad Marchand (85 points) and David Pastrnak (80 points) put together phenomenal 2018-19 campaigns.
Marchand played in just 68 games for the B’s in 2017 and he still managed to tally 51 assists and 34 goals, while Pastrnak notched 35 goals with 45 helpers.
Along with the Hart Trophy, the much-too-early list for Vezina winner has B’s goalie Tuukka Rask ranked ninth. Rask, who won the award in 2013-14, received 13 points and was ahead of Nashville Predators netminder Pekka Rinne and Florida Panthers backstop Roberto Luongo.
The Bruins did have one representative for the Norris Trophy, with second-year defenseman Charlie McAvoy making the list with two points. If the 20-year-old improves on his impressive rookie season (slashing 7-25-32), he certainly will be in contention, however his competition is stiff. San Jose Sharks blueliner Erik Karlsson is pegged as the favorite to win, followed by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman and reigning Norris winner Victor Hedman.
While it’s hard to argue with the predicted winners of the three categories, there’s certainly no guarantees. And maybe when all is said and done, Boston will have multiple players in conversations for accolades.
