Golden Knights Top 2023-24 Awards Candidates

Which members of the Vegas Golden Knights have the best chance of winning awards for their performance in the 2023-24 regular season? This is part one of a two-part series.

Hart Trophy: The Hart Trophy is awarded to the player most valuable to his team. How would the team do if you removed that player from the team? Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers put up an astounding 153 points last season and was nearly the unanimous choice for the Hart Trophy. The Oilers would have been a much different team without McDavid.

Jack Eichel is the lead candidate, but a tremendous longshot. His offensive numbers will not be as eye-catching as a player like McDavid or Auston Matthews.

William M. Jennings Trophy: The Jennings Trophy is awarded to the goaltender, or goaltending duo that allows the least amount of goals in the regular season. A goaltender must have 25 games played or more to qualify. Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins won the Jennings Trophy last season. Marc Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner won the Jennings Trophy with the Golden Knights in the 2020-21 season. While uncommon, it is possible for just one goalie to win the Jennings Trophy. Jonathan Quick in 2018 and Braden Holtby in 2017 were the last two solo Jennings Trophy winners.

The tandem of Logan Thompson and Adin Hill has a reasonable shot at winning the Jennings Trophy. Cassidy is expected to keep the starts pretty even. Health pending, Thompson and Hill have a viable chance at sharing the Jennings trophy in Cassidy’s goaltender-friendly system.

James Norris Memorial Trophy: The Norris Trophy is awarded best all-around defenseman. Erik Karlsson of the San Jose Sharks won the Norris Trophy after putting up 101 points last season.

Shea Theodore is the type of defenseman that can put up points in bunches. Injuries limited Theodore to 55 regular-season games last year. Theodore was on pace for 60 points if he would have played all 82 games. Can Theodore push to 75 points? It is not entirely impossible.

Frank J. Selke Trophy: The Selkie trophy is awarded to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game. Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins won the Selke the last two seasons and six times throughout his career.

Coach Bruce Cassidy used Bergeron as an example of someone that put up substantial offensive numbers while excelling as a defensive player. Eichel will get some consideration if his faceoff numbers improve.

Calder Memorial Trophy: The Calder Memorial Trophy is awarded to the best rookie. Matty Beniers of the Seattle Kraken won the Calder Trophy last season.

All signs point to Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Calder Trophy. Pavel Dorofeyev is still considered a rookie and could be a dark-horse candidate. Dorofeyev shined when given the chance last season with nine points in 18 games down the stretch. Seven of those points were goals and Dorofeyev was on pace for over 30 goals had he played all 82 games. Beniers had 24 goals and 33 assists to compare when he won the Calder Trophy.

Jack Adams Award: The Jack Adams Award is given to the best coach. Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins won the Jack Adams Award last season for his record-breaking regular-season.

Cassidy won the Jack Adams in 2020 and it was quite surprising he did not make the top three nominations last season. The Golden Knights have nearly the same Stanley Cup winning roster coming back next season. It will be interesting to see if Cassidy makes the top three nominations if the Golden Knights win the Pacific Division for the second year in a row.