The NHL has announced the 2023 Ted Lindsay Award nominees. The award is given to the most outstanding player in the NHL, as voted on by the players. The honor is very similar to the Hart Trophy,except with the unique twist that is that it is voted on by NHLPA members. Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs won the award last year. He was the fourth different winner in as many years.
This time around, the finalists for the award are San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and right winger David Pastrňák of the Boston Bruins.
McDavid is widely regarded as the best player in the world and it is hard to argue with his numbers. The 26-year-old put up video game statistics this year with 64 goals and 89 assists in 82 regular season games -- on his way to a third consecutive Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer. McDavid outpaced the entire league by 25 points this season, with teammate Leon Draisaitl the second leading scorer in the league. McDavid outscored fellow Ted Lindsay nominee Pastrňák by 40 points.
Pastrňák has a career year, putting up 61 goals and 52 assists in 82 games as he led the Boston Bruins to a historical President’s Trophy-winning regular season. The soon to be 27-year-old registered an incredible 43 even strength goals and 76 even strength points over the course of the campaign.
Indeed, Pastrňák nearly lapped his own team in scoring, as he outpaced the second leading Bruins scorer, Brad Marchand, by 46 points. Perhaps the most impressive feat of all for Pastrňák was that he put up this incredible season in a contract year. Somehow the winger was able to keep out of the noise and post terrific numbers before signing an eight year, $90M contract extension on March 2nd .
And speaking of historical seasons, defenseman Erik Karlsson eclipsed the 100 points mark this season, finishing the year with 25 goals and 76 assists in 82 games. The smooth-skating Swede was the first defenseman to top 100 points in 31 years. Even more impressive, he did so on a bad Sharks team while also dealing with trade rumors throughout the season. Karlsson topped his career-high point total by 19 and quieted many of his harshest critics in what was an incredible offensive display.
It’ll be interesting to see who comes away with the Ted Lindsay come June when the ceremony will be held in Nashville. McDavid is likely the favorite to pick up the award, however it is difficult to discount a 100-point defenseman in this era, as Karlsson is just the sixth defenseman ever to accomplish the feat.
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