Unveiling Ryan Pike’s 2024-25 NHL Awards ballot

The 2024-25 season was my seventh as a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. For the fourth time, I had the privilege of voting for the year-end NHL awards.

Without further ado, here’s the product of a week of low-level anxiety as I compiled my ballot, reviewed it several times to ensure I didn’t make any silly errors, and sent it in at the end of the regular season.

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

Presented annually “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”

1. Sean Monahan [Columbus]
2. Dakota Joshua [Vancouver]
3. Marc-Andre Fleury [Minnesota]

Winner: Sean Monahan

Masterton voting is different than every other award: every PHWA member is eligible to vote for the Masterton, compared to an invited sub-set of the membership for the others.

For me, Masterton voting is tough most years because the players that get nominated all have compelling stories. But this year was a bit easier because of how inspiring Sean Monahan’s season was.

Frank J. Selke Trophy

Presented annually “to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.”

1. Aleksander Barkov [Florida]
2. Anthony Cirelli [Tampa Bay]
3. Nico Hischier [New Jersey]
4. Sam Reinhart [Florida]
5. Seth Jarvis [Carolina]

Winner: Aleksander Barkov

My methodology for the Selke Trophy is that I skew towards forwards that played a lot against the league’s top players, which tends to be a mixture of five-on-five and penalty-killing. If you didn’t play on the penalty kill much, you tend to slide down my rankings a bit, and when in doubt, I lean towards centres.

The centre and penalty-killing aspect of things hurt Sam Reinhart a bit on my balloting. For me, it was Barkov in first followed by a decent gap towards the rest of the field.

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Presented annually “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.”

1. Cale Makar [Colorado]
2. Jack Eichel [Vegas]
3. Mitch Marner [Toronto]
4. Nick Suzuki [Montreal]
5. Brayden Point [Tampa Bay]

Winner: Anze Kopitar

For the Lady Byng, the balancing act for me is a high standard of playing ability with not a ton of penalties. In other words: it’s either a player with lots of points (forwards), lots of ice time against top players (blueliners), or both, along with very few penalties.

Yes, I didn’t have Kopitar, the eventually winner, on my ballot at all. He finished just off the leaderboard for me in terms of offensive production. I stand by my methodology, but I also think he’s a really deserving winner. And I feel a bit less self-conscious that I wasn’t the only voter to leave him off my ballot.

Calder Memorial Trophy

Presented annually “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition.”

1. Lane Hutson [Montreal]
2. Dustin Wolf [Calgary]
3. Macklin Celebrini [San Jose]
4. Matvei Michkov [Philadelphia]
5. Logan Stankoven [Carolina]

Winner: Lane Hutson

For me, this was a 1A/1B race between Lane Hutson and Dustin Wolf. In the end, I thought Hutson was closer to the upper-echelon among blueliners than Wolf was among goaltenders. But it was an incredibly close battle between the two of them, and either player could have credibly won this award.

James Norris Memorial Trophy

Presented annually “to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.”

1. Cale Makar [Colorado]
2. Zach Werenski [Columbus]
3. Quinn Hughes [Vancouver]
4. Thomas Harley [Dallas]
5. Jake Sanderson [Ottawa]

Winner: Cale Makar

I don’t base my Norris voting on points, but points play into it. For me, the top three were pretty clear-cut, and then I had to do some serious thinking about the last two spots. I was really impressed with Thomas Harley and Jake Sanderson in my live viewings of them this season, so that’s where I went with those last two spots.

Hart Memorial Trophy

Presented annually “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”

1. Leon Draisaitl [Edmonton]
2. Nathan MacKinnon [Colorado]
3. Connor Hellebuyck [Winnipeg]
4. Nikita Kucherov [Tampa Bay]
5. Zach Werenski [Columbus]

Winner: Connor Hellebuyck

The Oilers were a flat-out terrifying offensive hockey club with Leon Draisaitl in the lineup, even when he wasn’t close to 100%. I felt that moreso than anyone else in the league, he had the ability to tilt a game with a good period or couple of shifts.

And I’m glad I was able to work Zach Werenski onto my Hart ballot. The Blue Jackets were way better than anyone expected them to be, especially given Johnny Gaudreau’s tragic passing, and Werenski was such a tremendous on-ice stabilizing presence for them all season long.

NHL All-Rookie Team

My All-Rookie ballot was my Calder ballot, for the most part. I wracked my brain for my second defensive spot for awhile, and I settled to Denton Mateychuk, who was really effective for Columbus this season.

Forward
1. Macklin Celebrini [San Jose]
2. Matvei Michkov [Philadelphia]
3. Logan Stankoven [Carolina]

Winners: Macklin Celebrini, Matvei Michkov & Cutter Gauthier

Defense
1. Lane Hutson [Montreal]
2. Denton Mateychuk [Columbus]

Winners: Lane Hutson & Denton Mateychuk

Goaltender
1. Dustin Wolf [Calgary]

Winner: Dustin Wolf

NHL All-Star Team

A distinction I’ll repeat from prior season: the Hart Trophy is for “most valuable,” the All-Star votes are for “best” at each position. For the most part, this list follows my Hart and Norris Trophy ballots. I threw Lane Hutson on as my last blueliner due to how strong he was at five-on-five this season, especially offensively.

Centre
1. Leon Draisaitl [Edmonton]
2. Nathan MacKinnon [Colorado]
3. Connor McDavid [Edmonton]

First-Team Winner: Nathan MacKinnon
Second-Team Winner: Leon Draisaitl

Right Wing
1. Nikita Kucherov [Tampa Bay]
2. Mitch Marner [Toronto]
3. David Pastrnak [Boston]

First-Team Winner: Nikita Kucherov
Second-Team Winner: David Pastrnak

Left Wing
1. Kyle Connor [Winnipeg]
2. Brandon Hagel [Tampa Bay]
3. Jesper Bratt [New Jersey]

First-Team Winner: Kyle Connor
Second-Team Winner: Brandon Hagel

Defense
1. Cale Makar [Colorado]
2. Zach Werenski [Columbus]
3. Quinn Hughes [Vancouver]
4. Thomas Harley [Dallas]
5. Jake Sanderson [Ottawa]
6. Lane Hutson [Montreal]

First-Team Winners: Cale Makar & Zach Werenski
Second-Team Winners: Quinn Hughes & Victor Hedman

Goaltender
1. Connor Hellebuyck [Winnipeg]
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy [Tampa Bay]
3. Darcy Kuemper [Los Angeles]

First-Team Winner: Connor Hellebuyck
Second-Team Winner: Andrei Vasilevskiy

So what do you think of Ryan’s ballot? Was he completely off the mark for any of the awards?