The NHL hands out plenty of major hardware at its annual awards night, but some of the campaign's most impressive feats still manage to fall by the wayside without proper recognition.
Below, we look at three individual awards the league should add and determine who would win them this season.
Best Defensive Defenseman
While the Norris Trophy is given to the best all-around defenseman, ranking among the league leaders in points at the position is typically a prerequisite to draw serious consideration. However, this trophy would focus solely on the defensive contributions of blue-liners and how well they're able to keep the puck away from their net. Logging heavy minutes against top competition is a must for this winner.
Finalists: MacKenzie Weegar (Calgary Flames), Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes), Jared Spurgeon (Minnesota Wild)
This is the toughest award of the three to decipher. Even with all the data available in this day and age, it's still difficult to evaluate defensive defensemen. What's fascinating, though, is how all three defend in completely different ways.
Weegar is extremely physical, ranking in the top 20 among defensemen in hits with 186. The 5-foot-9, 166-pound Spurgeon is one of the smallest defenders in the league, but he makes up for it with strong skating and elite positioning. Slavin isn't very physical despite his 6-foot-3, 207-pound frame, but he possesses a great stick that he's always using to break up plays.
And all three players are neck and neck in every statistic at our disposal.
Weegar leads the way in defensive goals above replacement (12.1), Evolving-Hockey's catch-all metric for defensive play. Spurgeon ranks seventh among defensemen (8.9), while Slavin ranks 11th (8.1).
But Spurgeon and Slavin are both more disciplined, as they produced 2 and 2.6 GAR, respectively, in penalty differential, compared to Weegar's 0.6 mark. All three players own nearly identical marks in on-ice expected goals against per 60 minutes at five-on-five, ranking fifth (Spurgeon), seventh (Slavin), and eighth (Weegar) league-wide.
Winner: Slavin. All three players are extremely close in several metrics, but the biggest advantage for Slavin is in the form of takeaways. His 88 are tied for the most among NHL defensemen and blow Weegar's 38 and Spurgeon's 15 out of the water.
Most Improved Player
The NBA hands out this award annually, and there's no reason the NHL shouldn't follow suit with a trophy that recognizes growth. And no, this won't be a pity prize for the league's worst player like it is in youth hockey. We're looking for someone who made a serious leap.
Finalists: Tim Stutzle (Ottawa Senators), Vince Dunn (Seattle Kraken), Alexandar Georgiev (Colorado Avalanche)
Stutzle made huge strides this season, racking up 90 points - a 32-point improvement from 2021-22. The German phenom was dangerous every time he took the ice, and the scary part is the 21-year-old still has plenty of room to grow.
Dunn was superb for the Kraken, ranking second on the team in points (64) and first average ice time (23:40). Seattle lacks a true star player, so having a dynamic threat from the back end in Dunn was a huge reason the club made the playoffs in its second season ever.
If there ever a case study to show how unpredictable goalies are, look at Georgiev. He was one of the worst netminders in the league last season, posting an .898 save percentage as the New York Rangers' backup, but in his first campaign with the Avalanche he was simply excellent, producing a .918 save percentage in 62 starts while tying for the league lead with 40 wins.
Winner: Georgiev. The Avs' workhorse starter gets the edge here considering just how important he was to his team. With all the injuries Colorado suffered this year, Georgiev remained one of the few constants the team could rely on night in and night out.
Comeback Player of the Year
The NFL hands out this award annually - typically to a player who had their previous season cut short due to injury and overcame adversity to have a sensational comeback campaign. Coming off an injury helps present a better case, but it's not required in this exercise. The Comeback Player of the Year could very well be rewarded to someone had a great season after being written off due to a poor one previously.
Finalists: Erik Karlsson (San Jose Sharks), Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars), Joonas Korpisalo (Columbus Blue Jackets/Los Angeles Kings)
Karlsson and Benn are two players who many fans likely thought were over the hill, but both have proven they have plenty of gas left in the tank. Karlsson, 32, is the Norris Trophy favorite even though injuries caused him to miss 69 out of a possible 372 games over the past five seasons since joining the Sharks. Yet he managed to rack up a historic 101 points this season while playing for a basement-dwelling team.
Benn, 33, also bounced back in a huge way this season, racking up 78 points - his most in a season since 2017-18. He tallied just 46 a year ago.
Korpisalo battled injuries en route to a disastrous 2021-22 campaign that saw him post an .877 save percentage - the worst among qualified goalies. But he was sensational this year, posting a .914 save percentage between the Blue Jackets and Kings.
Winner: Karlsson. How could it be anyone else? He's only the sixth defenseman in NHL history to record 100 points in a season, and the first since Brian Leetch in 1991-92.
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