Vegas Golden Knights architect George McPhee earned the General Manager of the Year award Wednesday night after building the most successful expansion franchise in the history of the four major North American sports.

McPhee earned the distinction over Kevin Cheveldayoff of the Winnipeg Jets and Steve Yzerman of the Tampa Bay Lightning after his perceived ragtag roster shocked the hockey world and reached the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural campaign.

The longtime executive ultimately lost to his old club, the Washington Capitals, but his masterful expansion draft and his club's Pacific Division title made this one a no-brainer.

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Nashville Predators netminder Pekka Rinne was named this year's Vezina Trophy winner at Wednesday's NHL Awards.

The 35-year-old finished the year with 42 wins - two back of fellow nominees Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy for the league lead. This is the third time in his career that he has amassed 40-plus wins in a year, one shy of his career mark, which was set in the 2011-12 season.

Rinne helped lead the Predators to their first career Presidents' Trophy. He finished the year with a .927 save percentage, a 2.31 GAA, and eight shutouts, which tied Vasilevskiy for the most league-wide and also set a franchise record.

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Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland took home the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, given annually to the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team on and off the ice during the regular season, and plays a role in his community growing the game of hockey.

Engelland set career highs in points and average time on ice in his age-35 season. Though no player on the Knights wore the "C" in the team's inaugural year, Engelland was the squad's undisputed leader. He went out to receive the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl as Western Conference champions, a job done by the team's captain.

A Vegas resident, he was a fixture in the community following the tragic Vegas shootings. He gave a passionate pregame speech prior to the team's home opener, and started a program inviting those affected by the tragedy to games throughout the season, meeting and thanking each guest after the final buzzer.

Engelland is the first non-captain to win the award since 2006-07 - the first season it was given out - when Chris Chelios took home the hardware.

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Vegas Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant was named winner of the Jack Adams Award as the league's best coach at Wednesday's NHL Awards.

Gallant coached Vegas to one of the most remarkable seasons in NHL history; the team captured the Pacific Division in its inaugural NHL campaign, the first expansion team from any of the four North American sports leagues to accomplish the feat. Meanwhile, the team also earned the most points ever by an expansion team.

Under Gallant, 11 players hit career highs with the Golden Knights. This is his second nomination for the award after finishing as runner-up to Washington Capitals' Barry Trotz in 2016 when he was with the Florida Panthers.

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Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward for the second time in three years Wednesday night.

He played a major part in the Kings' league-best penalty kill and led all Los Angeles forwards in shorthanded ice time per game, while leading all NHL forwards in overall ice time per contest and posting career highs in goals (35), assists (57), and points (92).

The star Slovenian center last took home the honor in 2016.

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P.K. Subban will be the face of the NHL in video-game form.

The star Nashville Predators defenseman was announced as the cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL 19 at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.

"Growing up, and still to this day, my friends and I love seeing who is on the cover and ultimately getting to play the game," Subban said in a press release. "Being the cover athlete for NHL 19, for me, represents growth within our sport, embracing different personalities, and showing that anything is possible. I'm honored to be able to sport the Smashville colors on this year's cover."

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Expect the Pittsburgh Penguins to be interested in Jack Johnson's services if he reaches free agency, sources told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The 31-year-old defenseman has been with the Columbus Blue Jackets since February 2012, but he's now less than two weeks away from unrestricted free agency. His current seven-year pact, signed with the Los Angeles Kings in 2010 prior to being traded to the Blue Jackets, carries a cap hit just shy of $4.4 million.

As for the Penguins, there are two obvious ties to Johnson. The first is Sidney Crosby after the two spent one season together as high school teammates in 2002-03. There's also Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, who previously headed up the Carolina Hurricanes when they selected Johnson with the third overall pick in 2005.

It's also likely that Johnson is ready to move on from the Blue Jackets. He requested a trade in January, citing his reduced role with Columbus and a desire to better position himself ahead of free agency.

In 77 appearances with the Blue Jackets during the 2017-18 season, Johnson collected three goals and eight assists, while averaging 19:33 in ice time. He was scratched for all six of Columbus' playoff games.

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New Jersey Devils forward Brian Boyle took home the Bill Masterton Trophy on Wednesday, awarded annually to "the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."

At the beginning of Devils training camp, Boyle was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, a type of bone marrow cancer. He was able to return on Nov. 1, and recorded 10 goals over his first 25 games.

Boyle also represented the Devils at the NHL All-Star Game in Tampa.

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Vegas Golden Knights forward William Karlsson claimed the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy on Wednesday, which is presented to the player voted to have "exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

It was a breakout season for Karlsson, who tallied 43 goals for the expansion Golden Knights, outpaced only by Alex Ovechkin and Patrik Laine. The Swedish center posted a league-best plus-49 rating - 13 points higher than the runner-up - while also finishing with just 12 penalty minutes.

Karlsson joined Vegas from the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he scored just six goals in 81 games during the 2016-17 season.

Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O'Reilly and Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov were also 2017-18 finalists for the award.

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New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal was awarded the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie on Wednesday night.

As expected, the voting wasn't particularly close:

Barzal had an impeccable first season, finishing tops among all rookies with 85 points (20 more than Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller, who finished second in rookie scoring). He also led his team in scoring, notching one more point than captain John Tavares.

Barzal's 85 points mark the most by a Calder Trophy winner since Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin tallied 85 during the 2006-07 season.

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