The Kings will visit Vegas at least twice this season, but, if the NHL Awards are held in person, some of their top performers might be planning a third trip in the offseason.
Since 2018, the Kings have been absent from both the playoffs and nominations for the league’s major awards, but that could change this year.
Drew Doughty, Norris Trophy
Doughty won the Norris in 2016 and was a finalist for the award three additional times. He finished third in 2010’s voting, and was the runner up in 2015 and 2018.
However the past two seasons saw significant dips in productivity across the boards: offense, possession, power-play and overall profile.
This season, Doughty has had a resurgence in all areas of his game while continuing to shoulder an array and volume of responsibilities that few if any other defensemen do. He is second in the NHL in time on ice and, despite the idea to pair him with veteran Olli Maatta initially, has been skating alongside a rookie, Mikey Anderson. Doughty is tied for the league lead in power-play points among defenseman and is also tied for the fourth most overall points by a blue liner. His possession and two-way numbers have improved dramatically across the board as well.
Offensively, Doughty has reaped the benefits of much more dangerous power play and deeper mix of forwards, while also taking advantage of playing more on the flank during power plays. Perhaps more than anything, the enthusiasm, tirelessness and range have all returned to Doughty’s game.
To recapture the trophy, Doughty will face stiff competition from last year’s winner of the Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) trophy last year, Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman. Hedman was a finalist for the Norris Trophy last year and did win in 2018 when Doughty was the runner up.
Hedman remains the front-runner for this year’s award, but Doughty finds himself on a very short list of potential finalists.
Gabe Vilardi, Calder Trophy
Vilardi appeared to be one of the steals of the 2017 draft, when the Kings also selected another rookie standout, center Jaret Anderson-Dolan in the third round. Vilardi fell out of the top 10 despite some projections that had him just outside the top five.
But a back condition robbed Vilardi of significant development time and cast some aspersions on his potential.
Vilardi battled hard to return to form and fitness. Between a brief stint last season and the early going this year, he has moved back to the fore of a scintillating group of players under 25 in the Kings’ organization.
Vilardi is tied for fifth in rookie scoring and tied for second in goals by a rookie, with potential to climb both leaderboards. While he has had some tough nights in the faceoff circle, he has won about 46 percent of his draws and taken 304, nearly 200 more than the Kings’ next most-utilized right-handed shot. Center Rasmus Kupari, another rookie righty, has enjoyed success in two games, but Vilardi continues to be the top option on the right side.
Vilardi would be the second King to win the Calder and the first since Luc Robitaille in 1987. The main impediment is some stiff competition, mostly from European players who arrived with pro experience overseas. Russian winger Kirill Kaprizov has been captivating in Minnesota, as Kings fans know all too well. Kevin Lankinen, a Finn, salvaged Chicago’s threadbare goaltending situation and, in part, its season, along with Swiss rookie forward Pius Suter, who leads all newcomers in goals.
Anze Kopitar, Hart Trophy/Lindsay Award/Selke Trophy/Messier Award/Lady Byng Trophy
The King with the greatest potential to bring home some hardware is the captain, center Anze Kopitar.
Kings Coach Todd McLellan called Kopitar perhaps the most consistent player he’d seen in over two decades in pro hockey. McLellan, former Kings coach Darryl Sutter and no shortage of opposing coaches have praised the comprehensiveness and integrity of Kopitar’s game over the years. So it comes as little surprise that he has returned to the dialogue surrounding so many different awards.
Kopitar has racked up 28 points in 23 games, the best points-per-game average of his career. His previous best was in 2018, when he was a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. He also won the Selke Trophy that season, for the second time, and he has been a finalist for the award two other times in his career.
In 2016, he won the Lady Byng Trophy as the league’s most gentlemanly player–a feat he could repeat given his low penalty minute totals and clean defensive play–as well as the Selke. Capturing the Selke and Lady Byng had been accomplished previously by only Pavel Datsyuk and Ron Francis.
Only Sergei Fedorov has won both the Hart and Selke trophies in the same season.
Traditionally Hart winners also have a shot at the Ted Lindsay Award–the league’s most outstanding player award voted on by its players–though Kopitar has never been a finalist previously.
If Kopitar were to win the Selke–and his defense by traditional and advanced metrics alike has been superb this year–he would become just the sixth player to win the award three times.
Only two players have won it four times, including Boston center Patrice Bergeron, who was a finalist last year for the ninth time, an all-time record. Philadelphia center Sean Couturier–last year’s winner–as well as St. Louis center Ryan O’Reilly and Vegas winger Mark Stone are also elite defensive forwards.
The Hart and Lindsay finalists are always in rarefied air. Thus far the staggering production of Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Toronto’s Auston Matthews might confine those conversations. Still, Kopitar’s well-roundedness and prolific scoring should put him in the mix.
Kopitar has also been lauded for his leadership as the Kings have accelerated their rebuild under McLellan. He could find himself in the midst of the captains and alternate captains vying for the Mark Messier Leadership Award. Kopitar’s teammate and close friend Dustin Brown won the award in 2014, the year Brown captained the Kings to their second Stanley Cup.
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