2022 NHL Awards: Auston Matthews Wins Hart, Igor Shesterkin Earns Vezina

2022 NHL Awards: Matthews wins Hart, Shesterkin earns Vezina originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

The National Hockey League handed out some hardware on Tuesday, and we’re not talking about the Stanley Cup.

Kenan Thompson hosted the 2022 NHL Awards ceremony from Tampa Bay, where Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Lightning and Avalanche will be played on Wednesday. Five of the biggest individual honors for the regular season were awarded, including MVP, rookie of the year and top goalie.

Here are the winners from Tuesday’s awards show:

Hart Memorial Trophy: Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

Matthews was named league MVP for 2021-22.

The star forward led the NHL with 60 regular season goals and tied for sixth in the league with 106 points. He is just the third Maple Leaf to ever win the award, joining Babe Pratt (1944) and Ted Kennedy (1955).

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid fell short of earning his second straight Hart Memorial Trophy and third overall. He and New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin were the fellow finalists, but the latter didn’t leave the awards show empty-handed…

Vezina Trophy: Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers

Shesterkin was named the league’s top goalie in just his second season as the Rangers’ regular starter. He finished the regular season with a 36-13-4 record, .935 save percentage, 2.07 GAA and six shutouts. 

The 26-year-old Russian beat out Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom and Nashville’s Juuse Saros to win the award.

James Norris Memorial Trophy: Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche

Makar is the first Avalanche player to be named the NHL’s top defenseman.

Makar, Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman and Nashville’s Roman Josi were the three finalists and also the top three points leaders among defensemen in the regular season. While Josi’s 96 points were the most of the group, Makar’s impact for the Western Conference’s top seed earned him the award.

Now, Makar hopes to beat out Hedman once again and bring Colorado its first Stanley Cup title since 2001.

Ted Lindsay Award: Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

The Ted Lindsay Award is given to the most outstanding player for that season. It differs from the Hart in that it is voted on by the NHL Players’ Association instead of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, but both voting bodies saw the same greatness from Matthews in 2021-22.

McDavid and Josi were the other finalists.

Calder Memorial Trophy: Moritz Seider, Detroit Red Wings

Seider was named the NHL’s top first-year player, edging fellow finalists Michael Bunting of Toronto and Trevor Zegras of Anaheim. The German defenseman led all rookie d-men with 50 points and led all rookies in ice time.

Seider became the first Red Wing to earn the Calder trophy since 1965, when Roger Crozier took it home.