New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall bagged home the coveted National Hockey League Most Valuable Player award on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
Taylor Hall Is NHL's Most Valuable Player
Hall who spearheaded his team into its first playoff appearance in five seasons also became the first Devils player to take home the Hart Trophy. He wound up sixth in the offensive department this season scoring 94 points for the Devils.
The former top overall pick beat fellow MVP nominees Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche. He received 72 first-place votes while accumulating a massive total of 1,264 voting markers from the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
MacKinnon came in second with 60 first-place votes and 1194 votes from the PHWA respectively. Completing the top five were Kopitar, Claude Giroux of the Flyers, and versatile pivot Connor McDavid of the Oilers.
A Stellar Season
It was a dream year for Hall who finished the season with an impressive stat line of 39 goals for 94 points. Hall has been the oil that drives the engine of the Devils as he has scored 41 more points than Niko Hischier. The rookie Hischier is the second leading scorer of the Devils.
"At the start of this season, people wrote us off. People have wrote me off. It feels pretty good standing up here," said Hall, who was traded by the Edmonton Oilers to the Devils two seasons ago.
Connor McDavid Leads Other Winners
Meanwhile, Connor McDavid took his second consecutive Ted Lindsay Award. He also became the first player to win such recognition twice before his 22nd birthday.
McDavid hit the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career. The Oilers pivot has also led the league in scoring for the second straight year. He finished this season with an incredible total of 108 points.
Tampa Bay Lightning star Victor Hedman captured the Norris Trophy while Kopitar did not go home empty-handed as he grabbed the Selke Trophy. New York Islanders' Matthew Barzal was recognized the Calder Memorial Trophy after a majestic rookie season. Barzal outscored all rookies this season finishing the year with 85 points which are more than any other freshmen in the competition.
Other winners were Nashville Predators' Pekka Rinne who won the Vezina Trophy while Gerard Gallant of the Vegas Golden Knights was named as the Coach of the Year. Besides Gallant, other members of the Golden Knights who bagged an award were Lady Byng winner William Karlsson, NHL Leadership awardee Deryk Engelland while George McPhee was awarded as the General Manager of the Year.
Rounding up the winners were Masterton awardee Brian Boyle of the Devils and Daniel and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks who won the King Clancy Memorial trophy.
Tricia Hall | Flickr
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