The NHL announced the finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award. The finalists are Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers.
2020 Ted Lindsay Award finalists are Leon Draisaitl (EDM), Nathan MacKinnon (COL) and Artemi Panarin (NYR), as voted by their #NHLPA peers.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 14, 2020
Ted Lindsay Award Finalists Announced
The award is for the most outstanding player in the league as voted by the players. Originally known as the Lester B. Pearson Award, the NHL changed the name to honour Hockey Hall of Famer, Ted Lindsay. Lindsay was a star player during the 1950s establishing the original NHL Player’s Association. The association’s website says that the award is the only one voted on by the players and “represents the highest levels of respect and the ultimate peer review.”
Leon Draisaitl
Draisaitl had the best season of his NHL career this year. The 24-year-old centre scored 43 goals, 67 assists for 110 points in 71 games. Draisaitl finished 13 points ahead of the next closest player on the NHL scoring list. He also finished tops in the league in assists and fourth in goals. He was a crucial player for the Oilers. Draisaitl tied for first in the league in game-winning goals and finished first among NHL forwards in ice-time. This is his first Ted Lindsay nomination and if he wins, he would be the first German player to do so.
Nathan Mackinnon
This is MacKinnon’s second Ted Lindsay nomination. MacKinnon scored 35 goals, 58 assists for 93 points, putting him fifth in league scoring. However, MacKinnon scored 43 more points than the next closest player on his own team. His usual star wingers, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen were hurt at points during the season but that didn’t stop MacKinnon. His 93 points are the third-most in his career. If he played a full season, it would have been his best.
Artemi Panarin
Like Draisaitl, this is Panarin’s first Ted Lindsay nomination. He signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent this season and made a huge first impression. He scored 32 goals and 63 assists for 95 points, which was third in the league in scoring. Panarin’s 71 even-strength points were the best in the NHL. According to Natural Stat Trick, Panarin’s expected goals for was 88.8 but his actual goals for was 128, which is second-best in the league for players who have played over 500 minutes. Patric Hornqvist was the best.
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