theScore's picks for the 2021 NHL Awards

Now that the 2021 NHL regular season is in the rearview mirror, it's time to evaluate who deserves some of the league's most coveted hardware.

Our hockey editors each made their top three selections for six awards. The votes submitted by the individual writers who handled this season's Hart, Vezina, Norris, and Calder Trophy Power Rankings carried more weight for their specific honors. However, those races - and nearly all of them overall - produced unanimous winners.

Here are theScore's choices for this season's premier NHL awards:

Jack Adams Award Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty

Winner: Rod Brind'Amour
Second: Joel Quenneville
Third: Mike Sullivan

This was the only award of the six in which the winner wasn't unanimous, but Brind'Amour still convincingly claimed the top spot. He earned five of seven first-place votes and landed in everyone's top three after guiding the Carolina Hurricanes to the NHL's third-best record and an unexpected Central Division title.

Quenneville garnered the other two first-place nods as well as a second and a third. He led the Florida Panthers to the league's fourth-best record and a second-place finish in the Central, just one point behind the Hurricanes. Few expected the Panthers to do that well, especially after they lost Aaron Ekblad for the rest of the season due to injury in late March.

Sullivan secured four second-place votes and a third for his efforts. The Pittsburgh Penguins bench boss deserves some recognition for steering the club to the East Division title amid numerous injuries to key players, including Evgeni Malkin.

Selke Trophy Mark Blinch / National Hockey League / Getty

Winner: Aleksander Barkov
Second: Mark Stone
Third: Patrice Bergeron

The Panthers get some redemption here, as our staff anoints Barkov the NHL's top defensive forward. He's never finished higher than fourth for this honor despite being a perennial candidate, but this is the year he deserves to win. The Florida captain excels at underappreciated skills like takeaways and faceoffs. Plus, the Panthers' scoring chances and expected goals shares were both above 60% this season when Barkov was on the ice at five-on-five.

Stone earned five second-place votes. The Vegas Golden Knights captain led the NHL in takeaways per 60 minutes among skaters with at least 35 games played, and his two-way prowess warrants recognition in its own right.

What Bergeron accomplished in 2021 was also impressive, considering the four-time Selke winner's new responsibilities wearing the "C" for the Boston Bruins and the fact he'll turn 36 in July.

Calder Trophy Hannah Foslien / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Winner: Kirill Kaprizov
Second: Jason Robertson
Third: Alex Nedeljkovic

This race was Kaprizov's to lose for most of the season. While Robertson made a strong push toward the end of the campaign, his 24-year-old Minnesota Wild counterpart closed it out with four straight multi-point games before the regular-season finale.

Robertson got six runner-up votes. The 21-year-old Dallas Stars winger tied Josh Norris for second among rookies with 17 goals - 10 fewer than Kaprizov - while playing five fewer games than the Ottawa Senators center and four fewer contests than our Calder winner.

Nedeljkovic stepped up for the Hurricanes in Petr Mrazek's absence. The 25-year-old authored a sparkling .932 save percentage and ranked third in the NHL with 12.91 goals saved above expected in 2021. He played only 23 games, but his stellar performance earned him the third spot over Igor Shesterkin, who suited up for 35 contests but posted inferior numbers.

Norris Trophy Jared Silber / National Hockey League / Getty

Winner: Adam Fox
Second: Cale Makar
Third: Charlie McAvoy

Fox led NHL defensemen in assists and ranked second in points at the position, but he did far more than just post gaudy offensive numbers. The New York Rangers rearguard's favorable underlying stats further illustrate his immense value. He drove possession for a team that ranked near the middle and bottom of the league in goals for and expected goals for percentages, respectively.

Just as Fox earned all seven of our first-place votes, Makar was the undisputed runner-up. The Colorado Avalanche star led the NHL in points per game (with exactly one) among qualified blue-liners and tied for fifth in total points at the position despite missing 12 games due to injury. He also ranked fourth among qualified defensemen in expected goals for percentage and ninth in goals for percentage with rates over 60%.

McAvoy tied Dougie Hamilton for third in our voting, but he nabs the spot as the Norris Trophy Power Rankings editor's No. 3 pick. The Bruins blue-liner is arguably more deserving, considering he carried a depleted defensive group following the offseason departures of Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara.

Hamilton's offensive output was superior, but it's not all about points, especially with defensemen. McAvoy was a more complete player and his team suffered more without him on the ice than Carolina did without Hamilton.

Meanwhile, Victor Hedman earned a lone third-place vote. That's likely because the Tampa Bay Lightning were surprisingly better at driving possession without him on the ice in 2021, and the fact that he generally doesn't get the most difficult assignments. Hedman has been playing through an injury. But despite his point total and his perennial status as the NHL's most dynamic defenseman, he wasn't among the absolute best this season.

Vezina Trophy Scott Audette / National Hockey League / Getty

Winner: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Second: Marc-Andre Fleury
Third: Juuse Saros

Vasilevskiy was a model of durability, consistency, and excellence this season. He played the second-most games among goaltenders, and his reliability was critical for a Lightning squad missing superstar Nikita Kucherov for the entire regular season and captain Steven Stamkos for the final month.

Fleury, who nabbed five second-place votes, was one of the campaign's best stories. He was brilliant while Robin Lehner was out with a concussion for a large portion of the season. The three-time Stanley Cup champion authored the NHL's best GSAx in all situations and also produced impressive conventional numbers - all at age 36.

Saros was the most unexpected Vezina candidate, but Pekka Rinne's heir apparent took a major step toward fulfilling his potential. The 26-year-old almost singlehandedly carried the Nashville Predators to a surprising playoff berth. He led the league in GSAx at five-on-five for the season and posted a .932 save percentage over his final 16 games.

Hart Trophy Richard Lautens / Toronto Star / Getty

Winner: Connor McDavid
Second: Auston Matthews
Third: Nathan MacKinnon

McDavid has had the Hart in the bag for months, and our unanimous vote reflected that. The Edmonton Oilers captain made it impossible not to select him, leading the league with an incredible 105 points over the 56-game campaign.

Matthews, who received all seven second-place votes, was the only player to outscore McDavid this season. His 41-goal output makes him a worthy runner-up.

MacKinnon started slowly by his standards, but he was dominant in the second half. The perennial Hart candidate's stellar play was the biggest reason why the often undermanned Avalanche captured the Presidents' Trophy. MacKinnon helped Colorado finish atop the NHL standings despite missing numerous impact players for several stretches due to injuries and COVID-19 protocol.

Sidney Crosby earned more votes than MacKinnon, but our Hart Trophy Power Rankings editor and another writer chose the latter, thereby giving MacKinnon the nod. Crosby's performance this season was commendable considering the Penguins' injuries. However, MacKinnon's underlying numbers were far superior, and the Avalanche forward collected three more points despite playing seven fewer games.

(Analytics sources: Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey)

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