Boston Bruins: The 5 most likely NHL awards a Bruin could win in 2020-21
What NHL awards are the Boston Bruins most likely to take home for the 2020-21 season?
There’s no doubt that the Boston Bruins have a bunch of talented hockey players on their team going into the 2020-21 season. So much talent, that we could see several NHL awards going home with different Bruins.
But what awards are the Bruins most likely to take home and which Bruins are most likely to take these awards home?
In 2019-20, the goalie duo of Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak took home the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the least number of goals in the NHL. Are they destined to repeat in 2020-21?
Center Patrice Bergeron is currently tied for the most wins of the Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded to the best defensive forward, in NHL history with four. Can he break the record in 2020-21 and win a fifth?
Head coach Bruce Cassidy received the Jack Adams Award in 2019-20 for being the league’s best coach. Can he repeat in 2020-21?
Will right wing David Pastrnak repeat as the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner by scoring the most goals in 2020-21?
5. Jack Adams Award – Bruce Cassidy
Head coach Bruce Cassidy was undoubtedly a deserving candidate for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s best head coach after Boston’s 2019-20 campaign.
The team finished first in their division with a regular-season record of 44-14-12 and allowed the fewest goals in the league, while also being top-10 in offense.
However, with the departure of defenseman Torey Krug in free agency, the uncertainty of captain Zdeno Chara returning, and star wingers Pastrnak and Brad Marchand expected to miss at least the first month of the season, will Boston be able to replicate the same success?
This all depends on how Coach Cassidy handles things. If Boston truly has an elite defensive structure, they’ll be able to be successful without the like of Krug and Chara.
If we’ve learned anything these past two seasons, it’s not always the players, it’s also the system and structure that the coaching staff implements. Just look at the New York Islanders.
If the B’s can make the playoffs without Krug and Chara, and Pastrnak and Marchand both missing extended periods of time, Coach Cassidy should be a lock for the Jack Adams again in 2020-21.
4. The Vezina Trophy – Tuukka Rask
In 2019-20, Rask finished with a league-best 2.12 goals-against average (GAA), .929 save percentage (SV%), five shutouts, .683 quality start percentage (QS%), and a 26-8-6 record. But yet he was just the runner-up to the Vezina Trophy.
Instead, Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck took home the honor of being the league’s best goalie even though his SV%, GAA, and QS% were all worse than Rask’s.
You may be asking what made Hellebuyck better than Rask. Well, I have an answer.
The difference is that Hellebuyck played and started a considerable number of more games than Rask. While Rask played and started just 41 games, Hellebuyck played in a league-most 58 games (56 starts).
The same thing happened to Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop in 2018-19 when he was beaten by Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Bishop had the better stats but only started 45 games, while Vasilevskiy started 53 games.
If Halak goes down, Rask will most likely be given more starts. If he can copy his success from last year over 50+ starts, the 33-year-old should be a lock for his second-career Vezina.
3. William M. Jennings Trophy – Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak
After allowing the fewest goals in the NHL, Rask and Halak were awarded the Jennings Trophy. However, with some major changes happening on the B’s backend, this level of play may be hard to replicate.
The Jennings Trophy is more of a team award than an individual award. This can be seen with the fact that as of recently a goaltending duo usually wins the award.
Additionally, although a team may have an elite goaltender like Hellebuyck or Vasilevskiy, they also need an elite defense to really limit the number of goals they let up.
With Krug leaving for St. Louis via free agency and the unlikelihood of Chara returning, this will be extremely difficult for an inexperienced Bruins defense.
However, I think Boston taking home the Jennings Trophy is a bit more likely than Rask winning the Vezina. Coach Cassidy just needs to know where and when to play his defensemen to get the best possible product.
Rask hasn’t started more than 50 games in each of the last two seasons, and at his age, his stats would most likely take a hit with a heavier workload.
2. Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy – David Pastrnak
Pastrnak ended up sharing the Rocket Richard Trophy with Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin in 2019-20 as both of them finished the regular season with 48 goals.
If the NHL is able to start the 2020-21 season on Jan. 1 like they want to, Pastrnak will be looking at at least a month of missed hockey. However, this doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a chance at the Rocket Richard.
Right now the target date for the season start is Jan. 1, as I previously stated. However, there are rumors that the season won’t be starting until February. If this is the case, Pasta’s chances of repeating as the Rocket Richard winner increase significantly.
Either way, we’ll most likely see Pasta on pace for 50+ goals again if he were playing a full 82-game schedule. But if he misses some time due to his offseason surgery, this may not be good enough as he’ll start his season behind the eight ball.
If the season starts in February and Pasta manages to not miss any time, he’ll still have some elite competition in Ovechkin, New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad, Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, and even Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos if he can remain healthy.
1. Frank J. Selke Trophy – Patrice Bergeron
Over his Hall of Fame, 16-year NHL career, Bergeron has won the Selke Trophy a record-tieing four times. His most recent being in 2016-17.
Bergeron has been in the top-five for the Selke in each of his last 11 seasons and has been top-three for the last nine seasons. Last season, 2019-20, he was the runner-up to Philadephia Flyers center Sean Couturier for the award.
Although Bergeron is now 35 years old, he has yet to lose a step when it comes to any part of his game.
There hasn’t been a season where he hasn’t been on pace for 50+ points and he’s only had one season where his plus/minus (+/-) has been negative. Additionally, Bergeron is consistently one of the best when it comes to faceoffs and always has more takeaways than turnovers.
Bergeron winning a record-breaking fifth Selke in 2020-21 isn’t a lock to happen, however, it definitely is the most likely to happen out of all the five awards on this list.
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The Selke is awarded to the best defensive forward in the NHL, and Bergeron is definitely still one of them.