Las Vegas — Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon was the big winner at Thursday’s NHL awards show, taking home the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP and the Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player as decided by the NHL Players Association.
MacKinnon, who helped lead the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup championship two years ago and was a finalist for the Hart for the fourth time and the second time for the Lindsay, had never won either award.
“Every player I grew up idolizing has their name on these things,” MacKinnon said. “To be a part of that company is surreal. It hasn’t really sunk in and it’s a special thing.”
Three other major awards where handed out earlier Thursday.
Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard was selected as the league’s top rookie, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy. Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce Township) of the Winnipeg Jets won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie, and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks was named winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the top defenseman.
MacKinnon had a career-high 140 points this season. He opened the season with a 35-game point streak at home, second all-time only to Wayne Gretzky.
Gretzky, who won the Hart eight times and Lindsay five times, and Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby congratulated McKinnon after he won those awards. Crosby has won the Hart twice and the Lindsay three times.
“That’s always pretty cool to see Wayne Gretzky pop up on your phone,” MacKinnon said. “Seeing his name like 100 times on (the Hart Trophy).”
MacKinnon finished the season with 54 goals and 89 assists.
He beat out Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers for the Hart and Kucherov and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Lindsay.
MacKinnon received 137 first-place votes and 1,740 points in the Hart voting by the media. Kucherov was second with 50 first-place votes and 1,269 points.
“I think once you get there, you really want to win it,” MacKinnon said. “A couple of times I was nominated, it was never even close I was going to win it. I just wanted to enjoy my week here, and I didn’t know if it was going to happen.”
Bedard, one of the most-hyped prospects in recent years, was last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick by the Blackhawks and led all rookies with 61 points. He also was first with 22 goals and his 39 assists tied for the lead as well despite missing 14 games with a broken jaw.
Bedard, who turns 19 on July 17, is too young to drink legally to celebrate winning the trophy. He also isn’t experiencing with as much as attention as last year when Bedard entered the draft as the unquestioned top draft pick.
“It’s been more quiet this summer, which has been pretty nice,” Bedard said.
Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild and Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils were the other contenders.
Hellebuyck, who also won the Vezina in 2020, allowed 2.39 goals were per game, had a .921 save percentage and recorded five shutouts. Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers and Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks were the other finalists.
Hughes, won the Norris Trophy for the first time, led all defenseman with 92 points and 75 assists. He also scored 17 goals. Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators and Cale Makar of the Avalanche were the other contenders.
Hughes has two brothers, Jack and Luke also in the NHL.
“I probably love watching my brothers play most, but you’re next on that list,” Hughes said of the other finalists.
Awards announced earlier include:
▶ Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov won the Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward for the second time in four years.
▶ Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. He also won it in 2021.
▶ Rick Tocchet received the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year. He led the Vancouver Canucks to the Pacific Division title.
▶ Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill was named the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award winner.
MSU’s Levshunov’s projected as a top-five pick
Artyom Levshunov hoped to play juniors in the Canadian Hockey League, knowing it could lead to his dreams of becoming a professional hockey player.
However, because of CHL rules restricting Belarussians and Russians from competing because of the war in Ukraine, he had no other choice but to go the USHL and U.S. college route, if he wanted to develop his game in North America.
All leagues aside, Levshunov’s Plan B proved a success. The 18-year-old Michigan State defenseman enters the NHL draft on Friday projected to be a top-five pick, with the chance to be taken as early as second overall by the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I think we’ll see,” Levshunov said when asked where he might be selected. “I mean, I think, for me, actually, just to be drafted in the NHL would be really like pretty cool for me. Yeah. Any team will be good for me.”
At 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, the smooth-skating, playmaking defenseman has the chance of becoming the fourth player from Belarus chosen in the first round, and first since Montreal selected forward Andrei Kostitsyn 10th in 2003. No player from Belarus has been selected higher than defenseman Ruslan Salei, who went ninth to Anaheim in 1996.
Levshunov is ranked second among North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting bureau, and made his mark in his North American debut with USHL Green Bay in 2022-23 by finishing eighth among league rookies with 42 points (13 goals, 29 assists) in 62 games.
At Michigan State, he’s coming off a freshman season in which he scored nine goals, and finished second on the Spartans with 26 assists and 35 points. He finished tied for ninth among NCAA defensemen in points while also being selected as the Big Ten Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
He helped the Spartans win Big Ten regular-season and postseason titles.
“I came here to the U.S. because, yeah, it’s just my dream to be in NHL,” Levshunov said. “I spent one season there (in the USHL) and went to college and I think, yeah, it worked for me.”
The dual threat of swift skating and high-end puck skills combine nicely with his size and strength, all of which have many believing he is ready to make an immediate jump into the NHL.
He wasn’t ready to commit to the NHL this season, or being definitive about returning to college, as he said, “I think first I should be drafted. Then we’ll see.” He also acknowledged it may take time to prepare for the NHL and he won’t know until he speaks to his camp.
“Of course, I would like to be there as soon as possible, as soon as I’m ready,” said Levshunov, who was selected to the USHL All-Rookie team in 2022-23. “Because, yeah, it’s dream. It’s a dream to be there, to play there.”
Levshunov, who has proven he brings efficiency in the defensive zone with an excellent grasp of positioning and coverage, attributes his aggressiveness as someone who won’t hesitate to jump into plays or challenge forwards with a steady backward stride to defend against rushes to his dedication in the gym.
Whether it’s conditioning, stretching, mobility, weightlifting, or speed workouts, Levshunov is a self-proclaimed gym rat.
“I like to work out,” he said. “I like to be in the gym, because hockey is a tough sport and I gotta stay strong on the ice. I love to be in the gym.”
And the first player he would like to “stuff one-on-one” by putting his toughness to the test during his debut season?
“I think you know the answer,” he said. “Yeah, I think is the best forward in the league, at this point right now, is Connor McDavid. There’s a lot of good players in the NHL.”
And Levshunov’s journey to becoming one of them continues Friday night at the Sphere, which will host its first sports-related event since its opening.
“It feels more real now, it feels more like a dream,” he said. “I saw the videos how (the Sphere is) gonna look like inside and outside. My face will be around Las Vegas.”
UM commit Epperson heads to Saginaw
The Memorial Cup champion Saginaw Spirit signed forward Kristian Epperson to an Ontario Hockey League scholarship and development agreement.
Epperson, who had previously committed to the University of Michigan, spent the last two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program.
This year, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound left-winger had 39 goals and 61 assists for 100 points in 56 games.
“We’re beyond thrilled to welcome Kristian and his family to Saginaw today,” Spirit GM Dave Drinkill said. “When we drafted him a few years ago, we always hoped he would wear a Spirit uniform. It’s exciting to see him join our organization today after his time with the USNTDP.”
The Spirit originally drafted Epperson in the fifth round (84th overall) of the 2022 OHL Priority Selection from the Shattuck St. Mary’s 15U AAA squad.
“After speaking with Dave Drinkill and (coach) Chris Lazary and hearing their vision for myself and the team, I was excited,” Epperson said. “Not only is there an excellent opportunity for development, but an opportunity to win.”
Rangers hire ex-Northern Michigan coach Potulny
Grant Potulny is leaving Northern Michigan to become the coach of the New York Rangers’ American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut.
Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury announced the hiring of the 44-year-old Potulny on Thursday.
Kris Knoblauch started last season as the coach of the Wolf Pack, but he left in early November to take over as the Edmonton Oilers coach after Jay Woodcroft was fired. Knoblauch led the Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final before losing 2-1 to the Florida Panthers on Monday night.
Steve Smith served as Hartford’s interim head coach for the rest of this past season.
Potulny spent the past seven seasons at Northern Michigan, leading the Wildcats to a 128-113-17 record. His teams made the finals of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in 2020-21 and 2022-23.
The Grand Forks, North Dakota, native started his coaching career as an assistant with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. During his eight-year tenure, they won the Big Ten regular-season championship in four consecutive seasons as well as the Big Ten tournament championship in 2014-15. The team advanced to the NCAA championship game in 2013-14.
Potulny has also been a member of Team USA’s coaching staff in several international tournaments.
A fifth-round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators in the 2000 NHL draft, Potulny played five seasons in the minor leagues prior to beginning his coaching career. He also played four seasons at Minnesota, serving as the team’s captain for his final two seasons, helping it win back-to-back national titles in 2001-02 and 2002-03.
Blackhawks acquire Mikheyev, Lafferty
The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired forwards Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty and a 2027 second-round pick from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
The Canucks will retain 15% of Mikheyev’s salary as a part of the deal announced Wednesday night.
Mikheyev, 29, had 11 goals and 20 assists in 78 games during the 2023-24 season for Vancouver. He signed a four-year deal with the Canucks in free agency in July 2022 after three seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Meanwhile, Lafferty makes a return to the Blackhawks, who signed him to the two-year deal he just completed this season. Chicago traded Lafferty to Toronto in February 2023 before the Leafs moved him to Vancouver in October 2023.
The 29-year-old had 13 goals and 11 assists in 79 games for the Canucks this past season and is now a pending unrestricted free agent.
The NHL free agent signing period begins on Monday.
Julien returning as Blues assistant coach
Claude Julien is back behind an NHL bench as an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues.
President of hockey operations and general manager Doug Armstrong announced Thursday that Julien is joining coach Drew Bannister’s staff. Julien spent the past two years scouting for the Blues.
The 2011 Stanley Cup-winning coach of the Boston Bruins, Julien led Canada at the 2022 Beijing Olympics following his second stint at the helm of the Montreal Canadiens, which ran from 2017-21.
The Blues also promoted Steve Ott to associate coach and extended his contract through the 2025-26 season. Ott is going into his eighth season with the team.
Fellow assistant Mike Weber and goaltending coach David Alexander also got extensions through 2025-26.
Ducks reveal original ‘Mighty Ducks’ logo
The Anaheim Ducks are going back to a version of their original logo made famous by Disney’s “Mighty Ducks” movie franchise.
The NHL team this week unveiled an orange-centric version of the goalie mask in the shape of a duck’s face as part of a rebranding effort that emphasizes its home in Orange County, California.
“As our organization enters a new chapter of Anaheim Ducks hockey, we are proud to reveal our new, refreshed logo and uniform kit that identifies with the Orange County community,” owners Henry and Susan Samueli said. “The Ducks are a symbol of Orange County, and our pivot to orange with an updated, iconic logo encompasses our past, present and future.”
Founded and brought into the league by Disney and beginning play in the 1993-94 season, the team was originally known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The purple jerseys that were synonymous with the first 12 years of existence got a look on the silver screen at the end of “D2: The Mighty Ducks,” which came out in March 1994.
The Samuelis bought the team in 2005 and changed the name to the Anaheim Ducks. With that came a shift to gold, black and orange and version of a web-footed D-shaped logo, including “Ducks” spelled out across the front of jerseys when Anaheim won the Stanley Cup in 2007.
The Ducks and Southern California-rival Los Angeles Kings rebranded at the same time. The Kings brought back a modernized version of the silver, black and white logo and uniforms made popular during Wayne Gretzky’s time with them in the ’90s.
