The Colorado Avalanche have been on top of the league for pretty much the entire season, securing the Presidents‘ trophy after last week's win over Calgary. Yet, a reality exists in which Avalanche players (and coaches) don't take home many of the individual awards. The only award that is a virtual lock is Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood grabbing the William M. Jennings trophy, awarded to the goaltender(s) who allow the fewest goals during the regular season.
ESPN insider Greg Wyshynski just published their final awards watch article of the season. I'll be referring to this when talking about listed favorites.
No dogs in the race
There are a few awards that the Avalanche don't have a player really competing for, so I'll just get these out of the way. The Calder Memorial, the NHL's rookie of the year award, isn't going to an Avs player as Zakhar Bardakov is the only rookie the club has. The Lady Byng trophy, awarded to the most gentlemanly player isn't easy to predict. Most in the hockey universe don't really put any stock into this award anyways.
Where the Avs could miss out
The Frank J. Selke award, awarded to the forward who best represents the defensive side of the game is more than likely going to Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens.
Suzuki fits the typical mold of previous Selke winners, like Patrice Bergeron or Anze Kopitar. However, according to Wyshynski, Brock Nelson has pushed himself into the conversation and is second on the list. I think Nelson has had a strong defensive season, but as I stated before, Suzuki is the guy for this award.
The Vezina trophy, awarded to the top goaltender in the league, is for the first time in a few years actually up for grabs.
With Connor Hellebuyck's injury and Winnipeg's struggles this season, it's finally time for someone else to step up and grab this trophy. Scott Wedgewood leads the NHL in both save percentage (.918) and GAA (2.07 as of Monday night’s win), yet is not listed in the ESPN's latest top three.
The knock on him here is that he's played significantly less time than the top goaltenders due to the timeshare in net with Mackenzie Blackwood. Wedgewood is fifth in wins at 30 (tied with several others and 26th in games played with 44. While I understand the knock, it's hard for me to accept that Wedgewood isn't one of the three best goaltenders this season.
For the Norris trophy, the award for the top defenseman in the league, Avalanche fans are likely to be concerned about this race year in and year out, with Cale Makar on the roster, likely for the long term. While he's likely to be a finalist for the sixth year in a row, Makar just hasn't done enough to lock down his third Norris. Makar has missed some time and the struggles on the power play this season have hurt his overall points impact. The Norris trophy might be the most hotly debated award this year.
The Bill Masterton trophy is awarded to the player who shows the most perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game of hockey. Last year, Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog was nominated, but lost to Sean Monahan of Columbus. Landeskog has been nominated again and is probably one of the leading favorites with how well his return to hockey has gone.
Outside of the players, head coach Jared Bednar would seem like a good choice for the Jack Adams, but you won't find his name on the finalists list. I mean, what does this guy have to do? He's only been a finalist once in his tenure.
The MacKinnon awards
Nathan MacKinnon has the chance to win a bunch of awards. He'd have to have an incredible final two-game performance after the Oilers game in which he had two shots but zero points.
MacKinnon is in contention for both the Art Ross, most points in the regular season, and the Maurice "Rocket" Richard, most goals in the regular season. He's currently third in points, eight points back from Connor McDavid for the league lead and first in goals with 52, just one ahead of Montreal's Cole Caufield.
It's unlikely MacKinnon does enough to win the Art Ross, but the Rocket is his to lose. If he rests in any of these final games, he may not win either.
The Dogg keeps on climbing 🐶 pic.twitter.com/JDuPdGVVuA
— P - Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 10, 2026
This is where we lead into the MVP discussions, the Hart Memorial and the Ted Lindsay. The front runner for the Hart trophy is Nikita Kucherov, who's been on an absolute tear since the Olympic break.
McDavid has also lit it up lately, and has been without Leon Draisaitl for the last couple of weeks. MacKinnon just hasn't been quite as strong as either of them since the break and has a healthier and stronger supporting cast. The Ted Lindsay is an MVP award like the Hart, but voted on by the players instead of the media. In the past 10 years, the winner of the Hart trophy has also won the Ted Lindsay eight times.
I believe that if MacKinnon were to win the Art Ross or end up with a sizable lead in the goal scoring race, that it could propel him into the Hart/Ted Lindsay lead. In all likelihood, the team will rest him for a game or two and miss out on everything. The Avs are more focused on the ultimate prize: winning the Stanley Cup.
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