Jamie Benn has been leading the Central Division’s Dallas Stars deep into the postseason this spring, Patrick Kane was offensive dynamite during the regular season, and goaltender Braden Holtby put up historically good numbers en route to a dominant President’s Trophy season.
That’s helped the trio earn nominations as the league’s finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the NHL’s most outstanding regular season player each year.
Benn made a solid argument for earning the award with the Stars this season, putting up a career-high 41 goals and 89 points through a full 82-game season en route to a return to the playoffs for him and his club. That was good to lead his team in scoring by a full 16 points, even without teammate and linemate Tyler Seguin for the latter chunk of the season due to injury.
He’ll have stiff competition from an offensive standpoint, though, in Kane. The former first overall pick put up 46 goals of his own and 106 points, becoming the NHL’s first-ever American-born Art Ross Trophy winner for the league’s leading scorer in the regular season and giving the award its first 100-plus point scorer in two seasons.
For a second consecutive year, though, one of the finalists is a goaltender – and after Carey Price’s impressive performance in 2014-15, Braden Holtby’s year shouldn’t be discounted. The Washington Capitals starter finished his year with a 48-9-5 record and three shutouts, posting a .922 save percentage in all situations in the process.
The winner of the award will be announced at the NHL Awards ceremony this June in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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