Islanders’ Mathew Barzal is NHL Rookie of the Year
Mathew Barzal of the Islanders arrives to the 2018 NHL Awards presented by Hulu at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Wednesday in Las Vegas. Credit: Getty Images / Bruce Bennett
Mathew Barzal ran away with the NHL rookie scoring race last season.
And on Wednesday, the Islanders center was revealed as the runaway winner of the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year at the NHL Awards Show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
In voting conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, Barzal garnered an overwhelming 160 first-place votes and had 1,626 points. Canucks right wing Brock Boeser finished second with two first-place votes and 750 points, the only other rookie to get more than one first-place vote. Coyotes center Clayton Keller was the third finalist.
Barzal, 21, became the fifth Islander to win the Calder after Denis Potvin (1974), Bryan Trottier (1976), Mike Bossy (1978) and Bryan Berard (1997).
Barzal was the 16th overall pick in 2015. Last season he had 22 goals and tied Trottier’s rookie club record with 63 assists while playing all 82 games.
He finished 20 points ahead of Keller, his nearest competitor, in the rookie scoring race.
Barzal was the first rookie to have at least 20 goals and 60 assists since the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby in 2005-06.
Barzal was handed the Calder Trophy by members of the Stoneman Douglas High School hockey team, the Parkland, Florida school where 14 students and three staff members were shot and killed on Feb. 14.
“It’s an honor to get this award from these boys,” said Barzal, who also met with the 10 survivors of the Humboldt Broncos’ junior hockey team bus crash that claimed 16 lives on April 6. “I want to thank all my teammates this year, all my coaches, our owners and our passionate New York Islanders’ fan base. I wouldn’t be up here if it weren’t for any of you guys.”
The Devils’ Taylor Hall won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP in PHWA voting and New Jersey teammate Brian Boyle, diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, won the Masterton Trophy for dedication and perseverance to the sport.
The Oilers’ Connor McDavid won the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHL’s most outstanding player as voted upon by the NHL Players Association for the second straight year, becoming the first player in NHL history to win the award twice before the age of 22.
The Lightning’s Victor Hedman won the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman and the Predators’ Pekka Rinne won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie.
Islanders’ Calder Trophy Winners
Denis Potvin, 1974 — 17 goals, 37 assists
Bryan Trottier, 1976 — 32 goals, 63 assists
Mike Bossy, 1978 — 53 goals, 38 assists
Bryan Berard, 1997 — 8 goals, 40 assists
Mathew Barzal, 2017 — 22 goals, 63 assists
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
