2022-23 NHL award predictions: Metro Division edition

Using players from within the division, I shared picks for the Rocket Richard, Norris, Selke, Vezina, and Hart.

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It’s a day that ends with the letter ‘y’ and you know what that means: more season preview content!

I’ve already looked at five breakout candidates and the potential Achilles heels (Part 1, Part 2) of each Metro Division team.

Today, I’ll be sharing picks for most of the major awards using only players from within the division.

Rocket Richard: Alex Ovechkin

Chris Kreider beat out Ovechkin for the Metro lead a season ago, netting 52 in what was a dream season for the gritty veteran. I, uh, don’t see that happening again.

Ovechkin is not the most exciting pick but sometimes the right answer is the boring one. Barring injury, which is rarely an issue with Ovechkin, he’s almost certainly going to lead the Metro in goals.

He ranks 1st among Metro players in goals, shots on goal, and shot attempts over the past two seasons.

Jake Guentzel bested Ovechkin in terms of chances and xG but that’s not necessarily surprising.

Ovechkin, as we all know, is more than happy to pile up the shots from range given he’s one of the few who can still consistently beat goaltenders that way.

The Capitals are still a very strong team, they have offensive stars to support Ovechkin, and he’s chasing history.

He is going to be spoonfed opportunities all season long and has a very real shot at another 50+ goal campaign.

Norris: Jaccob Slavin

I was going to choose Adam Fox but I think the New York Rangers are going to take a bit of a step back, which would obviously hurt his cause. Thus, I’m going ‘off the board’ a little bit with Jaccob Slavin.

I don’t think Slavin has much of a chance at winning the Norris because he doesn’t produce enough. We see year after year that 40-45 points and high-end defense is simply not going to get you the recognition needed to win hardware.

That doesn’t mean things should be that way; or that he can’t be most deserving in my eyes.

Last year Slavin posted a 56.80 xGF% – and +27 goal differential(!!) – at 5v5 despite logging heavy minutes against top competition.

He also set career highs in assists, points, and ranked 2nd among Metro Division defenders in GAR.

He is a fantastic player at both ends of the rink and should have another strong season playing for a good Hurricanes team.

Selke: Nico Hischier