Victor Hedman has joined Brent Burns and Mark Giordano as this summer’s Norris Trophy finalists -- Hedman’s third year in a row being nominated (he took the award home last summer). Back in January when the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association voted on “midseason” awards, the results were quite different -- Morgan Rielly got the nod alongside Giordano and Burns, not Hedman. The rationale for the change is pretty sound, and Lauren laid it out for us in her article at the end of March. Burns, Giordano, Rielly, and Carlson are still the top four in defenseman scoring as of [March 29], but Hedman has put up more points than the last three since the [All Star] break (albeit just one point). Although the Norris nominees have usually been those high in scoring among defensemen, it’s not the only thing considered for a nomination (at least, it shouldn’t be). Despite his overall point totals, Hedman is third in the NHL among defensemen in WAR (wins above replacement) behind Rielly and Carlson. Does Raw Charge think he’ll win? Not this year. Based on the seasons that past winners have had (as well as his current competition), Hedman probably hasn’t had a strong enough season offensively to really win the Norris this season (Giordano will probably win it this year). However, Hedman’s defensive game hasn’t faltered this season on a Lightning team who can sometimes struggle in their own end. Anyway, here’s the nomination press release: Hedman voted Norris Trophy finalist [Tampa Bay Lightning] The reigning Norris Trophy winner registered 12-42-54 in 70 games as the anchor of a Lightning defense that allowed the fifth-fewest goals in the League en route to tying the NHL record for wins in one season. Hedman topped Tampa Bay blueliners in average time on ice for the sixth consecutive season (22:46) while logging a +24 rating, tied for ninth among all League defensemen. He also scored 10-plus goals for the sixth straight year, tied for the longest such streak among NHL blueliners (w/ Burns, Giordano, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Roman Josi). The other thing that happened yesterday in Tampa Bay Lightning news is this. The organization took out an apologetic advertisement in the Tampa Bay Times, signed by all of the players, promising to “do all that we can this summer and throughout next season to ensure a better result for all of us in 2019-20.” From our players to you, as seen in today’s @tbtimes_sports. ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/jrwX4PSdc0 — Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 21, 2019 This off-season won’t just be a test for the players, but for Julien BriseBois too — it’ll be his first summer flying solo, with a lot of salary cap considerations to juggle. The TBTimes wrote this up, but Raw Charge will do our own treatment of this in a week or two. Salary-cap shadow looms over Lightning’s roster [Tampa Bay Times, paid content] Ryan Callahan, Braydon Coburn, Dan Girardi, Anton Stralman It’s probable that at least one of these players has worn his Lightning jersey for the last time. Callahan, Coburn and Girardi are the eldest on the roster at 34 (Girardi turns 35 on April 29), and Stralman is 32 (33 on Aug. 1). Forward Callahan, signed for one more season at $5.8 million, did not play as much as he has in seasons prior, partially due to injuries. Defensemen Girardi ($3 million) and Stralman ($4.5 million), who can be unrestricted free agents July 1, were out for much of the latter part of the season hurt. Defenseman Coburn ($3.7 million) also can be an unrestricted free agent. If the Lightning wants any of the free agents back, it’s possible that for family reasons they would take less money to stick around so they could finish their careers in Tampa Bay while making cap room. The Prospects After a painful loss in Game 2, the Syracuse Crunch are looking to take back the ice in Game 3. Watch this video from Spectrum Syracuse. And then there’s Connor Ingram. My bro has babies born on 6/9 and 4/20. Legend. — Connor Ingram (@CBIngram1) April 21, 2019 Playoff recap from JustinG. : Boston 4, Toronto 2 (Series Tied 3-3) Why would Toronto make things easy for their fans by actually winning Game 6 at home? Nope they have to torture them with another Game 7. Morgan Rielly opened the scoring for the Leafs before the Bruins scored the next three (Brad Marchand, Torey Krug and Jake DeBrusk). Auston Matthews made things exciting with his fifth goal of the series four minutes into the period, but Toronto could not find the equalizer. Marchand sealed the deal with an empty net goal. The series moves to Boston for the big finish. [Pension Plan Puppets] The Leafs haven’t been near the Bruins net enough. A lot of their shooting is point shots, and I don’t know why some fans believe in them so fervently, but that’s not a good sign. If the Leafs can’t bust through to the net on a cycle, then they need rush chances, and they aren’t getting them because their movement through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone is not great. San Jose 2, Vegas 1 (2OT) (Series Tied at 3) Tomas Hertl scored shorthanded midway through the second overtime to send the series back to San Jose tied. His goal, and Martin Jones franchise-record 58 saves, kept the Sharks from becoming yet another higher seed eliminated in the first round. Logan Couture opened the scoring for San Jose while former Lightning Jonathan Marchessault was the lone Golden Knight who beat Jones. [Knights on Ice]<doc-sep>Awards season shifts to the crease as the three finalists for the NHL’s top netminder were unveiled on Saturday. The nominees, voted by the league’s 31 general managers, including Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars, Robin Lehner of the New York Islanders and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The award was first presented by Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau and Joe Cattarinich, former owners of the Montreal Canadiens,1926-27 in memory Georges Vezina, who died in 1925 from tuberculosis. Prior to the 1981-82 season, the goaltender(s) of a team with the fewest number of goals allowed during the regular season was awarded the trophy. The winner will be announced on June 19 (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN) at the 2019 NHL Awards in Las Vegas. [NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB] The case for Ben Bishop: Bishop was superb all season, leading all goalies with a .934 save percentage, finishing second in goals-against average with a 1.98 and third in shutouts with seven. Bishop came to life down the stretch, going 8-0-1 in his final 10 appearances as the Stars grabbed the first wildcard spot in the Western Conference. He had three straight shutouts during that span, setting a franchise record for longest shutout streak at 233:04. His .934 save percentage was also a franchise record and the eighth-best by any goalie in league history. Bishop was 27-15-2 in 46 games. The case for Robin Lehner: Lehner had a turnaround season for the ages, overcoming some personal demons and switching teams from Buffalo to the New York Islanders. Lehner thrived in his move across state, posting the second-best save percentage in the league at .930, third in goals-against at 2.13 and tied for fourth with six shutouts. Lehner’s season play really shined between Dec. 18 and Jan. 10 where he won eight straight games. He, along with Thomas Greiss, formed a formidable one-two punch in the Islanders’ crease, one that ultimately helped the Isles into the postseason after losing John Tavares to free agency last summer. The Islanders went from worst in goals-against to first, a feat only done once before in NHL history. Lehner was 25-13-5 in 46 games. The case for Andrei Vasilevskiy: Vasilevskiy posted 39 wins in 53 games and was a big reason why the Tampa Bay Lightning tied an NHL record for most wins in a season with 62. Vasilevskiy won 18 of the first 21 games he appeared in to get Tampa to the feat, including a 10-game winning streak between Feb. 9 and March 5. Vasilevskiy’s best play came after a loss. In fact, he only lost consecutive outings once all season, posting a 13-0-1 record following a defeat. He finished third last season and has a good chance to take home the hardware this year. MORE 2019 NHL AWARD FINALISTS: • Selke Trophy • Lady Bing Trophy • Masteron Trophy Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck<doc-sep>
On Friday, the NHL and the Professional Hockey Writers Association announced the three finalists for the 2019 Masterton Trophy, which is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” Nick Foligno of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Robin Lehner of the New York Islanders, and Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks have been voted the three finalists after the PHWA’s local chapters submitted nominations at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters getting the trip to Las Vegas in June.. The trophy was presented by the NHL Writers’ Association in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player with the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited to a high degree the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey and who died on Jan. 15, 1968. The winner will be announced on June 19 (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN) at the 2019 NHL Awards in Las Vegas. [NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB] Nick Foligno’s story: Foligno helped Columbus earn a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third consecutive year by scoring 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 73 games, while simultaneously attending to health issues affecting two of his three young children. The Blue Jackets captain, 31, is skating in his seventh season with Columbus and ranks third on the club’s all-time goals (125) and assists (162) lists. “I feel like we’ve become a stronger family and that’s how I’m always going to look at it. I think it’s made me a better person, a better player and a better leader, hopefully, for this team,” Foligno told the Columbus Dispatch. “I’m going to take it all in stride, but my family is my most important thing in my life and (the Blue Jackets are) my second family.” Robin Lehner’s story: Lehner (25-13-5 record, 2.13 goals against average, .930 save percentage, six shutouts) and teammate Thomas Greiss won the 2018-19 William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders on the team allowing the fewest regular-season goals, helping the Islanders post their highest regular-season points total (103) since 1983-84. His best NHL season on the ice came on the heels of revealing addiction and mental health issues in a self-penned article for The Athletic during training camp. Story continues “I am not sharing this story to make people think differently of Robin Lehner as a professional goalie,” Lehner wrote. “I want to help make a difference and help others the way I have been helped. I want people to know that there is hope in desperation, there is healing in facing an ugly past and there is no shame in involving others in your battle.” Joe Thornton’s story: Thornton, 39, overcame major injuries from the prior two seasons, suffering a torn ACL and MCL in both his left knee (2017) and right knee (2018). His rehabilitation work, detailed in the San Jose Mercury News, served as an inspiration to his teammates and coaches. The leader among active NHL players in career assists and points (413 goals, 1,065 assists, 1,478 points in 1,566 games), Thornton concluded his 21st NHL campaign with 51 points (16 goals, 35 assists) in 73 games, helping the Sharks qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 14th time in the past 15 seasons. Thornton scored his 400th career goal on Nov. 13 and passed a pair of NHL legends on April 4, leapfrogging Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564) into 12th place on the all-time games list and Steve Yzerman (1,063) into eighth place on the all-time assists list. A $2,500 grant from the PHWA is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minn., in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner. MORE 2019 NHL AWARD FINALISTS: • Selke Trophy • Lady Byng Trophy ———— Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.