The NHL Awards: An Insider's Look at the Process of Picking the Winners

Ever wondered what the process looks like when it comes to keeping track of contenders for the NHL Awards throughout the season? THW's Mark Scheig takes you inside his process.

Every season, the NHL Awards puts a bow on the season that was. Although the awards are based on regular season merit, the winners are not revealed in full until after the playoffs are over.

You know what the major awards are. The Hart Trophy which is awarded to the league MVP. Then there’s the Norris Trophy for best defenseman, the Calder Trophy for most outstanding rookie as well as the Selke Trophy which is the best defensive forward.

There are others including the Vezina Trophy for the best goaltender and the Lady Byng Trophy given to the player who demonstrates the most gentlemanly play and sportsmanship.

Each award is voted on by a particular group. The league’s 32 general managers vote on the winner of the Vezina Trophy. As for the Hart, Norris, Calder, Selke and Lady Byng, those are voted on by a select group of members of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association.

As someone who held a vote for these Awards in 2024 and in the interest of transparency from beginning to end, I thought this would be a good time to take you behind the curtain to show you my process on how I determine who ultimately gets my vote when the time comes. As you will see, it truly is a season-long process watching hundreds of games live and on TV.

Setting the Scene

In 2024, there were a total of 196 NHL Awards ballots cast by members of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association. This is done in part to get a big enough sample of votes from writers across the league in different parts of the United States and Canada.

Not every member of the Association gets to vote each season. Factoring in things like geographic balance is part of the reason for this. In addition, writers who file invalid ballots or don’t submit a ballot on time when given a chance to vote lose their voting rights in the future.

If chosen, a writer is notified by the NHL that they will cast a ballot. That ballot must be submitted timely. It also must be a complete ballot with every slot filled in.

As mentioned above, the ballot consists of the Hart, Norris, Calder, Selke and Lady Byng. It also includes spots for the three All-Star Teams and All-Rookie Team.

For the individual awards, writers select their top-five players. The name of the player and their team must be clearly indicated on the ballot. For example, Nathan MacKinnon - Colorado Avalanche.

Nathan MacKinnon won the Hart Trophy in 2024. (Photo credit: Amy Irvin, the Hockey Writers)

For the All-Star Teams, writers must select three centers, three right-wingers, three left wingers, six defensemen and three goaltenders. For the All-Rookie Team, writers must select three forwards regardless of position, two defensemen and a goaltender.

If a writer puts a player on the All-Rookie Team who isn’t a rookie by definition, that becomes an invalid ballot. Same can be said when a player for an All-Star Team is put in the wrong position.

Ballots are then submitted to an independent third-party company who tallies all of the votes. The winners are revealed either during the playoffs for some awards or at the NHL Awards show in June.

At the same time, the votes from all writers are released in the interest of transparency. This includes who didn’t vote on time or who made an error. Here is what I wrote in 2024 after the awards were announced with reasoning behind why I voted the way I did.

Now that you see how the voting works, let’s take you behind my curtain and show you my process on how I keep track of awards throughout the season.

The Process

The first thing I will say is that I do not know if I will have a vote in 2025. As stated earlier, not every writer gets a vote on a yearly basis.

However, I still need to treat this as though I will have a vote eventually. There is a need to be prepared in case the invite comes.

This process starts from Day 1 of the regular season. If I am not at Nationwide Arena covering the Blue Jackets that night, I devote hundreds of hours to watching and re-watching key games involving players in the running for the Awards.

Ultimately, information is key. That can be gathered in many ways. It is important to understand that there are many perspectives in play. Not every writer sees the Awards exactly the same. It truly is a subjective vote through the eyes of each individual writer who holds a vote. How do I handle this aspect?

Live Games

As a member of the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association, there are guidelines in place to ensure that members are at a certain number of games at the Arena. While the landscape of the media has certainly changed in recent years due to Covid and other factors, being at as many games as possible is paramount to being involved in the vote.