One Underrated Candidate for Each NHL Award This Season

Every NHL season brings a new opportunity for players to surpass expectations.

While it is expected Connor McDavid, Quinn Hughes, and Nathan MacKinnon will continue their dominance from last season, there is likely to be an award winner or two who surpass the odds to take home some hardware. As the 2024-25 season approaches, who are some sneaky candidates to take home each of the NHL’s premier awards?

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Calder Memorial Trophy - Jesper Wallstedt

With a stacked rookie class consisting of Matvei Michkov, Macklin Celebrini, Logan Stankoven, Cutter Gauthier, and others, it will be incredibly challenging for any rookie to take home the Calder Memorial Trophy. This will be only increasingly challenging for Jesper Wallstedt since no goaltender has taken home the award since Steven Mason in 2009. Yet, if someone is going to do it, it will be Wallstedt.