NHL Awards: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby Also-Rans In MVP Voting

The Pittsburgh Penguins — and the rest of the league, really — took a backseat to the Golden Knights at Wednesday’s NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

George McPhee (GM of the year), Gerard Gallant (Jack Adams Award for coach of the year), William Karlsson (Lady Byng Award for sportsmanship) and Deryk Engelland (Mark Messier Leadership Award) all took home trophies for the first-year club that went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

They weren’t a huge part of the show for once, but Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin weren’t left out of the festivities completely.

Division rival Taylor Hall claimed the Hart Trophy for league MVP, but Malkin came in seventh and Crosby pulled in a four-way tie for 17th. Voting was conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA), with Malkin pulling in three first-place votes:

Hart Trophy voting breakdown (voted on by PHWA) pic.twitter.com/YHfjiBzr3d

— Sean Leahy (@Sean_Leahy) June 21, 2018

Malkin’s 98 points and 42 goals during the 2017-18 season were his most in both categories since he won the Hart in 2011-12. Crosby’s 89 points tied his most since he claimed the Hart for the second time, following the 2013-14 season.

Crosby was also sighted in the voting for the Selke Award, given annually to the forward judged to be the best among his peers on the defensive side of the game. The Penguins’ captain scored his second-best finish ever in the Selke voting, coming in ninth. He finished seventh in 2015-16.

Olli Määttä was the only other Penguins skater to show up in awards that were voted upon: He received one third-place vote in the Lady Byng rundown. It was Määttä’s first appearance on an NHL end-of-year ballot since he came in fifth in rookie of the year voting in 2013-14.

In the voting for the Jack Adams Award, determined by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association, Mike Sullivan came in ninth. Sullivan received two second-place votes and one third-place vote.

Other winners of note from around the NHL included Nashville’s Pekka Rinne (Vezina Trophy for top goalie), Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman (Norris for best defenseman), Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (Lindsay Award for players’ top player) and the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal (Calder).