NHL Awards 2017: Ceremony Date, Start Time, Candidates and Predictions

The events will be coming fast and furious now that the NHL has reached the offseason.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators had been on the center stage, but now that the 2016-17 season has come to an end with the Penguins winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup, it's time to start marching towards the 2017-18 season.

The NHL Awards show is the first event on the docket, the NHL expansion draft is next, and the NHL draft and free agency will follow in short order.

The NHL Awards will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. The event will be televised by NBCSN.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Hart Trophy

This honor goes to the league's Most Valuable Player, and the three candidates for the award are Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Sidney Crosby of the Penguins and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

This is a two-man race between Crosby and McDavid, as it would be a shock if the Columbus goaltender took home the award. Crosby has won the honor twice, and he scored 44 regular-season goals this year. That's the most since he put 51 on the board in 2009-10. Crosby finished the season with 89 points.

McDavid led the league in scoring with 100 points, and it's clear that he is in the process of living up to his status as the leader of Generation Next. McDavid is the first Oiler since Doug Weight to reach the 100-point mark, and he had 30 games with at least two points.

If McDavid wins the award, it seems likely that the victory will be the first of several throughout his career. His remarkable speed and talent may allow him to become the front man for the league—or at least let him share that honor with Crosby.

Prediction: McDavid's game-breaking speed and overwhelming talent will allow him to take this year's award away from Crosby.

Award, Nominees, Predicted Winner

Hart, Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Sergei Bobrovsky, McDavid

Lindsay, Brent Burns, Crosby, McDavid, McDavid

Norris, Burns, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Burns

Vezina, Bobrovsky, Braden Holtby, Carey Price, Bobrovsky

Calder, Patrik Laine, Auston Matthews, Zach Werenski, Matthews

Selke, Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Kesler, Mikko Koivu, Bergeron

Lady Byng, Johnny Gaudreau, Mikael Granlund, Vladimir Tarasenko, Granlund

Jack Adams, Mike Babcock, Todd McLellan, John Tortorella, Babcock

Norris Trophy

This honor goes to the league's best defenseman, and the three candidates are Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks, Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators.

Like the Hart Trophy race, this seems to a be a two-man race between Burns and Karlsson. Hedman is an excellent defenseman, and he is steady, but he is not as spectacular as his two rivals.

Burns was a Norris Trophy finalist a year ago, and he had an eye-catching offensive year with 29 goals and 76 points. Whenever head coach Peter DeBoer needed a big play, the big, bearded defenseman was on the ice and in a creative mode.

Karlsson is looking for his third Norris Trophy, and he is coming off a year in which he scored 17 goals and had 54 assists. He is clearly the best player on the Sens, and he was dominant in the second half of the year and in the postseason.

Prediction: It's hard to overlook Burns' 29 goals, and he will come away with is first Norris Trophy.

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Vezina Trophy

Bobrovsky, Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals and Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens are the three candidates for the award that goes to the league's best goalie.

Bobrovsky was the backbone of the Blue Jackets, who had a spectacular regular season before losing in the first round of the playoffs. Bobrovsky had 41 wins this season while recording a 2.06 goals-against average with a .931 save percentage. He also had seven shutouts.

Holtby shut out opponents eight times, and that tied for the league lead with Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins. Holtby had a 2.07 GAA and a .925 save percentage. While he did not play as well in the postseason, he was quite impressive during the regular season.

Price is generally considered to be one of the best goaltenders in the world. He bounced back from an injury-plagued 2015-16 season to record a 2.23 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

Prediction: Holtby and Price are excellent goaltenders, but Bobrovsky carried the Blue Jackets for much of the season and should win the award.

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

Selke Trophy

This honor goes to the league's best defensive forward, and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins is once again at the top of the list. He has won the honor three times in his career and has been nominated six times. If Bergeron wins the honor again this year, he will join Bob Gainey as the league's only four-time winner.

Bergeron won 1,089 faceoffs, the most of any player in the league, and he also earned the advantage on 60.1 percent of all draws that he took. He was credited with a 61.10 SAT percentage (per NHL.com), and that was the best among all players in the league who played 40 games or more. Bergeron also scored 53 points and his 302 shots on goal ranked third in the NHL.

Bergeron is opposed by Ryan Kesler of the Anaheim Ducks and Mikko Koivu of the Minnesota Wild. Kesler has won the award once and is a five-time finalist. He scored 58 points and won 57.4 percent of his faceoffs.

Koivu is a first-time finalist who scored 58 points and won 55.2 percent of his draws.

Prediction: This award should go to Bergeron because of his stellar defensive skills and all-around talent. It would be a small shock if the did not get this year's award.