As you all know, yesterday was a day of celebration for the NHL. All the skill, points and supreme individual performances were awarded with the league’s highest honors. I was really pleased by the fact that (outside of Miller not getting the consideration for the Hart) all the awards went to deserved winners. Duncan Keith was the outstanding defenseman of the year, Ryan Miller was tested by Ilya Bryzgalov but in the end had a better season in consideration for the Vezina, Datsyuk should get his own award for owning the Selke Trophy etc. That’s all fine and dandy, but how is this related to the Leafs? Well, in this one I will try to compare some the current NHL award holders with our own Leafs and project the chances of a Leaf being up there on the podium sooner rather than later.

THE VEZINA TROPHY – Ryan Miller

Well, it’s way too early to tell what kind of NHL goaltender Jonas Gustavsson will be. I mean the tools are there: a huge body that covers a large portion of the net, a good mentor that can teach him not to overplay on shots, good flexibility and strength. He has also constantly improved ever since the personal tragedy and his heart problems that clouded his NHL start. Those are all signs of a potential quality starting goaltender. Ryan Miller is a machine. He is a goalie of extreme mental focus, that has the ability to dominate a large portion of the games he plays in and who is a workhorse for his team. I’m really not doing Jonas any favors by comparing him to the best goaltender in the NHL so early in Gustavsson’s career. But, that’s obviously what it takes to win the Vezina. We’ll just have to wait a season or two for Jonas to really become something that we can judge as to he will or will not be Vezina worthy in the future. For now, any comparisons to Miller would really be unfair to Jonas. Time will tell. So far, my guess is that Gustavsson will become a starting goaltender for the Leafs in the future, maybe even an A+ goaltender, but a Vezina nomination is just a pipe dream right now, which is absolutely normal and acceptable. Only a special few reach elite status in the best league in the world, and we shouldn’t put such pressure on a really good young goalie.

FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY – Pavel Datsyuk

Boy would we all like to have a player of Datsyuk’s defensive qualities on the Leafs roster cause the reality is, we don’t. That’s one of the main questions that needs to be answered by Burke in the offseason. A solid two way point producer. When I think of a player that would fit the bill for the Leafs in that respect, I don’t quite jump on Pavel right away. I think of Ryan Kesler, Jordan Staal, Mike Richards or Mikko Koivu. Those are the players I’d love to see in a blue and white, cause their play would fit the Burke team vision to a tee. Those are also the players that would have to be dealt through trades that are about as realistic as an alien invasion. Unless Marleau somehow decides that TO is the place to play and ups his already solid defensive play.

CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY – Tyler Myers

Do we have any first round draft picks for the 2010-2011 season? Phil Kessel. Oh, there is a small matter of Nazem Kadri. Yes, we could finally have a Calder Trophy winner next season. Kadri is fast, shifty and has an amazing set of hands. He showed his capacity for putting points on the board throughout his junior career, but now everything comes down to his transition to the NHL level. Not to say that carrying the future hopes of the entire Leafs Nation isn’t pressure in it’s highest form, but to add to that, the kid has to make the team. I think making the team isn’t a problem, as he showed in last year’s preseason what he’s capable of. The hard part will be handling the Toronto pressure cooker, where even as a highly touted rookie, you don’t get as much time. All eyes are on you kid, show them what you can do.

JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY – Duncan Keith

Not so long ago, if somebody mentioned Duncan Keith ahead of Dion Phaneuf as the future Norris Trophy winner he would probably be wearing a straight jacket in a room with pillowy walls. I mean, the guy was seriously considered for the Calder when Alex Ovechkin had his breakout season, he then had 50 and 60 point seasons being a total of +22 and hit everything that moved. He was a beast and probably the most feared defenseman since Scott Stevens. During that time Keith had 21, 31 point seasons and was -11 for the two combined. What happened? First off, Keith worked his butt off in practice, incompetent management of the Blackhawks was replaced by a highly competent group, and the coach believed in his qualities. On the other hand Phaneuf was having trouble moving forward as a defenseman, his positional play seemingly getting worse (in fact it was mostly due to a troubed Calagary defense as a whole that had no mentor for the young Phaneuf, and that even with Miikka Kiprusoff had trouble not looking like Swiss cheese for the most part of Phaneuf’s number dipping seasons). Dion Phaneuf has grown, as a player as well as a leader and his move to Toronto is exactly what he needed. He loves the spotlight (something as a Pronger sort of player) and is the prime candidate on the current roster for a major NHL award. He still possess all the qualities that made him a superstar in his first 3 seasons in the league, he’s still young and will be a great Leaf captain for years to come.

MAURICE (ROCKET) RICHARD TROPHY – Sidney Crosby/Steven Stamkos

Getting Phil Kessel a smooth passing center will be the first step into turning him into a Richard Trophy winner. The second one is staying healthy throughout the season and the third one being turning the Leafs into a competitive team. Obviously, two of the main prerequisites of step three are steps one and two. Kessel has shown the ability to score goals at will. My main hope is he becomes a more consistent producer for the Leafs and could do that by trusting his linemates more. He did that towards the end of the season and his production peeked. He also did that during his spell with the Bruins when he tallied his best ever points/goals total. The reason for that – Marc Savard. I firmly believe that Phil Kessel could win the Richard Trophy and that’s the main reason I backed Burke in making that much questioned, fabled “Seguin” trade with the Bruins.

CONN SMYTHE TROPHY – Jonathan Toews

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Mislav “Xterratu” Jantoljak