Taylor Hall Named Finalist For Ted Lindsay Award

Taylor Hall’s personal best season continues to get better. Today he was named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given “to the most outstanding player in the NHL, as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA.”

He will be competing for the award with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Connor McDavid, his former teammate on the Edmonton Oilers, for the award. The winner will be announced on June 20 at the 2018 NHL Awards show in Las Vegas.

The three finalists “received the most votes from their fellow players based on their 2017-18 campaigns” according to the press release put out by the NHLPA and NHL on NHL.com. McDavid won the award last season.

The press release listed each players credentials. Hall led the Devils in all major offensive categories, including goals (39 – good for ninth in the league overall) and points (93 – good for sixth in the league). According to the press release, he was tied for fourth in the NHL in multi point games with 27, fifth in power play points with 37 “and averaged the seventh-most points per game (1.22).” He did this all in 76 games played and helped lead the Devils to the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season

The press release notes that Hall had “41 points more than his next-closest teammate” (Nico Hischier) and noted his consecutive point scoring streak, recording at least one “in 26 consecutive appearances (18-20-38) from Jan. 2 to March 8.”

Hall is “a first time finalist” for this award and would also be the first Devil to ever win it.

His opposition includes MacKinnon of the Avalanche, who led his team “with career highs in goals (39), assists (68) and points (97).” Much like Hall, MacKinnon helped lead his team to a playoff appearance for the first time in four seasons.

The press release noted that he also led the NHL in game winning goals with 12. He was second in points per game (1.31), which the NHL notes was only .01 behind McDavid. He also “shared the league-lead in multi-point games (27) and shared the league-lead in multi-point games (9).”

MacKinnon is also a first-time finalist and would be the first member of the Colorado Avalanche to win since Joe Sakic in 2000-01.

Connor McDavid is the reigning and defending champion, if you will, as he won last year’s Ted Lindsay Award. The Edmonton Oiler superstar played all 82 regular season games for the second consecutive year, but missed out on the postseason.

He led the NHL in points with 108, winning his second straight Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading point scorer. He placed sixth in goals scored with 41, third in assists with 67 and first in points per game with a 1.32 average.

The release also notes that he “led the NHL in multi-point games (32), as well as even-strength goals (35), assists (49) and points (84) – finishing with 18 points more than the second-ranked player in the latter category.” He also finished fourth amongst all NHL forwards in time on ice per game (a 21:33 average).

McDavid is looking to become the first player to win back-to-back Ted Lindsay Awards since Sidney Crosby did it in 2012-13 and 2013-14. He is the third player in Edmonton franchise history to win this award (which was formerly known as the Lester B. Pearson Award). He joins Wayne Gretzky (who won the award every season from 1981-82 to 1984-85 and again in 1986-87) and Mark Messier (who won the award with Edmonton in 1989-90 and then again in 1991-92 as a member of the Rangers) as Oilers who won it. According to the press release, McDavid is aiming to become the first player to win the award twice before the age of 22.

Good luck to Taylor Hall and congratulations on this wonderful honor.