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Normally, races for the major awards in the NHL go down to the wire. Sure, we may see a couple of runaway winners as we did with Igor Shesterkin (Vezina) and Cale Makar (Norris Trophy) last season, but in most seasons, these races are pretty competitive until we get deeper into the campaign.
Not so much this time around.
2023 NHL awards odds
Five of the six major awards have odds-on favorites as we head into All-Star Weekend.
Connor McDavid is -700 to win the Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL MVP) and -180 to win the Rocket Richard (most goals). Meanwhile, Linus Ullmark is -175 to win the Vezina (best goaltender), and his head coach, Jim Montgomery, is -275 to win the Jack Adams. Seattle’s Matty Beniers is the -200 favorite to win the Calder Trophy as the top rookie.
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In all honesty, McDavid should probably be even shorter than -700 to win the Hart, as he could sit out the rest of the season and still be the winner. It’s also hard to see Montgomery losing his grip on the Jack Adams Trophy after what we’ve seen out of the Bruins in the first half.
The race for the Rocket Richard looks like it will come down to McDavid (41 goals) and David Pastrnak of the Bruins (38). Still, you’d need better than +220 on Pastrnak, and the only semi-interesting number on anyone in the chasing pack is Jason Robertson at +2000, but he’s eight back of McDavid on FanDuel.
He would need to leap Pastrnak, Mikko Rantanen, and Tage Thompson, too. It is curious that Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, who is tied with Robertson on 33 tallies, is priced at just +3300 on PointsBet.
2023 NHL Calder Trophy pick: Owen Power +3300 (BetMGM)
While most of these races seem to be tied up, there is one high price out there that looks enticing: Owen Power at +2000 to win the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie.
Power, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2021 NHL Draft, was basically a co-favorite with Beniers before the season started but saw his odds drift because his production lagged behind other rookies. But even though Power wasn’t scoring at an eye-popping clip, his game has been solid all season long.
In fact, the Sabres have been so impressed by Power that only Rasmus Dahlin averages more time on ice for Buffalo. The former Michigan Wolverine is currently playing 23:25, which is not only the most by any 2022-23 rookie by over two minutes, but it would be the most by any debutante since Tyler Myers averaged 23:44 in 2009-10.
Owen Power #25 of the Buffalo Sabres battles against John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs Getty Images
Betting on the NHL?
And the even better news is that Power is starting to produce. The 20-year-old has scored three goals in his last four games and is at 19 points for the season. That pace will still need to pick up, and he’ll need Beniers to slow down, but that isn’t out of the question.
At this point in the season, it looks pretty likely that Beniers runs away with the award, but Power is one of the few players in the race that has a realistic shot.
Thus, you could do a lot worse than backing him at +3300 on BetMGM. This is a much stronger value than most other books whose consensus line is +2000, with DraftKings as low as +1400.