Robin Lehner, Shea Theodore get votes for major NHL awards
Golden Knights Shea Theodore and Robin Lehner received votes for major NHL awards this season.
Theodore finished sixth in the Norris Trophy voting for best defensemen and Lehner was sixth in the Vezina Trophy voting for best goaltender, the league revealed Monday.
The Norris is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The Vezina is decided by the NHL’s general managers.
Theodore was described by teammate Mark Stone as “Norris caliber” during the postseason after a career year. The 25-year-old Theodore had 46 points during the regular season, a personal best, and led the Knights with 19 during the playoffs.
He ranks second among defensemen in scoring this postseason, behind Dallas’ Miro Heiskanen.
Theodore received one third-place vote, seven fourth-place votes and 13 fifth-place votes to give him 39 points for the award. Nashville’s Roman Josi won the award with 1,499 points, and the rest of the top five were Washington’s John Carlson (1,267), Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman (820), St. Louis’ Alex Pietrangelo (527) and Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin (138).
“The kid’s an incredible talent,” Theodore’s defense partner Alec Martinez said last week. “I think that he’s easily one of the top defensemen in the league.”
Lehner received one second-place vote for the Vezina after finishing third last season.
The 29-year-old had an impressive season on two very different teams. Lehner was 16-10-5 with a .918 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average in 33 games with the run-and-gun Chicago Blackhawks. He was 3-0-0 with a .940 save percentage and a 1.67 goals-against average after getting traded to the possession-heavy Knights.
Lehner ranked seventh in goals-saved above average in the regular season, according to Natural Stat Trick.
He also had a successful postseason with his new team. He was 9-7 with a .917 save percentage and a 1.99 goals-against average.
Lehner is 15th all-time in playoff save percentage (.924) and 13th in goals-against average (2.01).
“Robin, if you look at the stats over the previous two years, has been an elite goalie in the league in two different situations on two different teams in almost every category,” coach Pete DeBoer said last week.
In addition, Theodore, Stone and left wing Max Pacioretty received votes from the PHWA for the NHL’s All-Star teams.
Stone finished fourth in the voting among right wings behind Boston’s David Pastrnak, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and Chicago’s Patrick Kane. Pacioretty was sixth among left wings, and Theodore was eighth among defensemen.
Stone and general manager Kelly McCrimmon also received votes for previously announced awards. Stone was fifth in the Selke Trophy voting for best defensive forward, and McCrimmon finished fifth for general manager of the year.
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
