With Erik Karlsson likely to be the only Senator with an actual NHL award this season when the league heads to Las Vegas to hand out the hardware, it's only fair we just include the team as nominees for our awards.
Vezina Trophy - Best Goaltender: Craig Anderson
There are only a handful of candidates, but Craig Anderson has been the Senators' best goalie this year. While some actually argue Anderson should be the team's MVP, there's no doubt he's easily overcome the slight goaltender controversy that surrounded the Senators after Andrew Hammond's historic start to his NHL career. And this season, Hammond has been anything but impressive as Anderson continues to shine as the team's outright No. 1.
Runner up: Andrew Hammond
James Norris Memorial Trophy - Best Defenseman: Erik Karlsson
It almost seems inappropriate to hand out this award, seeing as there is no defenseman even remotely close to the level of play Karlsson has been able to put forth this year (or in the past five years, for that matter). Easy choice.
Runner up: None Worthy
Hart Memorial Trophy - Most Valuable Player: Erik Karlsson
Guess who.
Karlsson will almost definitely win the league's best defenseman award, and has a legitimate shot at the Hart, so it's no surprise he's the Senators' MVP, as well. Leading the team with 67 points - and no one else even close to that number - the Swedish sensation has been one of the few reasons why the Senators are still a bit of an exciting team.
Runner up: Mark Stone
Calder Memorial Trophy - Best Rookie: Chris Wideman
Chris Wideman just signed a two-year extension worth $1.6 million. That's reason enough to believe he's had enough of the AHL and has proven himself as a solid NHL defenseman. The former Eddie Shore Trophy winner - for the AHL's best defenseman in 2015 - is fitting in just fine, playing on the third pairing with Mark Borowiecki. Wideman apparently passed Patrick Wiercioch on the Senators' depth chart this season. It's been quite the year for the 26-year-old.
Runner up: Shane Prince
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy - Player That Best Exemplifies Perseverance: Kyle Turris
It was just disgusting.
A human's leg isn't supposed to bend that way. In early December against the New York Islanders, Kyle Turris' leg was gruesomely contorted on a - wait for the irony - broken play. After hobbling off with the help of his fellow teammates and the training staff, amazingly, Turris played the next day. The next damn day.
Runner up: Patrick Wiercioch
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy - Most Sportsmanlike Player: Mark Borowiecki
It's rather difficult to gage what players truly are the best leaders and most sportsmanlike, but his fellow players and the media surrounding him overwhelmingly deems Mark Borowiecki as that kind of player. That has to be worth something, right?
Runner up: Erik Karlsson
Frank J. Selke Trophy - Best Defensive Forward: Mark Stone
Mark Stone should actually be getting Selke consideration in the NHL as a whole, but with Patrice Bergeron, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Toews and Pavel Datsyuk being absolute stars in this league, it's hard for others to shine. But Stone has done exactly that. He leads the NHL in takeaways with 103. Second place is Jeff Skinner with 61. That's reminiscent of Wayne Gretzky leading the scoring race against whoever finished 400 points behind him 10 straight years, it seemed.
Runner up: Jean-Gabriel Pageau
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