nathan-mackinnon.jpg

With less than two months remaining in the 2025-26 NHL regular season, this is a good time to consider who will take home the league's major individual awards. Will Matthew Schaefer become the second consecutive defenseman and fourth in seven years to win the Calder Trophy? Will Connor McDavid be the fourth player in league history to earn the Hart Trophy at least four times?

Selected first overall in the 2025 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders, Schaefer is a massive favorite to capture the Calder as the NHL's top rookie. The 18-year-old entered the Olympic break as the third-highest scoring rookie with 39 points and fourth among all defensemen with 16 goals. 

Schaefer is listed around -1000 at the major sportsbooks to win the Calder, while Russian right wing Ivan Demidov of the Montreal Canadiens is a distant second at about +850.

McDavid is looking to join Wayne Gretzky (nine), Gordie Howe (six) and Eddie Shore (four) as the only players in NHL history to capture the Hart Trophy as league MVP more than three times. The 29-year-old captain of the Edmonton Oilers first won the award in 2017, earned it again in 2021 and completed the hat trick two years later.

But even though McDavid topped the league in points (96) and shared the lead in assists (62) at the break, he's a distant fourth at the major books to capture his fourth Hart as he's priced between +650 and +850. San Jose Sharks teenager Macklin Celebrini (+250 to +440) and 2019 winner Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning (+500 to +650) both are ahead of him, while Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon -- who won the award in 2024 -- is the clear-cut favorite to receive it again as he is listed between -210 and -240.

While it appears there will be runaway winners for those two awards, closer races are likely to take place for several other honors. Let's take a look at the leading contenders for the Norris and Vezina Trophies, as well as the Jack Adams Award. 

Norris Trophy

The race for the award given to the NHL's top defenseman currently is the tightest, with two players currently neck-and-neck. Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets has a slight edge over reigning winner Cale Makar of the Avalanche, who also won the Norris in 2022.

Werenski, who was a member of the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. men's hockey team, is second among NHL blue-liners in both goals (20) and points (62). The 28-year-old Michigan native, who entered the break with a seven-game point streak and at least one point in 20 of 22 contests, was runner-up for the Norris last campaign as he set career highs and franchise single-season records for a defenseman with 23 goals, 59 assists and 82 points.

This could be the year Werenski takes home the trophy as he is the favorite to win at both FanDuel (-120) and Caesars (-140) while even with Makar at DraftKings (-115). But the 27-year-old Makar, who won the silver medal with Canada at the Winter Games in Milan, hopes to become the 10th player in league history to earn the Norris at least three times.

Makar might need to ramp it up down the stretch in order to join that club as he is tied for fourth among defensemen in both assists (42) and points (57), and shares fifth place in goals (15). The last player to win back-to-back Norris Trophies was Nicklas Lidstrom, who captured three in a row from 2006-08 while with the Detroit Red Wings.

Best bet: Werenski (-115, DraftKings)

Vezina Trophy

It also appears to be a two-man race for the top goaltender award, as Russians Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy are leading the pack.

Vasilevskiy, who has been a finalist for the Vezina five times and won the trophy in 2019, is having a strong season for the Lightning. The 31-year-old led the NHL at the Olympic break with a 2.11 goals-against average and ranked second with a .920 save percentage -- just behind Calgary Flames netminder Devin Cooley (.921), who has appeared in 18 fewer games.

A finalist in 2023, Sorokin is fifth in the league with a .916 save percentage and eighth with a 2.44 GAA. However, the 30-year-old leads all goalies with six shutouts, which is one shy of the career high he set in 2021-22 and the exact amount he posted over 60 starts when he led the NHL the following season.

Sorokin is the favorite for the Vezina at the major sportsbooks, with odds ranging from -120 to -155. Although it's not clear what more he can do, it appears as if Vasilevskiy has some ground to make up if he hopes to become a two-time winner as he is listed around +130. If the Lightning manage to overtake Colorado and win the Presidents' Trophy, he'll likely be a main reason why, which certainly will strengthen his chances to take home the award.

Best bet: Vasilevskiy (+130, DraftKings)

Jack Adams Award

Also deserving of credit should Tampa Bay win its second Presidents' Trophy would be head coach Jon Cooper, who is in his 13th full season behind the team's bench. Cooper guided the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 but has yet to capture the Jack Adams Award, a trophy for which he was a finalist in both 2014 and 2019.

Cooper, who coached Canada's silver medal-winning Olympic team, currently is the strong favorite to earn the Jack Adams for the first time as his odds range from +110 to +150. The 58-year-old's main competition at the moment is Lindy Ruff of the Sabres, who won the award when the team set a franchise record with 52 wins in 2006 during his first stint in Buffalo.

A defenseman and left wing with the Sabres for 9 1/2 seasons during his playing career, Ruff was runner-up for the Jack Adams the following year as Buffalo recorded 53 victories, which is the current franchise mark. The 66-year-old also was a finalist for the award in 2016 as head coach of the Dallas Stars and 2023 while guiding the New Jersey Devils.

Ruff's current Buffalo team went on an amazing 20-3-1 run from Dec. 9-Jan. 29 and is hoping to end its 14-year playoff drought. His odds to win his second Jack Adams are between +175 and +195 at the major sportsbooks as he had the Sabres in the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference at the Olympic break. He'll likely be a bigger favorite should they make the postseason, so this might be a good time to lay down a wager on him.

Best bet: Cooper (+150, DraftKings)