Yeah, Taylor Hall was my MVP, too.
The Professional Hockey Writers Association asks all members voting on the NHL's individual awards to keep their ballots a secret until after they're presented, to avoid spoiling surprises. Honoring that, since the league gave those out last night in Las Vegas, below is my full ballot, accompanied by the actual final voting results.
Five quick footnotes first:
• For anyone who doesn't know, all balloting is done before the Stanley Cup playoffs. Always has been.
• Hall got my vote because of the explicit guidance in the Hart wording that it should go to "the player adjudged to be most valuable to his team." It's different than any such directive in professional sports, and I feel it should be respected. Hall almost singlehandedly carried the Devils to their dramatic turnaround. Nathan McKinnon had a similar effect with the Avalanche, of course, but I was much more impressed by Hall, a singular, unstoppable force at times.
• I also feel, as a result, that it's bonkers that Connor McDavid finished as high as fifth when Edmonton didn't play an important game all winter long. Really, why even have guidelines if voters won't read them?
• McDavid finished much higher on my All-Star team ballot, as there's no such criterion in play in that category. I still put Evgeni Malkin ahead of him at center because it's relevant to me, if not paramount the way it is with the Hart, that Malkin was producing his points in far more meaningful situations. In general, I thought a lot of the way Malkin played this past season.
• My biggest regret in hindsight was undervaluing Sean Couturier's outstanding two-way play in the Selke balloting. He absolutely should have been on mine, even if it wouldn't have been in the top two spots. Glad it didn't affect his positioning.
HART TROPHY
My ballot:
1. Taylor Hall, Devils
2. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins
3. Nikita Kucherov, Lightning
4. Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals
5. Nathan McKinnon, Avalanche
Final actual results:
1. Taylor Hall, Devils
2. Nathan McKinnon, Avalanche
3. Anze Kopitar, Kings
4. Claude Giroux, Flyers
5. Connor McDavid, Oilers
NORRIS TROPHY
My ballot:
1. Victor Hedman, Lightning
2. Brent Burns, Sharks
3. P.K. Subban, Predators
4. John Carlson, Capitals
5. Drew Doughty, Kings
Final actual results:
1. Victor Hedman, Lightning
2. Drew Doughty, Kings
3. P.K. Subban, Predators
4. Seth Jones, Blue Jackets
5. John Carlson, Capitals
CALDER TROPHY
My ballot:
1. Mathew Barzal, Islanders
2. Brock Boeser, Canucks
3. Kyle Connor, Jets
4. Mikhail Sergachev, Lightning
5. Clayton Keller, Coyotes
Final actual results:
1. Mathew Barzal, Islanders
2. Brock Boeser, Canucks
3. Clayton Keller, Coyotes
4. Kyle Connor, Jets
5. Charlie McAvoy, Bruins
LADY BYNG TROPHY
My ballot:
1. Anze Kopitar, Kings
2. Claude Giroux, Flyers
3. Alex DeBrincat, Blackhawks
4. John Klingberg, Stars
5. Logan Couture, Sharks
Final actual results:
1. William Karlsson, Golden Knights
2. Ryan O'Reilly, Sabres
3. Aleksander Barkov, Panthers
4. Anze Kopitar, Kings
5. Jared Spurgeon, Wild
SELKE TROPHY
My ballot:
1. William Karlsson, Golden Knights
2. Anze Kopitar, Kings
3. Patrice Bergeron, Bruins
4. Sidney Crosby, Penguins
5. Radek Faksa, Stars
Final actual results:
1. Anze Kopitar, Kings
2. Sean Couturier, Flyers
3. Patrice Bergeron, Bruins
4. Aleksander Barkov, Panthers
5. Mikku Koivu, Wild
MASTERTON TROPHY
My ballot:
1. Brian Boyle, Devils
Final actual result:
1. Brian Boyle, Devils
NHL ALL-STAR TEAM
My ballot:
Center
1. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins
2. Connor McDavid, Oilers
3. Nathan McKinnon, Avalanche
Right wing
1. Nikita Kucherov, Lightning
2. Patrik Laine, Jets
3. Phil Kessel, Penguins
Left wing
1. Taylor Hall, Devils
2. Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals
3. Claude Giroux, Flyers
Defense
1. Victor Hedman, Lightning
2. Brent Burns, Sharks
3. P.K. Subban, Predators
4. John Carlson, Capitals
5. Drew Doughty, Kings
6. John Klingberg, Stars
Goaltender
1. Connor Hellebuyck, Jets
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning
3. Pekka Rinne, Predators
Final actual results:
Center
1. Connor McDavid, Oilers - *
2. Nathan McKinnon, Avalanche - **
3. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins
Right wing
1. Nikita Kucherov, Lightning - *
2. Blake Wheeler, Jets - **
3. Phil Kessel, Penguins
Left wing
1. Taylor Hall, Devils - *
2. Claude Giroux, Flyers - **
3. Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals
Defense
1. Victor Hedman, Lightning - *
2. Drew Doughty, Kings - *
3. P.K. Subban, Predators - **
4. Seth Jones, Blue Jackets - **
5. John Carlson, Capitals
6. John Klingberg, Stars
Goaltender
1. Pekka Rinne, Predators - *
2. Connor Hellebuyck, Jets - **
3. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning
* - First-team All-Star
** - Second-team All-Star
NHL ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
My ballot:
Forward
1. Mathew Barzal, Islanders
2. Brock Boeser, Canucks
3. Kyle Connor, Jets
Defense
1. Mikhail Sergachev, Lightning
2. Charlie McAvoy, Bruins
Goaltender
1. Tristan Jarry, Penguins
Final actual results:
Forward
Mathew Barzal, Islanders
Brock Boeser, Canucks
Clayton Keller, Coyotes
Defense
Will Butcher, Devils
Charlie McAvoy, Bruins
Goaltender
Juuse Saros, Predators