Kovacevic: My NHL votes go to Draisaitl, Josi, Hellebuyck ... and Rust

Voting on the NHL's awards always commences with the conclusion of the regular season, and not a second before.

So, hey, how about now?

Look, however uncertain life and sports have suddenly become, we can pretty much take it to the bank that, once the final horn sounded late on the evening of March 11 in Los Angeles, that was that. Already, too much time has elapsed, I think, for the league to invest resources rescheduling a slew of Senators-Sabres makeups. There'll be too many other logistical challenges at hand.

Next stop, presuming there is one: Stanley Cup playoffs.

No ballots have been distributed, of course, as nothing's been formally canceled. So what I've got below are personal choices for the four major awards and not anything official, even though they surely will be once there's a chance to cast:

HART TROPHY

Leon Draisaitl, Oilers

This shouldn't have been tough, but it really was.

Draisaitl's been a 1B star for years, but this was the winter he burst into his own. Off Connor McDavid's line and tasked with leading the Oilers when McDavid lost seven games to injury, his 43 goals and 67 assists gave him 110 points, or 13 more than McDavid and 15 more than anyone else.

Simple as a tap-in, right?

Well, no. Because, as arises every year, the Hart's criteria is to be awarded to the player 'adjudged to be most valuable to his team.' Which is how the Devils' Taylor Hall got it a couple years ago -- including my vote -- despite not being the league's best player. He almost singlehandedly carried New Jersey into the playoffs.

Which brings me to Artemi Panarin.

In his first run on Broadway, he piled up 32 goals and 63 assists for 95 points, this in two fewer games than Draisaitl's 71. More pertinent, he's been to the Rangers what Hall was to those Devils. No one, including people within the New York organization -- believe me on this -- thought they'd be anywhere near the postseason. But Panarin's sniping and his previously underappreciated playmaking made everyone around him more productive and had the young Rangers, remarkably, two points out of a playoff spot.

The latter was the deal-breaker for me. Because the Rangers weren't in a playoff spot. And as I'd long applied to McDavid in leaving him off Hart voting, as many have over the years, there's only so much value one has to a team that doesn't qualify.

Unfair?

Hell, yes. But so's everything else all around us right now.

Besides, here are 43 reasons Draisaitl's eminently deserving of the Hart:

Other finalist: David Pastrnak, Bruins

Pittsburgh candidates: None

NORRIS TROPHY

Roman Josi, Predators

This one's close, too, across the board. In fact, Josi's likely to lose out to the Capitals' John Carlson, partly because Carlson's got 75 points to Josi's 65, partly because the Washington franchise comes with a higher visibility. And yeah, that's as far as some voters go, sad to say.

Regardless, to repeat, they're close. Every category, advanced and otherwise. It's a little crazy, actually.

So I'll turn to a terribly unscientific method to break the tie: Carlson's started 56.01 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone compared to Josi's 50.82. That's not close. And that powerfully indicates the degree to which their respective coaches -- who'd know them best -- trust them to go over the boards in more perilous settings.

Not convincing?

OK, then all I've got it is this:

All done now?

Cool.

Other finalist: Shea Theodore, Golden Knights

Pittsburgh candidates: None

VEZINA TROPHY

Connor Hellebuyck, Jets

Yet another close one, and not necessarily the obvious choice. The obvious would be Tuukka Rask, who's No. 2 in the NHL in save percentage at .930 and No. 1 in goals-against average at 2.12. Sure, he benefits from being behind the Bruins, but he's also been the NHL's third-best at stopping high-danger chances.

Hellebuyck lags behind with a save percentage at .922, goals-against average at 2.55. And that probably ought to be that.

Except for one thing: Hellebuyck's logged 58 games, including 56 starts, for Winnipeg. Only the Canadiens' Carey Price has seen as much time in the crease. There's still a real honor in that in hockey, particularly if the goaltender performs as consistently as Hellebuyck has, particularly if that goaltender's team entered the season with big losses on the blue line, particularly if that goaltender wins 31 games and leads the league in shutouts with six.

Oh, and this, too: This is the one award where the voting's done by the general managers. And those guys value durability and availability more than anyone alive.

Other finalist: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning

Pittsburgh candidate: None

CALDER TROPHY

Quinn Hughes, Canucks

A few months ago, not a soul in Vancouver would've been surprised if Hughes became the league's best rookie. But only because the NHL Draft was held there last summer, and Jack Hughes, Quinn's younger brother, went No. 1 overall to the Devils.

Quinn's 20 years old, he's generously listed at 5 feet 10, 170 pounds, he was a No. 7 overall pick himself a year earlier, and yet he still seemed to take the hockey world by storm with his slick skating, playmaking and ability to supplement the rush. He's got eight goals and 45 assists to lead all NHL rookies by three points.

Also, this:

Quinn Hughes shows off his skills, sniping top-shelf against the Islanders for the overtime winner in New York. His goal is our @REMAXWesternCan Move of the Week. pic.twitter.com/cTcei3edcw

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) February 3, 2020

This one's not close.

Other finalists: Dominik Kubalik, Blackhawks, Cale Makar, Avalanche

Pittsburgh candidates: John Marino

____________________

No, the Pittsburgh candidates aren't exactly plentiful. Marino was a more complete rookie defenseman, I'd argue, than Hughes or Makar, but his taking that puck to the face took him out of the race. Mike Sullivan for the Jack Adams went south, not coincidentally, right around the same time. And unless one wanted to go off the reservation and weigh Evgeni Malkin's chance at the Masterton ... nah, this will be a rare zero for a franchise that's used to running up the score at the event.

In lieu of that, then, I'll pick a team MVP: Bryan Rust.

Without a split-second's hesitation.

No disrespect to Malkin, who had 74 points to Rust's 56 in the same number of games, 58, but it was Rust who stepped up the most, and I mean that in the literal sense. We all knew what Malkin could do, even if we might've wondered -- incorrectly, it turned out -- if he could still do so at age 33. But we couldn't have known Rust could finish plays the way he did, leading the Penguins with 27 goals and a 17.9 shooting percentage that wound up fifth-highest in the league among the top 30 goal-scorers.

I could rattle off a lot of other numbers, too, or lazily queue up his March 3 hat trick against the Senators at PPG Paints Arena ...

The trick is the treat.

Bryan Rust nets his third career hat trick. pic.twitter.com/Yv4tRbsetW

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 4, 2020

... or this breathtaking penalty shot that he'd defiantly describe to me afterward as a move he could've been using all along if ever given the chance:

ALL HAIL BRYAN RUST ? pic.twitter.com/turVg96PPK

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 15, 2019

But I'll go with this instead: When Sam Lafferty was promoted early in the season, then popped those couple goals on his opening road trip, I asked the kid in Winnipeg how he'd keep from getting a big head.

His response: "One thing they teach us in Wilkes-Barre and even before we turn pro is to watch Bryan Rust. Everyone wants to score, but you've first got to play the game the right way, take care of your business all over the rink."

That.

That's the MVP of a season that was founded, first and foremost, on doing things right.