Artemi Panarin a Ted Lindsay Award finalist

New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin is a finalist for the prestigious Ted Lindsay Award

His peers recognize what Artemi Panarin did for the New York Rangers this season, honoring him as a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the outstanding player in the league as voted on by the NHL Players Association (NHLPA).   The two other nominees are Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers.  The NHLPA made the announcement on Tuesday. 

While the Hart Memorial Trophy is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, many players consider the Lindsay Award to be more meaningful as it comes from their fellow players.

Panarin was obviously pleased with his selection, telling nhl.com “I’m obviously very happy to be here and I’m very happy that guys voted for me to be here,  I always play or try to play 100 percent and often can’t play better than I’m trying to play. … When I came (to New York), I felt a little bit of pressure … The decision to read less press and look at less social media allowed me to focus on my craft.”

Only three New York Rangers have won the award.  Jean Ratelle was the second all-time recipient in 1971-72, when it was known as the Lester B. Pearson Award.  Mark Messier took home the Hart and the Pearson awards in 1991-92.   Jaromir Jagr won the Award in 2005-06 when he had the greatest offensive season by any Blueshirt.   In what most Ranger fans feel was a huge oversight, Joe Thornton won the Hart Trophy, edging out Jagr by just over six percent of the votes.

Since it was renamed in honor of Detroit Red Wings forward Ted Lindsay during the 2009-10 campaign, it is possible that  Panarin could be the first Ranger to win the Lindsay Award.

MacKinnon and Draisaitl will be stiff competition.  All three players have similar offensive records and all three play for teams are in the postseason. Even if Panarin doesn’t win the award, he will go down as the best free agent signing ever by the Blueshirts. He finished he regular season with 32 goals and 95 points (third overall).   He was the best in the NHL with 71 even strength points and had the best plus/minus rating for any forward in the league (+36).

Panarin had points in 54 out of the 69 games he played in.  One reason for the recognition from his peers is that he scored points against 28 of the 30 teams the Rangers played this season. He was only shut out by Arizona and Calgary in the single games he played against them.

When the NHL will hand out its awards is still up in the air.  The original ceremony was scheduled for June 18, but was postponed due to the pandemic.