And the NHL award winners are ...

Time to dole out the NHL regular-season awards, and the Sharks should be happy there isn’t an honor (dishonor?) for the team that took the biggest fall over the last month of the season.

Hart Trophy (MVP): Last year’s winner, Patrick Kane of Chicago, and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov made impressive late-season runs, and Boston’s Brad Marchand should garner more respect than he’ll likely receive, but this year’s honor really comes down to a pair of Canadian-born team captains:

Crosby, 29, showed no signs of a Stanley Cup hangover in displaying skills that make him the best 200-foot player in the game.

[...] the way McDavid lifted a young Edmonton team into the postseason for the first time in a decade, how he finished the year on a double-digit point streak and because he could be the only player to reach 100 points (he needs three points in two games against last-place Vancouver this weekend), this is his award this season.

Norris Trophy (best defenseman): Brent Burns of the Sharks caught voters’ eyes last season, and this award often takes a couple years to win.

Selke Trophy (top defensive forward): A number of strong candidates for one of the most subjective awards as perennially strong Patrice Bergeron of Boston has company the likes of Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler, Chicago’s Jonathan Toews, Minnesota’s Mikko Koivu and Crosby.

[...] the choice here is Koivu, who is excellent across the board — top five in draws (55 percent), best in plus-minus (plus-26) by a wide margin, low in penalty minutes (34) and productive offensively (57 points).

Jack Adams Award (best coach): Lots of good candidates out there as John Tortorella turned heads with the job he’s done in Columbus, Barry Trotz has led the Capitals to back-to-back Presidents’ Trophy campaigns and ex-Sharks mentor Todd McLellan has a young Oilers’ team back in the postseason after missing 10 postseasons in a row.

[...] assuming the Maple Leafs don’t collapse on the weekend, Mike Babcock will have led a team with five rookies who are important contributors back into the postseason with mid-90s in points after Toronto finished last in the league with 69 last year.