Zach Hyman is the Maple Leafs nominee for the Masterton Trophy

The NHL cancelled their annual awards show, set to air in Las Vegas on June 17. But they didn’t cancel the awards. They’ve been cagey about how exactly they will announce the winners, but the segment of the awards that have nominees will be announced in a regularly scheduled manner, preceded by leaks, which is now as traditional as the awards themselves.

Members of @ThePHWA cast ballots for the Hart, Norris, Calder, Lady Byng, Selke and Masterton Trophies, plus the All-Star and All-Rookie Teams.@NHLPA members vote for the Ted Lindsay Award.

NHL GMs vote for the Vezina Trophy.

NHL broadcasters vote for the Jack Adams Award.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 8, 2020

For the record, The Hart Trophy is voted on by the PHWA and the PHWA has a system of rotating who votes for major awards each season and limiting the number of voters in larger markets for major awards. Other awards, like The Masterton Trophy are voted on by all PHWA members.

— Sean Hartnett (@HartnettHockey) May 28, 2020

The first award nominees to be announced is for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. This trophy is awarded to the player best exemplifying perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The nominees, three finalists and eventual winner are chosen by the members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and a grant is given each year to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund.

Last year’s winner was Robin Lehner, and in the modern era, the award has become fairly closely tied to recovery from health issues. Jason Blake is the last Maple Leaf to win the award in 2008.

This year’s Maple Leafs nominee is Zach Hyman, and he, along with many players on the full list, was coming back from a major injury this season. The Marlies got to see Stephen Johns triumphant return from a very long layoff due to concussion symptoms when he did a short, sharp and painful (to us) tour of the AHL on the Texas Stars. Our old friend James Reimer wasn’t the most famous man to take the net in Carolina, but he did struggle mightily with injury.

Bobby Ryan publicly dealt with addiction issues and then triumphantly returned to score a hat trick in his first game back. Shea Theodore discovered a cancer very early because of testing for doping at the World Championships last summer. Oskar Lindblom, still in treatment, discovered his bone cancer in December. Theodore had an excellent season, but Lindblom won’t play this year at all.

Every player on the list has a story, and every one of them is dedicated to the sport.

2020 Masterton Trophy Nominees