Islanders mid-season awards: Brock Nelson is the MVP

Fifty games in the books! Based on those 50 games, what New York Islanders players deserve an award?

It’s not exactly mid-season, but with the All-Star break and the league-mandated week-long break taking place, it’s the perfect time to take stock of what’s going on so far this season for the New York Islanders on an individual basis.

And what better way to do that than by dolling out awards for half a season’s worth of performance!

I’m only giving out subjective awards. None of those points leaders awards like the Art Ross or Maurice Richard Trophy. Those trophies aren’t subjective. We know who has the most points (Mathew Barzal) or the most goals (Brock Nelson), just look at the team’s stats page.

I’m also not about to give out awards with only one possible winner, like GM of the Year or the Jack Adams trophy. Cause again, that’s too easy we only have one GM and we only have one head coach.

So I’m only going to give out subjective awards.

Hart Trophy – Team MVP
Vezina Trophy – Best Goalie
Norris Trophy – Best Defenseman
Selke Trophy – Best Defensive-Forward
Calder Trophy – Best Rookie

Awards where there’s a bit of thought that needs to be put into deciding who gets the awards and who doesn’t.

Hart (MVP) – Brock Nelson

I know it. You know. Barry Trotz knew it years ago. Brock Nelson is the most valuable player on this team. Barzal might the best player, Cizikas might be the heart and soul of the team, but Brock Nelson is the most valuable.

Barry uses him in every single situation. He ranks third in 5on5 ice time, fifth in power play time, and second on the penalty kill. He’s never at the top of any of those rankings, but he’s near the top on all.

Its that reliance to use him across all situations that make him so valuable to this team. No matter the score, no matter the situation, Barry Trotz trusts Brock Nelson to do a job defensively and offensively.

After 50 games,  Brock has 21 goals – the fastest he’s ever hit 20 – and has 19 helpers for 340points. That’s a pace of 66 points. His previous career-high, set last season, was 53 points.

Not only has Brock done the job offensively for the Isles but he’s done so defensively. He’s at the heart of everything the New York Islanders do on and away from the puck.

Look, it’s clear that Barzal is the Islanders best player. His skill set is virtually unmatched in the NHL. But when it comes to the most important player for this team it’s clear that player is Brock Nelson.

Now get in a time machine, head back to 2018 and tell your past-self that and wait for them to laugh at you. Or just think what could have been if Jack Capuano or Doug Weight knew how much untapped potential Brock Nelson had.

Norris (Best Defenseman) – Adam Pelech

I thought that was apt. Who knew that Adam Pelech would be so important to this team?

Obviously Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz did. And to an extent so did Garth Snow. The former GM protected Adam Pelech in the Vegas expansion draft just a few years ago. A move that was met with some significant criticism.

Since the expansion draft, Adam Pelech has transformed into the Islanders best defender. Helping them become one of the top-two defensive teams in the league over the last two seasons. And now that he’s gone, the Islanders have had to adjust. And it isn’t going particularly well.

Just look at the penalty kill. Shot maps, brought up by our own Nick Jehamy, show the impact that Adam Pelech’s injury has had on shot volumes when the Isles are a man down. Spoiler, it isn’t good.

Without Adam Pelech in the lineup, the Islanders have gone 4-5-3 and have given up an uncomfortable 2.92 goals against.

Ryan Pulock has had to step up and become the team’s number one defense-first blueline. A role he isn’t accustomed to playing, while Isles vet Nick Leddy gets to be the lead offense-first defender. It’s all taking some getting used to on the Islanders blueline.

Adam Pelech isn’t going to score at Erik Karlsson levels but he is the Islanders most important defender. And for a team who’s identity and who’s entire structure is predicated on solid defending, Adam Pelech gets the nod for the Norris.

Selke (Best defensive forward) – Casey Cizikas

There shouldn’t be much of a debate here. Casey Cizikas is clearly the Islanders best defensive forward. Brock Nelson isn’t far away in second place on this ballot.

Only two forwards – Matt Martin and Leo Komarov – have started more of their shifts in the defensive zone than Casey Cizikas and his 61.3 percent defensive zone starts. But Casey has nearly as much production as both combined. With ten goals and four assists, Cizikas has two fewer than Komarov’s ten points and Martin’s six.

Of course, it’s not just about the amount of offense these players generate, thought that’s about half of what goes into deciding the best defensive forward.

For forwards Casey Cizikas holds the second-best xGF%, the fourth-best CF%, the third-best HDCF%, and the second-best SCF%. He’s also second only to Derick Brassard when it comes to faceoff win percentage with a 54.1 win percentage.

That last stat is important. Remember, Cizikas stats more than 60 percent of his shifts in the defensive zone. And he wins, on average more than half of his faceoffs. Being able to gain possession in the defensive zone right off the faceoff is a critical asset to have.

It’s incredible to watch Cizikas turn a defensive situation into an offensive one for the Islanders. There are few players in the league who can do what Cizikas does. There are certainly none on the Isles outside of Cizikas.

This award was made for him. Sorry, Brock Nelson.

Calder (Best rookie) – Noah Dobson

You might think that the rookie of the year for the Isles is a no brainer. Noah Dobson is the only rookie currently on the Isles roster right now. So, naturally, he gets the award uncontested, right?

But he wasn’t always the only one on the roster. Remember that Oliver Wahlstrom got a shot when Jordan Eberle was out with an injury early in the year. If Wahlstrom had played well enough he could have forced the Islanders hand to keep him up.

Unfortunately for Wahlstrom, after a nine-game stint – and with a healthy Eberle – he wasn’t able to prove that he belongs to stick around. So back to the AHL he went.

The same story applied to Otto Koivula who got a seven-game stint in the NHL. Just like Wahlstrom he didn’t do enough to warrant staying up. Although, unlike Wahlstrom, Koivula played primarily in the bottom six and only got more than ten minutes of ice time once. It came against the Red Wings when the Islanders sat their top-six players during an 8-2 victory.

Other rookies got a chance to prove themselves, only Dobson stayed. Of course, the fact that he couldn’t play in the AHL for the season facilitated that decision for the Islanders.

Now that Adam Pelech is out with a season-ending injury, Dobson is getting consistent ice-time and is playing every day. As a result, he’s growing into his role and gaining confidence in his game.

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Dobson only just turned 20 so he’s still making mistakes every now and then, but those mistakes are becoming less frequent with the more ice-time he logs. It’s easy to see why the Islanders drafted him 12th overall in 2018.