As the season winds down, who will win each award starts to get more defined. DUBNetwork thought it would be fun to take a look at the Vegas odds on who will win each award. Keep in mind, that there is no actual gambling on these awards nor is DUBNetwork encouraging gambling. We just thought it would be the best way to show the odds that each person will win each award.
Western Conference odds
Rookie of the year:
Adam Beckman (Spokane) 9:5
Seth Jarvis (Portland) 5:1
-Adam Beckman has led Western Conference rookies in scoring for practically the entire season. He has been a nice consistent provider of offense when the Chiefs have missed a guy like Jaret Anderson-Dolan. He notched seven points in the preseason and proved that the preseason can be an indicator of production in the regular season with
48 points in 55 games so far this season.
-Seth Jarvis had a great opening weekend and has Winterhawks fans excited for the future with him and his “Futures” line with Jaydon Dureau and Reece Newkirk. He has 34 points in 55 games and is second among WHL Western Conference rookies. Jarvis could get some extra love with being a 16-year-old to Beckman and Thomson’s 17 and 18 years of age respectively.
Others of note:
Lassi Thomson (Kelowna) 6:1
Justin Sourdif (Vancouver) 10:1
Roman Basran (Kelowna) 20:1
-While the WHL lists 19-year-old players as rookies on their stat page, these individuals are not eligible for the award. Otherwise Seattle’s Andrej Kukuca and Tri-City’s Krystof Hrabik would warrant mention.
Defenseman of the year:
Ty Smith (Spokane) 2:1
Bowen Byram (Vancouver) 3:1
-This has been far more of a race than anyone could have predicted. Smith is still the favorite to win this award as expected but it is closer than initially thought. The first round pick by the New Jersey Devils leads all Western Conference d-men in points with 59 and is second among all WHL blue liners in assists with 53. He just does a little bit of everything on the back end, much of which he does not receive a statistical point for.
-Somehow, the 17-year-old Byram is right on his heels though. He has only four less points than Smith and leads all WHL d-men in goals with 21 and game-winning goals with six. With a great last 12 games and especially if Vancouver takes the top seed in the Western Conference, he could steal this away from Smith.
Others of note:
Aaron Hyman (Tri-City) 8:1
Jake Christiansen (Everett) 12:1
John Ludvig (Portland) 20:1
Goalie of the year:
Dustin Wolf (Everett) 7:5
Beck Warm (Tri-City) 8:1
-With Carter Hart leaving the WHL for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL this season, the thought was this award may finally land with a team not named the Everett Silvertips for the first time since 2014-15. Well along came 17-year-old Dustin Wolf and if things stay the way they are, he will take the award back to Everett for a fourth straight time. The young California-native leads the WHL in GAA with 1.76, save percentage {among goalies with more than 10 games played} with 0.948, wins with 35 and shutouts with six. The only major netminding category he is not far and away the best in is games played as he is tied with Warm for that with 51. This award should be his unless, Warm puts together a fantastic run to end the season and gets Tri-City in the three-seed in the U.S. Division.
-That is because, no team has relied upon their goalie more than the Americans have on Warm. If there was a stat for stealing games, he would lead the league. As of February 19th, he has faced 91 shots more than any other goalie in the WHL. That even beats Joel Hofer, who was under siege as goalie for the Swift Current Broncos to start the season. Warm is sixth in save percentage with 0.915 {among goalies with more than 10 games played} and 14th in GAA with 2.70 but his 29-19-2-0 record for a team that has asked it’s goalie to make the most saves in the WHL by far has him at last second in the running out west.
Other of note:
Griffen Outhouse (Victoria) 12:1
MVP:
Joachim Blichfeld (Portland) 7:5
Connor Dewar (Everett) 6:1
-Blichfeld practically locked this award up over the weekend with back-to-back hat tricks. He now has a 14 point lead atop the WHL with 102 and has nine more goals than anyone else with 51. He is also tied for third in game-winning goals with eight – just one back of the leaders. With Cody Glass in and out of the lineup, Blichfeld has been the one to provide consistent offense for the Winterhawks. He has a lot of his production away from Glass, including Monday when he lit up the defensively sound Vancouver Giants while Glass was scratched. If he keeps up his current play, he will take home both the Western Conference and WHL MVP awards.
-Dewar is in contention as well, but his is an outside chance at best. The 19-year-old Minnesota Wild draft pick has done everything for his Western Conference-leading Silvertips. He is second among Western Conference players in points with 73. He is one of the hardest forwards to play against though and would take home a top defensive-forward award if the WHL had one.
Other of note:
Cody Glass (Portland) 7:1
Parker AuCoin (Tri-City) 15:1
Ty Smith (Spokane) 20:1
Coach of the year:
Dennis Williams (Everett) 3:1
Michael Dyck (Vancouver) 5:1
-Williams has to be the favorite as no one expected the Silvertips to be where they are with all they lost in the offseason. Williams has also started to impose more of his playing style and that has helped the offensive games of players like Bryce Kindopp. Even without number one center Riley Sutter for the second half of the season, Everett has held off the push by the Portland Winterhawks so far and is in a two-team race for top seed in the Western Conference.
-Dyck’s team is the other in that race and his Giants have an incredible 20-point lead for the B.C. Division. Even with a rash of injuries, the Giants have just seemed to get better as the season has gone on and their younger players seem to be getting better with each game.
Other of note:
Kelly Buchberger (Tri-City) 7:1
Executive of the year:
Garry Davidson (Everett) 3:1
Bil La Forge (Seattle) 4:1
-Davidson started early with adding experienced players to the roster. Maybe he was not able to pull off a big Garrett Pilon/Ondrej Vala type trade but each of his acquisitions has produced, including a player like Justyn Gurney, who he acquired as a free agent. Bringing in Zack Andrusiak gives them a proven goal-scorer, who could be a difference-maker come Spring and their defense is big and tough to play against.
-La Forge is right behind him because of the immediate difference his trades made. His team got better after La Forge moved Andrusiak, Reece Harsch and Liam Hughes out. The players that came in like Keltie Jeri-Leon, Henry Rybinski and Roddy Ross {signed – not traded for} among others, have paid immediate dividends and the team as a whole looks like a tough matchup for the playoffs, while getting younger.
Other of note:
Mike Johnston (Portland) 7:1
