Last night was the NHL Awards show. Let’s get them out of the way:

Ted Lindsay Award: Connor McDavid — duh! It’s his consolation prize for not winning the Hart, and for not playing for the Leafs.

Norris Trophy: Victor Hedman — duh! Maybe the Leafs can acquire him after Tampa Bay trades for Karlsson!

King Clancy Trophy: Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin — uh, sure, that’s definitely an award I know of and what it’s for. After googling the award I see it was named after a guy who used to play for the Leafs.

Calder Trophy: Mathew Barzal — duh, because the Leafs owned all the rookies last year instead of spreading it out, to make it fair on the rest of the league.

Lady Byng Trophy: William Karlsson — somewhat surprising, but no problem here!

Masterton Award: Brian Boyle — duh, it was a heck of a story and a season for the former Leaf.

Selke Trophy: Anze Kopitar — seem shocking? Well Bergeron missed a chunk of time, and Kopitar gets the reputation boost to steal it from Couturier. Couturier getting punked by future Toronto Maple Leaf John Tavares in OT probably didn’t help either.

Jack Adams Award: Gerard Gallant — duh, though it makes you wonder what Babcock has to do to finally win this award with the Leafs.

Messier Leadership Award: Deryk Engelland — zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz too boring and irrelevant to even make a Leafs joke.

Vezina Trophy: Pekka Rinne — lol he got pulled in the playoffs.

General Manager of the Year: George McPhee — so really if you think about it, this award really goes to the Leafs’ new Assistant GM for creating the rules and coaching McPhee and his staff on how to take advantage of them! GO LEAFS GO!

Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award: Darcy Haugan, Humboldt Broncos coach. It was a nice gesture by the NHL to invite the Broncos team, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school hockey team, and the first responders at the Las Vegas shooting to all attend the award show. I usually shit on the NHL for being dumb, but well done on this NHL.

Hart Trophy: Taylor Hall — guess the voters took the whole “MVP” part super seriously this year eh? Plus McDavid gets the consolation Ted Lindsay award, so meh.

Now with all that waste of time out of the way, let’s get on to what REALLY matters.... the Toronto Maple Leafs making two depth signings yesterday!

ONTO THE LINKS!

Maple Leafs sign Calvin Pickard to one-year extension | by Hardev

Maple Leafs sign Connor Carrick to a one-year extension | by Katya

Maple Leafs welcome the New and Improved Canadiens to start the next season | by Katya

Women’s Hockey Wednesday: Where in the World is the Whitecaps Coaching Staff? | by Annie and nafio

Now Official: Ryane Clowe to become head coach of Newfoundland Growlers | by Katya

Have a happy Thursday. We’re only one day away from the draft! Feel free to share your favourite player outfit from the award show!

From The Branches