Every professional sports league loves awards, and the NHL is no different. Trophies from the Selke to the Lady Byng to the Hart will be awarded this postseason honoring the best the league has to offer in all phases of the game.
So we here at 1st Ohio Battery figured we'd join the fun as well. We've already reminisced about the best moments of the season, but what about the best players? It's time for the 1OB Awards. There's no Golden Cannon to hand out to the winners, but hey, maybe we can get this in the media guide next year.
#AwardsSZN begins with our choice for the Blue Jackets' top rookie for the 2016-17 season. Much like the NHL's awards, there are three finalists, because three always seems like a good number for these things.
Defenseman Markus Nutivaara
The only people who knew much about Nutivaara heading into training camp are likely those who write about Columbus Blue Jackets prospects for a living (a very finite group if there ever was one). A seventh-round pick in the 2015 draft, Nutivaara spent the 2015-16 season playing for Kärpät in the Liiga, aka the Finnish Elite League. There, he had six goals and 16 assists in 50 games and had five points in seven playoff contests for the squad which counts Niklas Backstrom, Pekka Rinne and Jussi Jokinen among its alumni.
Nutivaara signed an entry-level deal in May 2016, but surely the 22-year-old was a longshot to make the Blue Jackets roster heading into the season, right? Well, clearly that thinking was wrong because not only did Nutivaara make the roster, he shined. Showcasing a simple game predicated on moving the puck, Nutivaara slotted into the team's third pair for most of the year with Ryan Murray, posting standard numbers (two goals, five assists in 66 games) that belied his puck-moving skills.
Nutivaara was in and out of the lineup late in the year after the acquisition of Kyle Quincey and was held out of the first three playoff games, but when he did get on the ice, he was huge in Game 4, notching a goal and an assist and driving play in limited action. He'll need to get stronger on pucks but appears to have the skill to be a key cog in the defense for years to come.
Center Lukas Sedlak
Sedlak wasn't quite the longshot Nutivaara was to make the team, but he certainly wasn't written in ink entering the campaign, either. A sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft, Sedlak was entering the "Will he or won't he?" portion of his career, that time where a prospect has to make the leap to show whether he's a potential full-time NHL player.
The leap started last year. After 14 goals and 18 points in 54 regular-season games with the AHL's Monsters, Sedlak was a monster himself in the postseason, posting nine goals and seven assists for 16 points in 17 games as Lake Erie raced to the Calder Cup.
That proved to be a springboard for Sedlak, who very quickly established himself as a fourth-line center for the Jackets. There was very little not to like in his game – despite a ton of defensive zone draws, he showed good puck possession metrics; he seemingly made his linemates better; and he showed a little offensive skill, too, with seven goals and six assists in 62 games. At 24, he seems unlikely to be a star, but Sedlak has a high upside as a bottom-six forward.
Defenseman Zach Werenski
What more is there to say about Werenski that hasn't been said? Werenski joins super-phenoms Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine as finalists for the NHL's Rookie of the Year award, put together a historic season for a teenage defenseman, and even reached cult hero status for his puck-to-the-face, return-to-the-ice, postgame-selfie performance during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
We've written ad nauseum about his historic rookie campaign – seriously, our collective man-crush is probably reaching restraining order levels, and it's not even close to the one possessed by head coach John Tortorella – but it's worth glossing over once again. The University of Michigan product, who won't turn 20 until July 29, had 11 goals and 36 assists for 47 points in 78 games, not to mention a plus-17 rating. He shattered the Jackets' record for points by a rookie – any rookie, not just a blueliner – and also placed among the top-scoring teenage defensemen of all time.
We could probably keep going here, but suffice it to say the kid is darn good.
The Winner Is: Zach Werenski
Like there was any other option.
Nutivaara and Sedlak each had good cases – as did non-finalists Oliver Bjorkstrand and even Gabriel Karlsson, who stepped right into playoff action upon arrival stateside – but Werenski is as good as it gets in the rookie class not just in Columbus but in the NHL.
Anything you want in an NHL player, Werenski has it. He's earned raves off the ice for his work ethic, calm demeanor and professional attitude, and on it there's little he can't do. At 19, he was already solid in his own zone while showing elite offensive skill, and there's very little reason to think he won't keep getting better and better. Matthews and Laine (not to mention other standout NHL rookies like Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Jake Guenzel and Sebastian Aho) bring a ton to the table, but Werenski could be the next Erik Karlsson or Brent Burns when it comes to pulling strings from the blue line.
And for that, Werenski is the first winner of 1OB's Jackets Rookie of the Year honor.
