Mid-season NHL Award Prediction Series: Who will win the Jack Adams Award?

The Fan Verdict is continuing its look at the NHL Award leaders halfway through the 2018-19 season, as we have now identified the front-runners for the league’s Hart Trophy, which defensemen lead the way for this year’s Norris Trophy, and which rookie could take home the Calder this year. Now, we’re looking at those who do their work from behind the bench – the coaches – and who’s in the running for the Jack Adams Award.

The Jack Adams Award – NHL’s Coach of the Year

There is no shortage of candidates for the Jack Adams Award this season, with so many teams either dominating the competition since October, exceeding the team’s expectations, or staying in the playoff race despite adversity.

With that being said, here are the three head coaches leading the way for this year’s honor:

Barry Trotz – New York Islanders

Trotz should be an easy finalist for voters in the National Hockey League’s Broadcasters Association to choose with the work he’s done on Long Island this season.

Trotz joined the Islanders in June after resigning as head coach of the Stanley Cup winning Washington Capitals. It had been reported that Trotz wanted to be paid among other top coaches across the league, such as Toronto’s Mike Babcock ($6.25 million) or Montreal’s Claude Julien ($5 million), but a clause in his contract with the Capitals would have only given him a slight raise from the $1.5 million he had been making as an incentive for winning the Stanley Cup.

Less than three days after stepping down from his position in D.C., Trotz was named head coach of the New York Islanders and has his team sitting in first place in the Metropolitan division entering Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.

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It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Islanders after dismissing GM Garth Snow and head coach Doug Weight in May after ownership appointed Lou Lamoriello President of Hockey Operations. Lamoriello has since taken over the role of general manager following Snow’s dismissal. After allowing a league-high 296 goals against last season, the team has bought into Trotz’s defense-first system and ranks at the top of the league in the same statistic this season.

#NHL STAT DU JOUR is the Barry Trotz effect. This season, @NYIslanders are 2nd in the NHL in goals against at 2.56. Last season, they were dead last allowing 3.57 goals a game, one goal more per match.

— Stan Nieradka (@smn013) January 5, 2019

Trotz employs an offensive system that relies on quality over quantity, something evidenced by his team’s rankings in terms of possession. Entering Saturday’s game, the Islanders rank 26th in the NHL in CF% at five-on-five with a 47.96 percent, meaning their opponents are taking more than half of the recorded shot attempts per game, but rank eighth in HDCF%, which only includes high-danger chances.

The work that Trotz has done in his first season with the Islanders – a team many expected to finish near the bottom of the standings – has been astounding. As the second half of the season continues, expect Trotz to continue his success on Long Island as the team fights for its first playoff berth since 2016.

Bill Peters – Calgary Flames

Another coach who is halfway through his first season with his new team, Bill Peters has his Calgary Flames sitting atop the Western conference and second in the entire league through 54 games.

Peters had resigned from his position as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes on April 20, 2018 and accepted the same position in Calgary just three days after stepping down. This happened shortly after the team’s new owner, Thomas Dundon, removed then-GM Ron Francis from his position and named him President of Hockey Operations – a position that ultimately did not give him much control over hockey operations. Francis was fired from the Hurricanes organization ten days after Peters stepped down, on April 30.

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Despite poor goaltending from Mike Smith, the team’s expected starter entering the season, Peters has been able to put Calgary in a position to succeed. Smith’s role as starter has been taken by David Rittich, a 26-year-old goalie from the Czech Republic who had one game of NHL experience entering this season. Rittich ranks ninth in the league in even-strength save percentage with a .928 save percentage thus far.

With Rittich handling the duties between the pipes, Peters’ offense has been one of the best in the league, and that’s without production from free agent acquisition James Neal. Calgary ranks second in the NHL in goals scored entering Saturday with 199 goals in 54 games, trailing only Tampa Bay. Of those 199 goals, Neal – who signed a five-year, $28.75 million contract in the off-season – only accounts for five of those.

Looks like another all-star nod coming for #Flames — thanks to first-half success of his squad, Bill Peters will coach Pacific Division.

— Wes Gilbertson (@WesGilbertson) January 5, 2019

As Calgary continues its push for a third playoff berth in five years, the way the team performs in the second half of the season could help its coach’s chances at the Jack Adams Award this June.

Jon Cooper – Tampa Bay Lightning

When putting together a list of those competing for the Jack Adams Award, it’s hard to ignore the head coach of the team running away from the rest of the league in the standings.

Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning have a nine point lead on second place Calgary for number one in the NHL, lead the league in goals scored with 207 entering Saturday and also went on a 21-2-1 run from Nov. 21-Jan. 12.

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The former college lacrosse star and public defender began coaching the Lightning back in March, 2013 following the dismissal of Guy Boucher during the 2013 lockout-shortened season. Since then, Cooper has been behind the Tampa Bay bench for 480 games with a record of 282-154-44 now in his seventh season.

One could argue it’s easy for Cooper to coach what’s typically looked at as the most complete roster in the NHL, but every team still needs a quality coach to lead them. From start to finish this season, Tampa Bay has had no problem taking on its opponents, and that includes about a month-long stretch without starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

With 82 points in just 54 games, Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning remain the favorite to bring home at least one piece of hardware from this June’s Award show in Las Vegas, the NHL’s President’s Trophy. Despite a 2-1-2 record coming out of the All-Star Weekend and CBA-mandated bye-week, expect Cooper and Tampa Bay to continue its incredible run into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Winner: Barry Trotz – New York Islanders

There are plenty of coaches who deserve winning this award in June, including some that aren’t named in this article. But at the midway point of the NHL season, Barry Trotz has to be the front-runner for this year’s Jack Adams Award.

In his first season behind the Islanders bench, Trotz has taken a team that finished with the most goals allowed in the league last season – with almost all of the same defensemen – to the opposite end of the NHL’s rankings. It has been a worst-to-first season in the goals against department for Trotz and the Islanders and because of this remarkable turnaround, Trotz is the one taking home the Jack Adams Award.