Mid-Season NHL Awards Odds – Jack Adams Trophy

The Jack Adams award, the trophy for the NHL’s top coach, could be alternatively titled “The Most Overachieving Team Award”. The trophy does not typically go to someone who was expected to succeed at the start of the year, instead going to a coach who led a substandard roster of players to a playoff spot.

Patrick Roy won last year after taking the Avalanche to the postseason for the first time in four years. The year before, the award went to Paul MacLean, who led the injury-riddled Ottawa Senators to the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference (after finishing eighth the year before with a healthy squad).

So which teams and coaches have snuck up on us this year? We handicap the race for the Jack Adams, below.

Peter Laviolette (Nashville Predators) – Odds: 1/2

Nashville’s Peter Laviolette is the obvious choice and he is a huge favorite at this juncture. The Predators missed the playoffs the last two seasons; yet, without adding much star power, the team is now leading the Central Division and contending for the President’s Trophy.

Laviolette is finding ways to win despite having few elite scorers. Laviolette has changed the tempo of Nashville’s offense, so while they still don’t score a lot of goals, they do possess the puck a lot, taking pressure off of the defense.

The real reason Laviolette is at the top of the list, though, is goalie Pekka Rinne. The 32-year-old Finn has played even bigger than his 6’5″ frame, turning Nashville into a Stanley Cup contender. He’s currently out three-to-five weeks with a knee injury but, if he’s back on his game when he returns, the Preds will remain among the league leaders and the Adams will be Laviolette’s trophy to lose.

Jack Capuano (New York Islanders) – Odds: 3/1

Jack Capuano’s first two years with the Islanders were forgettable. In 2012-2013, New York made the playoffs, but then they regressed to 34-37-11 last year. Coming off of a mediocre season, expectations were pretty low for 2014-15. However, the Isles are leading the Metro Division and are among the highest scoring teams in the league.

Perhaps the greatest compliment that can be given to Capuano is that New York’s young players have developed and improved under his tutelage. Kyle Okposo has become a bona fide first-line player; 23-year-old Brock Nelson is turning into a legitimate sniper; and former fifth-overall pick Ryan Strome finally stuck with the squad and leads all Islanders in plus/minus. If the Preds slip and the Isles surge in the second half of the season, Capuano could become the favorite by year’s end.

Paul Maurice (Winnipeg Jets) – Odds: 5/1

Paul Maurice got his first NHL head coaching job 20 years ago and has had limited success ever since. He went to the Stanley Cup Finals with Carolina in 2001; but he’s also missed the playoffs more often than not, and his overall record is right around .500.

Now with his fifth team, Maurice has done a good job in his first season in Winnipeg. The Jets, who were predicted to struggle in the tough Western Conference, are in good shape to make the playoffs and boast an equally sound offense and defense.

Maurice’s Jack Adams credentials are a lot like Peter Laviolette’s (only the Jets are about ten points back of Nashville). Like Laviolette, Maurice doesn’t have many offensive weapons, but has been the beneficiary of excellent goaltending.

Unlike the Nashville boss, though, Maurice has had to balance the playing time of two excellent goalies: solid veteran Ondrej Pavelec and stellar rookie Michael Hutchinson. Maurice has adeptly handled the goalie rotation, splitting games about 60/40 in favor of Pavelec, ensuring that both see enough time to stay sharp, but that neither get overwhelmed. If Winnipeg cracks the top-eight in the West, expect Maurice to get a nomination.

Bruce Boudreau (Anaheim Ducks) – Odds: 8/1

Bruce Boudreau also merits consideration. Unlike Maurice, he has won everywhere he has been. Boudreau routinely made the playoffs in Washington, and has done a great job in Anaheim, leading the team to the best record in the NHL at the midway point.

However, Boudreau has long odds because everyone expected the Ducks to be great. They finished one point back of the Bruins for the best record in the NHL last year, and then went out and acquired star center Ryan Kesler from Vancouver in the offseason.

Boudreau will likely suffer from Mike Babcock syndrome when voting season arrives, which can only be described as having too many good players to win coach of the year.

(Photo credit: Stefan Brending (“Peter Laviolette”) via Wikimedia Commons [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)