The NHL is continuing to announce the finalists for its end-of-season awards. The three finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy were revealed on Tuesday.

The Masterton Trophy is awarded to the player judged to “best exemplify the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey”.

Arizona’s Clayton Keller, Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang, and Chicago’s Alex Stalock are all up for the 2023 trophy.

All three players battled health-related issues to get on the ice this past season.

• Clayton Keller broke his femur in March 2022 and went through half a year of rehab to return for this past season which turned out to be a career-best year for him.
• Kris Letang suffered the second stroke during his playing career and had his father pass away all within a four-week span before eventually returning to the Penguins’ lineup.
• Alex Stalock returned to regular duty as a goaltender after playing just one game the prior two seasons due to being diagnosed with COVID-related myocarditis and fighting through concussion-related symptoms.

John Carlson was the Capitals’ nominee this season for the trophy but was not selected as one of the finalists.

The NHL will continue announcing finalists throughout the week. See all the players up for awards here.

The NHL’s full press release is below:

Keller, Letang and Stalock Voted Masterton Trophy Finalists

NEW YORK (May 9, 2023) – Arizona Coyotes right wing Clayton Keller, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock are the three finalists for the 2022-23 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,” the National Hockey League announced today.

The local chapters of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) submitted nominations for the Masterton Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season and the top three vote-getters were designated as finalists. The winner will be revealed live during the 2023 NHL Awards at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Monday, June 26 (8 p.m. ET, TNT, SN, TVAS).

Following are the finalists for the Masterton Trophy, in alphabetical order:

Clayton Keller, RW, Arizona Coyotes

Keller suffered a fractured femur during a game versus the San Jose Sharks on March 30, 2022 and underwent six months of rehab to be ready for the start of what became a career season in 2022-23. He appeared in all 82 games and set career highs in goals (37), assists (49) and points (86), matching the highest points total by a Coyotes player since the team moved to Arizona (Keith Tkachuk, 52-34—86 in 1996-97). Keller represented the Coyotes at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game and posted 24 points in March, the most ever in a month by a Coyote. “His mental toughness is probably the part I’m most proud of because I know what had to be going through his mind immediately after the injury and the surgery,” his father, Bryan Keller, told PHNX. “He had to wait a couple of days to start physical therapy, but once he was on the walker, he goes, ‘I’ll be skating in six weeks.’ And then once he started skating, he had already set a goal that he would be ready for opening night, which he was.”

Kris Letang, D, Pittsburgh Penguins

Letang persevered through a stroke, the second of his lifetime, and mourning the passing of his father within a span of four weeks during the season. Through it all, he remained a Penguins cornerstone in his 17th season with the club. He ranked 10th among all NHL players in ice time per game (24:51) and recorded 12-29–41 in 64 games. Letang is a Masterton Trophy finalist for the second time, finishing as a runner-up to Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk in 2014-15. “Obviously, there are some tough times, there’s emotional times. But at the end of the day, I always thought that I was going to push through it and be able to go on the other side and be the same or better,” Letang told The Athletic. “I always kind of took pride to be able to bring it every day. That’s how I was raised — never back down from a challenge or to never quit when you’re down.”

Alex Stalock, G, Chicago Blackhawks

Stalock signed as a free agent with the Blackhawks in July 2022, determined to regain an NHL roster spot. The 35-year-old, 11-year NHL veteran had appeared in one League game over the prior two seasons, having been diagnosed with myocarditis after testing positive for COVID-19 in 2019-20. Stalock quickly won over teammates with his off-ice presence and on-ice performance while battling through setbacks ranging from concussions to oculomotor dysfunction, a vision problem that affects the central nervous system. He finished the season at 9-15-2 with a 3.01 GAA in 27 games. “The last couple of years have been tough with what I’ve gone through,” Stalock told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Honestly, going through it, were there points where I had doubts in my mind that I would ever play again? Yeah. But at the same time, it’s the way I’m wired that I wouldn’t let that be the end of it.”

Bill Masterton Memorial Scholarship Fund

A $2,500 grant from the PHWA is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minn., in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner.

History

The trophy was presented by the NHL Writers’ Association in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player with the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited to a high degree the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey and who died on Jan. 15, 1968.

Announcement Schedule

The three finalists for the 2023 NHL Awards are being announced through Friday, May 12. The series of announcements continues Wednesday, May 10, when the three finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award will be unveiled.

Headline photo: NHL PR