The NHL announced the nominees for the 2024 Masterton Trophy, Friday. The trophy is given annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
TJ Oshie was nominated for the Capitals while former Caps Nathan Walker and Ilya Samsonov were the St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs nominees respectively.
The full list of players up for the award is below via the NHL.
2024 Masterton Trophy nominees
Anaheim – D Urho Vaakanainen
Arizona – G Connor Ingram
Boston – F Danton Heinen
Buffalo – G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Calgary – D Oliver Kylington
Carolina – G Frederik Andersen
Chicago – F Colin Blackwell
Colorado – F Jonathan Drouin
Columbus – D Zach Werenski
Dallas – F Matt Duchene
Detroit – G Alex Lyon
Edmonton – D Vincent Desharnais
Florida – D Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Los Angeles – F Viktor Arvidsson
Minnesota – F Marco Rossi
Montreal – F Joel Armia
Nashville – F Michael McCarron
New Jersey – F Curtis Lazar
New York Islanders – F Cal Clutterbuck
New York Rangers – G Jonathan Quick
Ottawa – F Claude Giroux
Philadelphia – F Sean Couturier
Pittsburgh – F Sidney Crosby
San Jose – F Justin Bailey
Seattle – G Joey Daccord
St. Louis – F Nathan Walker
Tampa Bay – F Michael Eyssimont
Toronto – G Ilya Samsonov
Vancouver – D Noah Juulsen
Vegas – D Alex Pietrangelo
Washington – F T.J. Oshie
Winnipeg – G Laurent Brossoit
The players are voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, which RMNB is not a part of. A local chapter nominates a player from each team. The list of 32 is then narrowed down to three finalists. A winner is named during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The most recent winners of the Masterton Trophy are Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang (2023), Montreal’s Carey Price (2022), and Philadelphia’s Oskar Lindblom (2021).
Oshie was nominated due to his perseverance “fighting through chronic back injuries that have sidelined him numerous times.” If you include tonight’s matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes (that he’s been ruled out of), Oshie has missed 29 of 76 games this season.
The 37-year-old forward has fought back to return multiple times this season, posting 22 points (11g, 11a) in 47 games. He recently played in his 1,000th NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks in March.
Oshie has also advocated for neck guards to be worn in the NHL after Adam Johnson tragically passed away in the UK. Oshie’s company, Warroad, helps create the gear as well.
“For (the) youth, I hope it shows them that it’s really not a distraction from my game,” Oshie said in early November. “I thought I played pretty decent. Honestly, it was really comfortable. Youth players, if they’re able, I hope they can get some sort of neck protection. I didn’t even notice it after one shift tonight.”
Walker, a 2018 Stanley Cup champion with the Capitals, has bounced between the AHL and NHL for most of his career. The small Aussie forward, who plays big for his size, has spent half of the 2023-24 season in St. Louis, posting 11 points (6g, 5a) in 39 games.
Not only is he a hard-working, heart-and-soul player on the ice, but he’s also one heck of a teammate too, mate.
Ilya Samsonov bounced back from some huge early-season struggles with the Toronto Maple Leafs and is now poised to be the team’s starter in the postseason.
“If I said I feel great, it’s not the truth. I feel s—,” Samsonov said in late October per Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. “But it’s a piece of my life. I’m a guy who’s going to be fighting through this. I will be fighting every day.
“I know I’m better goalie than this.”
Samsonov was placed on waivers on December 31 and went unclaimed by all other 31 teams. Samsonov had a 5-2-6 record with a 3.94 goals-against average and a .862 save percentage at the time.
Since returning to the NHL in mid-January, the Russian netminder has gone on a tear, posting a 16-4-1 record. His full-season, goals-against average has improved to 3.06 and his save percentage is approaching .900 (.892).
One of the favorites for the trophy will be Sidney Crosby, who has dominated in his age-36 season — a time when athletes are usually seeing age regression. Crosby has 84 points (39g, 45a) through 76 games. The 39 goals are the most he has scored in a season since he scored 44 in 2016-17.
