NHL Plus-Minus Award

Last updated
NHL Plus/Minus Award
Sport Ice hockey
Awarded forA player, having played a minimum of 60 games, who leads the league in plus/minus statistics
History
First award 1982–83 NHL season
Final award 2007–08 NHL season

The NHL Plus/Minus Award was a trophy awarded annually by the National Hockey League to the ice hockey "player, having played a minimum of 60 games, who leads the league in plus-minus statistics." [1] It was sponsored by a commercial business, and it had been known under five different names. First given for performance during the 1982–83 season, Wayne Gretzky won the award the most times, with three. Gretzky also led the league once prior to the inception of the award. Bobby Orr has led the NHL the most times in plus-minus, with six, all prior to the inception of the award. The award was discontinued after being awarded to Pavel Datsyuk following the 2007–08 season.

Contents

History

The plus/minus statistic was first established during the 1967–68 NHL season. This statistic reflects a player's ability to contribute offensively and defensively. [2] The award was first given at the end of the 1982–83 season. From 1982–83 to 1987–88, it was known as the Emery Edge Award. During 1988–89, there was no formal name for the Award. From 1989–90 to 1995–96, it was known as the Alka-Seltzer Plus Award. From 1996–97 to 1997–98, it was known as the Bud Ice Plus-Minus Award. Finally, from 1998–99 to 2007–08, it was known as the Bud Light Plus-Minus Award.

Three-time winner Wayne Gretzky won the award the most times out of any player, and is one of only three repeat winners, joined by two-time winners John LeClair and Chris Pronger. Gretzky recorded the highest single-season result, +100, of all Award winners. The Award was won by players on the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings four times each, with three wins by players on the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.

Including the 20 seasons the League tracked plus-minus as a statistic without an award, the Boston Bruins have led the League 11 times (six by Bobby Orr and twice by David Krejci, the only other repeat leaders), Edmonton Oilers five times (four by Wayne Gretzky, including three official awards) and four times each by players on the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers.

Winners

Thomas Vanek, one-time winner Thomas Vanek.jpg
Thomas Vanek, one-time winner
Martin St. Louis, one-time winner Marty St Louis 2007.jpg
Martin St. Louis, one-time winner
Chris Pronger, two-time winner Pronger-shooting.jpg
Chris Pronger, two-time winner
Michal Rozsival, one-time winner Michal Rozsival.jpg
Michal Rozsival, one-time winner

* Season shortened by the 1994–95 NHL lockout

Positions key
C Centre LW Left wing RW Right wing F Forward D Defence
  Player is still active in the NHL

Bold Player with the best plus-minus ever recorded in a season.

Plus-minus leaders (1967–1982)

Before 1983, there was no award for leading the League in plus-minus. The NHL started counting the statistics in 1967, and this lists all the leaders from the inception of the statistic to the inception of the award. [3]

Wayne Gretzky, three-time winner (four-time leader) Wgretz edit2.jpg
Wayne Gretzky, three-time winner (four-time leader)
SeasonPlayerTeamPositionRatingWin #
1967–68 Dallas Smith Boston Bruins D+331
1968–69 Phil Esposito Boston Bruins C+551
1968–69 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins D+551
1969–70 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins D+542
1970–71 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins D+1243
1971–72 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins D+834
1972–73 Jacques Laperriere Montreal Canadiens D+771
1973–74 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins D+845
1974–75 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins D+806
1975–76 Bobby Clarke Philadelphia Flyers C+831
1976–77 Larry Robinson Montreal Canadiens D+1201
1977–78 Guy Lafleur Montreal Canadiens RW+731
1978–79 Bryan Trottier New York Islanders C+761
1979–80 Jim Schoenfeld Buffalo Sabres D+601
1980–81 Brian Engblom Montreal Canadiens D+631
1981–82 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers C+801
SeasonPlayerTeamPositionRatingWin #
1982–83 Charlie Huddy Edmonton Oilers D+631
1983–84 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers C+761
1984–85 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers C+1002
1985–86 Mark Howe Philadelphia Flyers D+851
1986–87 Wayne Gretzky Edmonton Oilers C+703
1987–88 Brad McCrimmon Calgary Flames D+481
1988–89 Joe Mullen Calgary Flames F+511
1989–90 Paul Cavallini St. Louis Blues D+381
1990–91 Marty McSorley 1 Los Angeles Kings D+481
Theoren Fleury 1 Calgary Flames RW1
1991–92 Paul Ysebaert Detroit Red Wings LW+441
1992–93 Mario Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins C+551
1993–94 Scott Stevens New Jersey Devils D+531
1994–95 * Ron Francis Pittsburgh Penguins C+301
1995–96 Vladimir Konstantinov Detroit Red Wings D+601
1996–97 John LeClair Philadelphia Flyers C+441
1997–98 Chris Pronger St. Louis Blues D+471
1998–99 John LeClair 2 Philadelphia Flyers LW+362
1999–2000 Chris Pronger St. Louis Blues D+522
2000–01 Patrik Elias 3 New Jersey Devils LW+451
Joe Sakic 3 Colorado Avalanche C1
2001–02 Chris Chelios Detroit Red Wings D+401
2002–03 Peter Forsberg 4 Colorado Avalanche C+521
Milan Hejduk 4 Colorado Avalanche RW1
2003–04 Martin St. Louis 5 Tampa Bay Lightning RW+351
Marek Malik 5 Vancouver Canucks D1
2004–05 Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout
2005–06 Wade Redden 6 Ottawa Senators D+351
Michal Rozsival 6 New York Rangers D1
2006–07 Thomas Vanek Buffalo Sabres LW+471
2007–08 Pavel Datsyuk Detroit Red Wings C+411

Plus-minus leaders (2008–present)

* Season shortened by the 2012–13 NHL lockout
† Season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic

SeasonPlayerTeamPositionRatingWin #
2008–09 David Krejci Boston Bruins C+371
2009–10 Jeff Schultz Washington Capitals D+501
2010–11 Zdeno Chara Boston Bruins D+331
2011–12 Patrice Bergeron Boston Bruins C+361
2012–13 * Pascal Dupuis Pittsburgh Penguins RW+311
2013–14 David Krejci Boston Bruins C+392
2014–15 Nikita Kucherov 7 Tampa Bay Lightning RW+381
Max Pacioretty 7 Montreal Canadiens LW1
2015–16 Tyler Toffoli Los Angeles Kings C+351
2016–17 Ryan Suter 8 Minnesota Wild D+341
Jason Zucker 8 LW1
2017–18 William Karlsson Vegas Golden Knights C+491
2018–19 Mark Giordano Calgary Flames D+391
2019–20† Ryan Graves Colorado Avalanche D+401
2020–21† Mikko Rantanen Colorado Avalanche RW+301
2021–22 Johnny Gaudreau Calgary Flames LW+641
2022–23 Hampus Lindholm Boston Bruins D+491
2023–24 Gustav Forsling Florida Panthers D+561

Situational plus–minus leaders (2008–present)

While not all types of goals are included in the calculation of plus-minus — such as power play goals — and every other type of goal is weighed the same, situational plus–minus (Sit +/−) allows for each goal to be included by adjusting by the number of skaters (i.e. not goaltenders) on the ice at the time of the goal, to accommodate for special-team and empty net goals. The plus–minus rating is calculated by dividing the number of skaters on the ice for the team scored upon by the number of skaters on the ice for the scoring team, applied as a plus to all players (including goaltenders) on the ice for the scoring team and as a minus for all players (including goaltenders) on the ice for the team scored upon. This also allows the statistics to be applied to goaltenders. [4]

* Season shortened by the 2012–13 NHL lockout
† Season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic

Best situational plus–minus [5]  Worst situational plus–minus [5]
SeasonPlayerTeamPositionNHL
+/−		Sit
+/−		PlayerTeamPositionNHL
+/−		Sit
+/−
2008–09 Mike Green Washington Capitals D+24+70.76 Brendan Witt New York Islanders D−34−56.22
2009–10 Alex Ovechkin Washington Capitals LW+45+87.71 Nate Thompson New York Islanders,
Tampa Bay Lightning 		C−17−46.00
2010–11 Daniel Sedin Vancouver Canucks LW+30+73.63 Chris Phillips Ottawa Senators D−35−52.77
2011–12 Marc-Andre Fleury Pittsburgh Penguins G N/A+59.61 Milan Jurcina New York Islanders D−34−45.67
2012–13 Chris Kunitz Pittsburgh Penguins LW+30+52.55 Erik Gudbranson Florida Panthers D−22−28.20
2013–14 Chris Kunitz Pittsburgh Penguins LW+25+62.04 Steve Ott Buffalo Sabres,
St. Louis Blues 		C−38−48.09
2014–15 Nikita Kucherov Tampa Bay Lightning RW+38+54.85 Mike Smith Arizona Coyotes GN/A−76.31
2015–16 Alex Ovechkin Washington Capitals LW+21+60.65 Bo Horvat Vancouver Canucks C−30−38.15
2016–17 Braden Holtby Washington Capitals GN/A+63.28 Fedor Tyutin Colorado Avalanche D−25−45.07
2017–18 Connor Hellebuyck Winnipeg Jets GN/A+67.44 Johan Larsson Buffalo Sabres C−30−46.50
2018–19 Brayden Point Tampa Bay Lightning C+27+72.77 Adam Larsson Edmonton Oilers D−28−46.52
2019–20 Artemi Panarin New York Rangers LW+36+64.04 Filip Hronek Detroit Red Wings D−38−53.69
2020–21 Philipp Grubauer Colorado Avalanche GN/A+64.13 David Savard Columbus Blue Jackets,
Tampa Bay Lightning 		D−27−37.82
2021–22 Johnny Gaudreau Calgary Flames LW+64+94.80 Karel Vejmelka Arizona Coyotes GN/A−57.20
2022−23 Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers C+22+83.35 John Gibson Anaheim Ducks GN/A−79.24
2023-24 Nathan MacKinnon Colorado Avalanche C+34+84.21 Mario Ferraro San Jose Sharks D−38−67.37

See also

Notes

^ During the 1990–91 season, there was a tie between Marty McSorley of the Los Angeles Kings and Theoren Fleury of the Calgary Flames.
^ During the 1998–99 season, Alexander Karpovtsev led the League with a +39 rating. However, he played in 58 games and was ineligible since there is a 60-game minimum. Therefore, LeClair was given the award with a +36 rating.
^ During the 2000–01 season, there was a tie between Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche and Patrik Elias of the New Jersey Devils.
^ During the 2002–03 season, there was a tie between Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk of the Colorado Avalanche.
^ During the 2003–04 season, there was a tie between Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lighting and Marek Malik of the Vancouver Canucks.
^ During the 2005–06 season, there was a tie between Michal Rozsival of the New York Rangers and Wade Redden of the Ottawa Senators.
^ During the 2014–15 season, there was a tie between Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lighting and Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens.
^ During the 2016–17 season, there was a tie between Ryan Suter and Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild.

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References

General

Specific

  1. ↑ "National Hockey League (NHL) Bud Light Trophy (NHL +/- Award)" . Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  2. ↑ "What is Plus/Minus?" . Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  3. ↑ "NHL & WHA Yearly Leaders and Records for Plus/Minus". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Learn More". PlusMinusLine.com. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  5. 1 2 "PlusMinusLine | National Hockey League Situational Plus/Minus". PlusMinusLine.com. Retrieved 2024-04-27.

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