Handing out the hardware

Plenty remains to be resolved in the season’s final days, but it is time to take a more in-depth look at the candidates for the major awards.

It has been a weird year for determining some of these designations in the NHL. Star players have missed time with injuries, and teams have surged and swooned — making picking favorites tough and definitive winners even tougher.

At different points in this season, Sidney Crosby was on his way to a second straight MVP, Chicago’s Patrick Kane was locked in as the top rookie and Detroit coach Mike Babcock deserved to be ahead of his peers with his team on a historic pace.

Much has changed though, so here is the case for and against the top candidates for MVP, rookie and coach of the year. There also will be a projected winner not necessarily who should win but a best guess as to who will win.

HART TROPHY

Jarome Iginla, Flames: 49 goals, 94 points, +25

FOR: Has been a complete player and kept the Flames among the top teams in the Western Conference. He also might be in the bridesmaid position for a second time, even if he deserved the award in 2002 and was jobbed.

AGAINST: A goal-less streak from Jan. 8 to Feb. 4 is the only blemish on a great season.

Evgeni Malkin, Penguins: 47 goals, 106 points, +16

FOR: Blossomed with Crosby out of the lineup and helped carry the Penguins toward the top of the Eastern Conference. He would be the first Russian to win an NHL scoring title … if it weren’t for the man drafted right in front of him in 2004.

AGAINST: His run of incredible play was not a season-long phenomenon, and the production has trailed off a bit when Crosby has played.

Alex Ovechkin, Capitals: 63 goals, 110 points, +27

FOR: He leads the league in goals, points, shots, game-winning goals, power-play goals, even-strength goals, first-period goals, third-period goals, home goals, road goals. He also hits anything that moves, has a flair for the dramatic and dresses in a phone booth. (OK, that’s a bit over the top he’s not always dramatic.)

AGAINST: His team may not reach the playoffs. Is there anything else?

PROJECTED WINNER: Don’t overthink this. It is Ovechkin.

CALDER TROPHY

Nicklas Backstrom, Capitals: 14 goals, 67 points, +13

FOR: He has been the best rookie in the league since Thanksgiving. He also has logged major minutes for a playoff contender and has meshed well with Alex Ovechkin.

AGAINST: Will playing with Ovechkin help him or hurt him with the voters? He also doesn’t have the franchise savior tag like the Chicago kids or, to a lesser extent, Phoenix’s Peter Mueller.

Patrick Kane, Blackhawks: 19 goals, 69 points, -7

FOR: He has led all rookies in scoring for much of the season. He and teammate Jonathan Toews have led a hockey revival in Chicago. He also has been one of the league’s best in the shootout (7-for-9).

AGAINST: Is he the best rookie on his own team? They may split votes. His production slipped in February, but he picked it up in March.

Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks: 23 goals, 53 points, +10

FOR: He leads all rookies in goals and probably would be named the best player in this class on overall talent by a panel of hockey types.

AGAINST: He missed 18 games with finger and groin injuries, and his points-a-game average has not been the same since coming back from the broken finger.

PROJECTED WINNER: Mueller, Atlanta’s Tobias Enstrom and Montreal’s Carey Price also will earn some votes, but Kane will edge Backstrom.

JACK ADAMS TROPHY

Bruce Boudreau, Capitals

FOR: He took over a team that was last in the NHL and brought it to the cusp of the postseason. He also has molded the Caps into one of the league’s most exciting teams to watch and is a media darling.

AGAINST: He was not the coach for the team’s first 21 games, and his team still may miss the playoffs.

Guy Carbonneau, Canadiens

FOR: This team missed the playoffs last season and lost top offensive defenseman Sheldon Souray, but the power play is still dynamite and les Bleu, Blanc et Rouge are serious Cup contenders.

AGAINST: Alex Kovalev and Andrei Markov might receive much of the credit for the team’s turnaround.

Joel Quenneville, Avalanche

FOR: Despite myriad injuries to his team’s top players, he has this team in the playoffs in the rugged Western Conference.

AGAINST: Not much, other than there does not appear to be much buzz for Quenneville.

PROJECTED WINNER: It is a wide-open field. There are at least five or six other guys who might get first-place votes, but Carbonneau will edge Boudreau in another close vote. Should the Caps win the Southeast Division and earn the No. 3 seed, it could be the final momentum swing in Boudreau’s favor.