John Tavares named Maple Leafs’ nominee for Bill Masterton Trophy

All 32 teams are expected to name their nominees for the award, and the winner will be announced during the NHL Awards show in June. The trophy is awarded to an NHL player who has demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship, perseverance, and dedication to hockey.

Tavares took what was undoubtedly a tough ending to the season for a number of reasons and has turned it into one of the best seasons of his career. He finished last season with 29 goals and 65 points in 80 games, which was the lowest point-per-game average since his sophomore season in the league. Pair that with yet another first-round loss for the Leafs and a conversation about handing over the captaincy to teammate Auston Matthews immediately following it, and you could argue that it was the lowest point of the Oakville native’s career. Even if it had the makings of it on paper, Tavares didn’t let any of that discourage him, which is why, a year later, he’s the winner of the Masterton Trophy.

By all accounts, Tavares handled the transfer of the captaincy with grace, class, and humility. There was never any bad blood left over despite making the switch with one year left on the former captain’s deal, and he made sure to let Matthews know that he had his full support.

“I just wanted to let him know what I thought about him and that I thought the time was now for him to take charge and be the captain and be the leader of our club and how ready he was for it,” Tavares told reporters at the time.“He’s got my full support to continue what I came here six years ago to do, wanting to bring the Stanley Cup back here to Toronto and finding a way to do that.”

Tavares has responded by firing on all cylinders in 2024-25 and helping drive the Maple Leafs’ offence in the second half of the season. The 34-year-old has 37 goals and 31 assists for 71 points in 70 games and is among the league leaders in goals since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, with 16 in 22 games since.

Still, ask Tavares, and the odds are that he’d trade every award nomination or individual accolade for a meaningful playoff run with the Leafs, ideally ending with a ring. But that’s just the team player he is. In reality, he was among the most deserving of this award, as the voters decided, and could earn another piece of hardware when the NHL Awards take place in a few months.