The NHL announced the first and second All-Star teams, as well as the All-Rookie team, following Monday's awards. The teams were voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.
All six members of the first All-Star team received the honor for the first time in their careers. The only other time that happened was in 1930-31.
The 30-year-old is the first Predators player in franchise history to win the award and the first Swiss-born player to capture an individual award.
Josi ranked second among blue-liners in even-strength points (42) and goals (12) while logging the third-most ice time among all players with an average of 25:47 per game.
Nashville locked up its award-winning defenseman to an eight-year, $72.47-million deal last October.
Edmonton Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl won the Ted Lindsay Award on Monday as the NHL's Most Outstanding Player, which was voted on by members of the NHLPA.
The 24-year-old phenom also captured the Hart Trophy as league MVP and the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer with a career-best 110 points in 71 games this season.
Draisaitl was an absolute force in 2019-20. He led the league with 67 assists and was the only player to eclipse the 100-point mark. The 6-foot-3 German recorded nearly as many three-plus-point outings (14) as zero-point games (15) during the regular season.
The award has now been won by an Oilers player in three of the previous four seasons, with co-star Connor McDavid earning the honors in both 2017 and 2018.
Dallas Stars netminder Anton Khudobin continues to bolster his Conn Smythe Trophy case after another incredible performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The 34-year-old turned aside 35 shots - including all 22 he faced in the third period - to secure his fourth straight victory and sixth in his previous seven starts.
"He’s been a rock for us all playoffs, it was no different tonight," Stars forward Blake Comeau said following the 4-1 win, according to NBC Sports' Sean Leahy.
"We got into penalty trouble there in the third and he was there to bail us out, and that’s been the storyline this playoffs. Every time we’ve needed a big save, he’s been there for us."
Khudobin is now 9-1 with a .930 save percentage when facing 30 or more shots in a game this postseason, according to Sportsnet Stats.
His biggest save of Saturday's contest came in the final minutes of the second period, as he reached back to deny Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli during a mad scramble in front of the net. The Stars would add a goal to make it 3-1 just moments later.
Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, who scored the eventual game-winning goal in the second period, said the club has been riding the momentum of Khudobin's hot play all postseason.
"His play’s been speaking for itself," Oleksiak said. "It looks like whenever he’s out there, he’s just having fun. I think we’re feeding off that energy. He’s been great. I can’t say enough about him."
Khudobin stifled the high-powered Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final, recording a .950 save percentage while allowing just 10 goals during the five-game series.
Off the ice, the 5-foot-11 puck-stopper appears to be using his unique sense of humor to keep his teammates loose:
Khudobin in Russian on seeing the Cup before the game: "Told the guys, maybe we just steal it and run?" #DallasStars#StanleyCup
Khudobin will look to pick up his 14th win of the playoffs in Game 2 on Monday after recording just 16 victories during the regular season while serving as the backup to starter Ben Bishop.
Following a report the St. Louis Blues cut off contract talks with Alex Pietrangelo on Friday, the pending unrestricted free agent acknowledged he'll likely be testing the open market this October.
"There was a discussion today, and I guess the best way to sum it up, we haven’t really made much progress," Pietrangelo said Friday, according to The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford.
"We just think right now, with where things are at, that maybe it’s best for both sides to see what’s going on in free agency, what the team can explore, what I can explore and if there are better fits for each side."
The Blues are among many teams that have been significantly impacted by the flat $81.5-million salary cap in 2020-21. St. Louis has $5.15 million in projected cap space for next season and Pietrangelo is due for a big payday after making $6.5 million annually on his latest deal.
Pietrangelo, 30, admitted he's unhappy with the way contract talks have gone to this point, but said he hasn't yet ruled out re-signing with the team he's spent all 12 years of his NHL career with.
"We’re a little disappointed that we’re in this situation," he said. "We weren’t able to hammer out the details what we wanted in a deal. There was some work that we tried to get done that we couldn’t get done, so both sides agreed that maybe it’s in the best interest.
"We’re two weeks away. Not saying anything can’t change, but as of right now, that’s kind of our plan, and we’ll see where things go."
Free agency is set to open Oct. 9, and Pietrangelo would easily be the most coveted blue-liner on the market.
The Blues have broken off contract talks with the pending unrestricted free-agent defenseman and have advised him to pursue free agency in October, TSN's Darren Dreger reports.
Pietrangelo, whose previous deal carried an annual cap hit of $6.5 million, is one of the league's top blue-liners and is due for a big payday after helping the Blues capture the Stanley Cup in 2019 and putting together a career campaign in 2019-20.
St. Louis currently has just $5.15 million in projected cap space for next season, according to CapFriendly.
The Montreal Canadiens acquired netminder Jake Allen and a seventh-round pick in 2022 in exchange for a third-round selection and a seventh-rounder in 2020, the team announced Wednesday.
Allen, 30, has one year remaining on his current deal, which carries a $4.35-million cap hit, and will become an unrestricted free agent following the 2020-21 campaign.
The move frees up more cap room for the Blues this offseason with captain Alex Pietrangelo set to become an unrestricted free agent and Vince Dunn heading toward restricted free agency. St. Louis now has $6.39 million in projected space next season, according to CapFriendly.
Allen enjoyed a bounce-back campaign in 2019-20, posting a career-best 2.15 goals-against average and .927 save percentage over 24 appearances.
With Allen in the fold, 33-year-old Carey Price should be afforded more rest next season after making a league-leading 58 starts in 2019-20.
The 30-year-old rearguard is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said he won't be a part of the club's future.
"We’ll move on from Justin," Rutherford said Monday, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Mike Defabo. "He’s going to do better in the marketplace than what he can do here, based on our cap situation."
Schultz was the second-highest paid blue-liner on the Penguins last season with a cap hit of $5.5 million. Pittsburgh has $9.17 million in projected cap space next season, but has several restricted free agents in need of a new deal, including netminders Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry. However, Rutherford said in August there's a "very, very good chance" one of the goaltenders will be traded.
Schultz captured back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins (2016, 2017) and notched a career-best 12 goals and 51 points during the latter campaign.
The British Columbia native tallied three goals and 12 points while logging 19:53 of average ice time over 46 games this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby underwent successful arthroscopic wrist surgery Monday, the team announced Tuesday. He is expected to recover in three-to-four weeks.
Crosby, 33, tallied two goals and three points while averaging 20:46 of ice time over four contests during the club's qualifying-round loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
The Penguins captain missed 41 games during the regular season after undergoing core muscle surgery in November.