Forward Conor Garland is Coyotes’ nominee for Bill Masterton Trophy
Jun 9, 2020, 12:41 PM
Conor Garland #83 of the Arizona Coyotes celebrates with teammates on the bench after scoring a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on January 12, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Arizona Coyotes forward Conor Garland is the team’s nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy, given annually to the player who most exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
All 31 NHL teams have a nominee. The nominees and winner are selected by the Pro Hockey Writers Association, an international network of writers who cover the sport and vote on a number of league awards.
Garland, 24, played his second NHL season this year and scored a team-high 22 goals with 17 assists for 39 points. At just 5-foot-9 and a former fifth round pick, he overcame stigma about his size and remade his game to stick in the NHL.
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“Nobody really knew who he was and what he did to get there,” head coach Rick Tocchet told Arizona Sports in December. “So obviously he went down to Tucson and worked on his game. And then he came up, and he goes, ‘OK, to make the NHL, I’ve got to be this type of player. I can’t do the stuff I’m doing in junior.’ And he changed his game in the sense: more give and go, going around the net, darting in and out, being a pest out there. Just going to those tough areas.”
Garland is on a $775,000 per season contract, according to CapFriendly, making him the lowest-paid player on the team despite being the leading goal scorer. He has one of the lowest cost-per-goal rates in the NHL.
From the nomination submitted by the Arizona chapter of the PHWA:
The Bill Masterton Trophy often goes to a player who has overcome an injury or personal tragedy to return to the ice. Garland’s candidacy is built more upon the first and third words listed in the trophy’s criteria: perseverance and dedication to ice hockey. He needed every ounce of both to make it in the NHL.
Masterton was 29 years old when he played his first season with the Minnesota North Stars in the 1967-68. That year, he suffered a head injury on the ice during a game and died two days later.
