Trophy Tracker: Sutter, Gallant top Adams Award picks for coach of year

To mark the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, NHL.com is running its fifth and final installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Jack Adams Award, given annually to the top coach in the NHL as selected in a Professional Hockey Writers Association poll.

The Calgary Flames have blown past what were low expectations this season.
There was little reason to imagine they would make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, even with Darryl Sutter in the first full season of his second stint as coach. The Flames were fifth in the seven-team North Division last season and they have won one playoff series since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2004.
But the guidance and authority that made Sutter a Stanley Cup-winning coach for the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014 has instigated a big turnaround for the Flames. He wanted better structure and increased scoring from defensemen and got them. Entering play Tuesday, the Flames were third in the NHL with 198 points (40 goals, 158 assists) after they were 23rd with 97 points (25 goals, 72 assists) last season.
The Flames' top six defensemen -- Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin, Oliver Kylington, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov and Erik Gudbranson -- each has set an NHL career best in points, led by Andersson's 48 points (four goals, 44 assists) in 79 games.Eight of the 40 goals scored by defensemen have been game-winners, three ahead of what Sutter said is needed from a playoff team.
"They've accomplished that and that's why we're in a playoff spot with two weeks left, the accomplishments of individual players in a team concept," Sutter said April 18.
What Sutter and the Flames have accomplished makes the 63-year-old the favorite to win the Jack Adams Award by a panel of 17 NHL.com writers, with Calgary (49-20-10) leading the Pacific Division and second in the Western Conference. Sutter had 71 points (11 first-place votes). Gerard Gallant of the New York Rangers had 46 points (one first-place vote) and Andrew Brunette of the Florida Panthers got 42 points (four first-place votes).
The Flames have become a serious Stanley Cup contender without any let-up. Hours after they became the first team in the Pacific to clinch a playoff berth when the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0 on April 16, they won 9-1 against the Arizona Coyotes. Their 108 points are second in Calgary/Atlanta Flames history behind the 117 from the 1989 Stanley Cup champions.
"The things that Darryl's great at is exactly what this group needed: structure, accountability and getting the very most out of people and being able to push people to heights they probably didn't think they were able to get to on their own," Flames general manager Brad Treliving told "Hockey Night in Canada After Hours" after the win against the Coyotes.
Forward Johnny Gaudreau is third in the NHL with a career-high 111 points (39 goals, 72 assists), is first in the NHL with a plus-61 and could be a finalist for the Hart Trophy, voted to the most valuable player in the NHL, production that had Treliving saying
the Flames will "move heaven and earth"
to sign the pending unrestricted free agent to a contract in the offseason.
"I remember when Darryl came in last year and the screams were, 'Oh, Johnny can't play for Darryl.' I remember chuckling," Treliving said. "If anybody knows Johnny, he thrives under a coach that will push him."
The Flames have four players with at least 35 goals (Elias Lindholm, 40; Matthew Tkachuk, 40; Gaudreau, 39; Andrew Mangiapane, 35), and are averaging 3.58 goals per game. That number has been 3.91 per game, to go with a 23-7-4 record, since Tyler Toffoli was acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 14.
Toffoli is one of four Calgary players who have won the Stanley Cup (Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins, 2011; Blake Coleman, Tampa Bay Lightning, 2020 and 2021; Trevor Lewis, Kings, 2012 and 2014), playing on the Kings' championship team under Sutter in 2014.
So he understands why Sutter's system is successful: individuals have maximized their skill sets and bought into the team-first attitude that creates a champion.
"You have to go into the playoffs with the right mindset," Toffoli said April 22. "You have to use the foundation that you've built. I came to a really good team playing really good hockey. I see it all here. We just have to continue putting things together and just play."
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1- basis):Darryl Sutter, Calgary Flames, 71 points (11 first-place votes); Gerard Gallant, New York Rangers, 46 (1); Andrew Brunette, Florida Panthers, 42 (4); Todd McLellan, Los Angeles Kings, 18; Jared Bednar, Colorado Avalanche, 15; Dean Evason, Minnesota Wild, 15; Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes, 14; Mike Sullivan, Pittsburgh Penguins, 13 (1); Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning, 7; Bruce Boudreau, Vancouver Canucks, 4; Jay Woodcroft, Edmonton Oilers, 3; John Hynes, Nashville Predators, 1; Craig Berube, St. Louis Blues, 1; Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs, 1