It is halfway through the 2017-18 National Hockey League season, a perfect opportunity to assess who are the midseason frontrunners for the end-of-season hardware to be distributed in late June.

Without further waiting:

Hart Trophy

Nikita Kucherov -- Tampa Bay Lightning

Steven Stamkos -- Tampa Bay Lightning

Blake Wheeler -- Winnipeg Jets

These are the same three finalists from our quarter-pole awards, except that Kucherov swapped places with his teammate Stamkos to become the league's midseason MVP.

Kucherov leads the NHL with 59 points and is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the league-lead with 27 goals. From day one, he has been tremendously consistent with his production, building on last year's breakout campaign. Quite simply, he is the best player on the NHL's best team.

Though his pace slowed recently, Stamkos is not far behind Kucherov, and it is no surprise the Lightning are in the midst of a wire-to-wire first-place run this season with a healthy Stamkos again in the lineup -- further backing up his importance and MVP candidacy.

Wheeler continues to earn the third spot halfway through the season, leading the Jets to first place in the tough Central Division, both with his veteran leadership and his 36 assists and 50 points

Honorable Mention: Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche), John Tavares (Islanders), Sean Couturier (Flyers)

MORE: NHL Mixed Bag: Finding legitimacy among playoff contenders at season's midpoint

Norris Trophy

Drew Doughty -- Los Angeles Kings

John Klingberg -- Dallas Stars

Victor Hedman -- Tampa Bay Lightning

Much more upheaval in the top three for the Norris as opposed to the Hart, where Doughty and Klingberg jump to the top of the list among NHL's best defensemen at the midway point, and Erik Karlsson, Alex Pietrangelo and Morgan Reilly all fall from the grouping of finalists where each resided at the quarter pole of the season.

Doughty gets a slight edge over Klingberg here because he is the minutes-eating (27:10) top-pair d-man for the NHL's best defensive team. He complements that with 30 points. Among his seven goals, Doughty has four on the power play, one shorthanded and four game-winners. The total package.

Klingberg leads all NHL defensemen with 39 points -- 25 at even strength, 14 on the power play. He plays important minutes (23:23), is solid defensively and is a +12 for a Stars team that sits in a Western Conference wild card spot.

Like Doughty, Hedman gets the nod here for third-place over several defensemen that have better offensive numbers than he because of his overall terrific play at both ends of the rink. Hedman is a major reason the Lightning dominated the league for the first half of the season, logging nearly 26 minutes a night. He has 31 points, too.

Honorable Mention: P.K. Subban (Predators), Alex Pietrangelo (Blues), Shayne Gostisbehere (Flyers)

Vezina Trophy

Andrei Vasilevskiy -- Tampa Bay Lightning

Jonathan Quick -- Los Angeles Kings

Connor Hellebuyck -- Winnipeg Jets

At the quarter pole, it seemed Sergei Bobrovsky was on his way to a second-straight Vezina Trophy, but here halfway through the season, the Blue Jackets netminder is an honorable mention, not even a Top 3 finalist.

While there's no question Vasilevskiy benefits from playing behind the best team in the league this year, it can not be discounted what a major role he's played in backstopping this club to the top. Simply put, Vasilveskiy's star is on the rise and, at age 23, he is the best goalie in the NHL this season. Vasilevskiy has a 2.04 GAA, .935 save percentage and league-high six shutouts. That shows he is not just being carried by his high-scoring teammates. He is stopping the puck at an elite rate.

A year ago, Quick was injured much of the season and the Kings failed to reach the playoffs, costing Darryl Sutter his job. Quick is healthy again -- with a 2.31 GAA and .926 save percentage in 34 starts -- and the Kings are in second place in the Pacific.

Hellebuyck took the No. 1 spot from Steve Mason and never looked back in the first half, leading the Jets to first place in the Central Division. He is third in the league with 23 wins behind a 2.36 GAA, .923 save percentage and three shutouts.

Honorable Mention: Tuukka Rask (Bruins), Sergei Bobrovsky (Blue Jackets), Henrik Lundqvist (Rangers)

MORE: Bergevin says Canadiens season is not lost, but needs major repairs

Calder Trophy

Brock Boeser -- Vancouver Canucks

Malcolm Subban -- Vegas Golden Knights

Mathew Barzal -- New York Islanders

This is simply just a terrific crop of rookies again this season in the NHL, and pairing the list to three finalists for the midseason Calder Trophy is extremely difficult.

However, Boeser is the clear favorite right now to be named rookie of the year. Averaging 1.03 points-per-game, Boeser leads all first-year players with 22 goals, six power play goals, 40 points and 15 power play points. His four game-winners are one off Mikhail Sergachev's rookie lead. The entire province of British Columbia -- ok, slight exaggeration -- seemed to hold its breath when it appeared Boeser might miss significant time to injury a few weeks ago. The kid is the real deal.

Liberated from Boston, where he was the Bruins' disappointing first-rounder from 2012, Subban is in the midst of a terrific first season in the NHL with the expansion Golden Knights. When Marc-Andre Fleury went down with a concussion, Subban stepped in and Vegas kept winning games. Now, Subban is a reliable No. 2 with an 11-2-0 record and 2.38 GAA. He won his last seven starts.

Barzal gives the Islanders secondary firepower behind the outstanding top line of Anders Lee -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey. Barzal is right behind Boeser with 39 points and 0.91 PPG average.

Honorable Mention: Clayton Keller (Coyotes), Danton Heinen (Bruins), Mikhail Sergachev (Lightning), Yanni Gourde (Lightning)

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Jack Adams Trophy

Gerard Gallant -- Vegas Golden Knights

Jon Cooper -- Tampa Bay Lightning

Paul Maurice -- Winnipeg Jets

Cooper has the Lightning in first place from day one, and his club is clearly the best in the NHL through 41 games, but it is impossible to overlook what Gallant accomplished, so far, with Vegas. Gallant has that team on its way to being -- far and away -- the most successful expansion franchise in NHL history. While part of that is Vegas had better players from the get-go, Gallant did a masterful job getting the Golden Knights to play an exciting and successful fast-paced game, and more importantly, to be believe they can win and contend. Vegas is in first place in the Pacific midway through the season. 'Nuff said.

There are a number of contenders for third place here, but Maurice is the choice as he has the Jets in first place after missing the playoffs last season.

Honorable Mention: John Hynes (Devils), Jared Bednar (Avalanche), John Stevens (Kings), Bruce Cassidy (Bruins)