David Rashford Loses Out on Most Improved Award

[Knight 1,289]

David Rashford Loses Out on Most Improved Award

The career altering year for David Rashford ended just shy of the highest individual achievement possible - the most improved award otherwise known as the Dustin Funk Trophy. In what ended up being a close voting race, Rashford received two of ten votes while co-winners Nick Sansoe and Jon Webber Jr earned three a piece. 

 

S91: Jon Webber Jr (LAS) - 18G, 30A, 48P, 18, 18PIM, 39HIT, 33SB

S92: Jon Webber Jr (LAS) - 33G, 52A, 85P, -1, 50PIM, 119HIT, 18SB

 

S90: Nick Sansoe (LDN) - 5G, 16A, 21P, -7, 35PIM, 82HIT, 8SB

S92: Nick Sansoe (VAN) - 32G, 56A, 88P, -22, 60PIM, 94HIT, 54SB

 

S91: David Rashford (MOS) - 11G, 17A, 28P, -48, 38PIM, 60HIT, 6SB

S92: David Rashford (MOS) - 28G, 35A, 63P, 22, 23PIM, 56HIT, 31SB

 

Here we see the statistical breakdowns for each player presenting their case for the award. Webber Jr, a career 40-50 point player exploded for 85 points in his final season. It was an impressive jump in output for a player on the brink of retirement. It's strange that a most improved player retires right away - it might be the first time it's ever happened in the VHL or any professional hockey league in history. Sansoe was an interesting case as well given he had a year of development in the minors between his comparative seasons in the VHL. One could argue that it's not an entirely fair comparison for the other candidates on the list and this writer agrees. Having an additional season of development to "improve" gives an unfair advantage over the other candidates. Looking at the plus minus of the winners, Webber Jr was down 19 and Sansoe was down 15. Rashford's case really lay in his impressive plus minus increase of 70. To put this in perspective, he was a net positive of one goal per game to his team - an incredible improvement. 

 

While both Webber Jr and Sansoe were deserving finalists, their victories come with questions on why their names will be on the trophy forevermore. Rashford's ascension from arguably one of the worst players in the league to a productive forward on a top team will now be lost in the VHL ether, never to be remembered by anyone other than the youngster from Britain. His attention now turns to winning a cup with Moscow in the upcoming season - the only real award that matters.