New Jersey Prospect Update: Utica Comets Team Awards

TL;DR

The Utica Comets have announced their team awards for the season, recognizing standout players like Kyle Criscuolo as Team MVP and Topias Vilen as Best Defenseman. Other awards went to Xavier Parent, Angus Crookshank, Jakub Malek, and Ryan Schmelzer for their contributions.

Key points

Utica Comets announced team awards for the 2025-26 season
Kyle Criscuolo named Team MVP
Topias Vilen awarded Best Defenseman
Jakub Malek recognized as Most Improved
Ryan Schmelzer received two awards for Most Heart and Community Service

Utica Comets

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - APRIL 12: Topias Vilen #38 of the New Jersey Devils takes warms up before his NHL debut against the Ottawa Senators at Prudential Center on April 12, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Getty Images) | Getty Images Prior to to the last game of the season, the Utica Comets announced their team awards. Let’s talk about them.

The Awards

The Utica Comets announced their team awards for the season. While it was a rough year, the Comets deserve credit for making it very interesting at the end. Here are the awards as posted on WKTV.com.

Tom McVie Team MVP: Kyle Criscuolo
Media Choice Award: Xavier Parent
Eric Weinrich Award for Best Defenseman: Topias Vilen
Three Stars Award: Angus Crookshank
Ian Anderson Award for Most Improved: Jakub Malek
Bill Horton Award for Most Heart: Ryan Schmelzer
Thomas M. Lindsey Award for Community Service: Ryan Schmelzer Team MVP Center Kyle Criscuolo immediately stands out. On AATJ, our staff named winger as , and honestly, the award could have also gone to team point leader Xavier Parent, or Angus Crookshank, who both won other awards. All four forwards finished the season with between 34 and 39 points and all but Criscuolo reached the 20 goal threshold. That Halonen did it in roughly 11 less games than the others due to stints in gave him the nod for me, but all four deserve recognition. Criscuolo is a 33-year-old 5’9 center, who played a handful of games for the , , and Sharks throughout the course of his career, and did an honorable job in an otherwise weak position on the team. As an older veteran on an expiring contract, it’s unclear what Criscuolo’s future holds. Another standout is Topias Vilen winning the award for best Utica defenseman. Vilen won the most-improved award last year from the team, and has continued his upwards progression, even earning a couple of games in New Jersey at the end of the season. Vilen has played in all situations for the Comets this season, filling in on the power play for injured defenseman Seamus Casey, killing penalties and leading the transition out of the defensive zone. Vilen feels like he has been in the system forever, but only turned 23 in April. Next year will be an important year to determine whether Vilen can crack a NHL lineup as a regular. Goaltender Jakub Malek winning the Ian Anderson award for most improved was well-earned. Malek struggled out of the gate with much of the team, but was strong down the stretch, finishing the season with a GAA and SV% slightly better than veteran . With Daws’s future uncertain, Malek should get plenty of action in Utica’s net next season as his development continues.