Penton: Talented group of NHL rookies in Calder battle
By Bruce Penton
Winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in the National Hockey League isn’t an absolute guarantee of future success, but there have been only a handful of winners over the years who have not gone on to enjoy extraordinary careers.
This year, it's likely that a couple of players who don't win the award will find their way to the Hockey Hall of Fame, because the list of top rookie contenders is stacked.
Last year’s No. 1 draft pick, Connor Bedard of the Blackhawks, won the award in 2023-24, but the most recent No. 1 pick, Macklin Celebrini of the Sharks, won't be an automatic Calder winner this year.
That's because three other first-year players, Lane Hutson of the Canadiens, Matvei Michkov of the Flyers and Dustin Wolf of the Flames have all had standout seasons and will garner votes when media voters cast their ballots.
It’s certainly no disgrace to miss out on the Calder Trophy. Two players with pretty good hockey resumes, Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid, did not win the best rookie award in their initial seasons. Gretzky was ruled ineligible in his first NHL year, 1979-80, because he had previously played professional hockey in the World Hockey Association. McDavid missed out, losing to Artemi Panarin of Columbus, because he played only 42 games due to injury.
This season’s race to the Calder is attracting a lot of attention because of the quality of the top candidates. Celebrini was the pre-season favourite, and he hasn’t disappointed, leading the Sharks in assists and points, and giving San Jose fans hope that the centrepiece of the team's rebuild will take the team to Stanley Cup heights.
In mid-season, however, Montreal's Lane Hutson’s heroics turned the Calder race into a real conversation. The Canadiens, surprisingly, were in playoff contention after a mid-season surge, and Hutson was one of the main reasons why. The American defenceman, who played college hockey at Boston, leads all rookies in points, a couple ahead of both Celebrini and Michkov, and has been the point man on the Habs' ever-improving 18th-ranked powerplay.
Celebrini has been one of the Sharks’ top scorers all year, surpassing the 20-goal and 50-point marks by the end of March. But his defensive play has been a work in progress, with his minus-32 ranking through 73 games the second-worst on the team.
Mitchkov has piled up a few more points than Celebrini, is a constant on the Flyers’ powerplay unit, and his plus-minus ranking is considerably better than Celebrini’s. Wolf became a mid-season top-rookie contender after taking over the Flames’ No. 1 goaltending position and keeping the Flames in playoff contention. He posted three shutouts and a .910 save percentage as Calgary kept its hopes alive to snag one of the Western Conference’s wildcard spots.
In the end, though, Hutson has been the NHL’s best rookie this year. The voting will likely be spread out between the top four contenders, but the Habs’ freshman has been the best of the best.
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Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca