Next Seasons Calder Race

[Leaf Lander]

i think

Colaiacovo, Carlo wil lwin the calder

 

[The Kingslayer]

Should be interesting to see how these predictions turn out.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I'm going to say Crosby in a runaway.
Runners-up: Kari Lehtonen and Niklas Kronwall.

 

[Default101]

i think it should be close for second, it should be a great year for rookies, but i can't see anyone comparing to Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin won't win it, he'll be too busy flopping around faking injuries in his first season of NHL hockey... for someone so good he sure dives alot... thank god Pittsburgh took Malkin!!!

 

[Bileur]

I dont see Phaneuf being in serious contetion. His role wont be big enough IMO.

 

[luv_canadian_hockey]

i think it will be a dark horse..there are so many guys who could win it..but i think it will be someone other then ovechkin, carter, or sidney crosby...not that i would have a problem with carter or crosby winning it...

 

[mcarrick16]

kronwall maybe?

 

[X-SHARKIE]

Kari Lehtonen. The kid will win the #1 job in Atlanta and take the Thrashers to the playoffs and win round 1.

 

[octopi]

I have run Calder races on this website and done very well. However, I fully admit this year is a crapshoot. With the year off and a TON of highly ranked guys coming in, it will be almost impossible to guess with superb accuracy.

However, my guesses are the following - though these will likely change after training camps get underway:

Calder Trophy will go to Kari Lehtonen

Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and ... *sigh* name escapes me at the moment, that Czech centreman from Detroit, Jsomething Hsomething. I'm not good with names... will both be close. However, Marc-Andre Fleury, if not for his ineligability, would challenge them all too.

Unfortunatly for Ovechkin, Washington doesn't seem to be picking up many skilled players. That may hurt his chances, if his teamates are more supportive than I think, tho he could easily win this.
As far as Jiri Hudler (the little Detroit center), we all love the little guy, but he's not in the same league as the other boys mentioned here. Niklas Kronwall might have a decent shot at the Calder, tho, he will be pretty close to the age cutoff.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

ive changed my choice to crosby, and by a fair margin. if he plays with lemieux, recchi, malone, or maybe malkin if someone else plays wing, he should score atleast 65 points. plus they just got gonchar, who is the best offensive defenseman in the league. that is gonna be a sick power play.

 

[Sting]

At the risk of being flamed like mad and being called a homer, if Kaigorodov came over, would he have a shot? For being 2nd in point totals at his age above many proven NHL stars in the russian elite league, I think he'd be a dark horse. If he had someone like Havlat or Alfredsson on his right side, he'd set up a lot of goals.

 

[Macman]

Crosby will score at least 85 points as a rookie and win it easily.

 

[Techbert]

Crosby Has An Advantage

If Crosby does well, he'll get the votes. He'd beat Kaarpa unless Kaarpa takes Atlanta really really deep into the playoffs. It's the apples/oranges thing, which would give people cover to vote for Crosby.

Skaters would have to be decidedly better than Crosby to beat him, as well.

 

[cassius]

Crosby is a lock. This kid is the real deal.

Nobody has ever put up the type of numbers this kid had in the Q since Mario. I really don't think Carter/Richards will have more than 30-40 next year. These kids didn't have that great of numbers in the OHL.

 

[JayRice66]

I'd say Crosby and Ovechkin will have the best shot. Then Carter. People have to realize with the talent philly has, Carter isn't going to get the chances that Crosby and Ovechkin will. I may be wrong. But hell, who can say. There are so many young players coming this year that its insane. The future of the NHL will be seen this season.

 

[EagleBelfour]

I'm pretty sure no rookie will get more than 60 points this year, even Crosby with Lemieux and Recchi. I don't see goalie like Lundqvist or Lehtonen be close to win it. No rookie will get the number 1 spot on any team, at least not at the start of the year.

1st- Sidney Crosby
2nd- Alexander Ovechkin (Plenty of ice-time with Washington)
3rd EQUAL- Jeff Carter (linemate with Forsberg and Gagné)
Alexander Perezhogin (only if he get the job on second line with Ribeiro and Ryder)
Zach Parise (Good old New Jersey)
OTHER: Tomas Vanek
Dion Phaneuf
Nicklas Kronwall

*Lehtonen can get a shot if he take the number 1 goalie spot from Nurminen, just as Cam Ward in Carolina

 

[Victory Ali*]

Write this down now Lehtonen... he's going to be amazing.

I'm not convinced on Crosby.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

i think crosby is the frontronner. ovechkin would be up there as well but there is a big difference in offensive help. crosby will have mario, recchi, gonchar, tarnstrom, malone, maybe malkin to help out on his line or pp.

 

[EroCaps]

i think crosby is the frontronner. ovechkin would be up there as well but there is a big difference in offensive help. crosby will have mario, recchi, gonchar, tarnstrom, malone, maybe malkin to help out on his line or pp.

Crosby will get a boost from Lemieux, that's for sure. But Nash and Kovalchuck seemed to thrive as the go-to men. Semin and Halpern are a couple of guys capable of scoring 20 goals, so while the Caps should be bad Ovechkin won't be an island. He's also a break-away specialist.

It should be interesting. I seriously doubt it will be a one-man contest.

 

[wilka91*]

Crosby will score at least 85 points as a rookie and win it easily.

you meant shots on goals, right?

 

[Crosbyfan]

you meant shots on goals, right?

85 shots on goal is an awful lot for one game. Don't expect anything like that in the first month or two.

 

[wilka91*]

guys let's be realistic : Crosby wasn't even the best Canadian player at the WJC last winter, so how do you want him to score 60, 70 or 80 points in the NHL???

A guy like Bergeron was way better than Crosby, and Crosby got most of his points on the PP anyway. In other words, if Crosby scores more than 50 points, I will be very surprised. I predict 15 goals and 27 assists.

 

[Crosbyfan]

guys let's be realistic : Crosby wasn't even the best Canadian player at the WJC last winter, so how do you want him to score 60, 70 or 80 points in the NHL???

A guy like Bergeron was way better than Crosby, and Crosby got most of his points on the PP anyway. In other words, if Crosby scores more than 50 points, I will be very surprised. I predict 15 goals and 27 assists.

OK be realistic. Bergeron, already an NHLer and two years older than Sid,was marginally better over that tournament. Patrice scored 39 points in 70 games in the Old NHL a year before that tournament. The year before that he had 76 in the Q.

Your 42 points prediction might be a tad low if Sid plays a full season.

 

[tmg]

If Crosby does well, he'll get the votes. He'd beat Kaarpa unless Kaarpa takes Atlanta really really deep into the playoffs. It's the apples/oranges thing, which would give people cover to vote for Crosby.

How 'deep' Atlanta goes in the playoffs would have no bearing on Calder voting, which is done before the playoffs begin.

Now, whether or not he gets them into the playoffs, and how high a seed they get, could have a bearing. But whether the team then follows with a 16-0 cup run or an 0-4 express nosedive could not affect the Calder voting.

 

[wilka91*]

How can "Crosbyfan" be realistic about Crosby???

Mark my words :

Crosby will struggle big time for his lack of experience at senior level and his size. The so called "new" NHL won't be any different from the old one ON the ice, and Crosby will have a hard time adapting.

Ovechkin will also struggle. He's not used to the NA style of play, and he won't have any good teammates to help him up front. But he's got a huge advantage over Crosby for he has played with seniors for the past couple of years, including the