2023-24 Calder Memorial Trophy finalists: Connor Bedard, Brock Faber, Luke Hughes

[Koivu11]

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[Mr Kot]

Don't see how Bedard is not winning. I know Faber had an outstanding season for a rookie D, but Bedard has the new hotness shine to him.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Faber

AINEC

 

[Despote]

Faber had the best overall season here. Hughes and Bedard are flashy and skilled, but they absolutely blow defensively.

 

[Mrfenn92]

No surprises here

 

[CallMeShaft]

Congrats to both Faber and Hughes on their inevitable 2nd and 3rd place finishes.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Rempe snubbed

 

[Ace]

lol Luke Hughes

 

[CanadienShark]

Rempe snubbed

Agreed

 

[Szechwan]

Surely there was a better pick than Hughes, he struggled a lot this year.

That one seems like name recognition only.

 

[Rythashocka]

Faber had the best overall season here. Hughes and Bedard are flashy and skilled, but they absolutely blow defensively.

Well when you play with Jonas brodin you're gonna do better than playing with Brendan smith like Luke was forced to do most the year. Not saying you're wrong but that stuff matters.

 

[OrangePMD]

Rempe snubbed

Still eligible next year. But sure would have been nice to see him win it twice.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Well when you play with Jonas brodin you're gonna do better than playing with Brendan smith like Luke was forced to do most the year. Not saying you're wrong but that stuff matters.

He spent 300 more minutes with Middleton than he did with Brodin

 

[The Nuge]

It’ll be interesting to see if Bedard wins it because of the hype around him, or if voters actually paid attention and voted Faber

 

[Hawkaholic]

It’ll be interesting to see if Bedard wins it because of the hype around him, or if voters actually paid attention and voted Faber

They paid attention and saw Bedard outscore Faber by a fair margin in 14 less games, even while playing with AHL bums all year.

 

[57special]

Well when you play with Jonas brodin you're gonna do better than playing with Brendan smith like Luke was forced to do most the year. Not saying you're wrong but that stuff matters.

Brodin missed 20 games this year, and Spurgeon was out for basically the entire year. Faber was left alone on an island often during the season. I thought he was absolutely terrific. Remember, when you are on the top pair you are facing the top opposition, and it's not like he was sheltered playing 25 minutes/night.

Curious about Hughes, as i don't watch a lot of NJD. He is obviously very talented, has good size(unlike his brothers), and scored a lot. Is he really that bad defensively, or was he stuck in a bad situation? Typically, you want to shelter young Dmen defensively.

They paid attention and saw Bedard outscore Faber by a fair margin in 14 less games, even while playing with AHL bums all year.

Maybe next year they can explain to him what the thing called the "D zone" on the other side of the red line is.

 

[FerrisRox]

It’ll be interesting to see if Bedard wins it because of the hype around him, or if voters actually paid attention and voted Faber

The other reason they might pick Bedard is because he had an outstanding rookie season.

 

[The Nuge]

They paid attention and saw Bedard outscore Faber by a fair margin in 14 less games, even while playing with AHL bums all year.

Not that I agree, but the same production in less games has typically been seen as a negative by voters.

And Faber is a dman who was good defensively. He didn’t need to outscore Bedard to have been better

 

[FLAMESFAN]

The Faber boys whining already, lol

 

[HBK27]

Curious about Hughes, as i don't watch a lot of NJD. He is obviously very talented, has good size(unlike his brothers), and scored a lot. Is he really that bad defensively, or was he stuck in a bad situation? Typically, you want to shelter young Dmen defensively.

No, he's really not that bad defensively. He had a hot start to the season and was part of the reason NJ's PP was the best in the league the first 2 1/2 months of the season, as he replaced Hamilton on the top PP unit. He definitely hit the rookie wall for a stretch of the season and struggled, but finished strong.

He'll rightfully finish a distant 3rd in the voting, but he finished tied with Faber for 2nd in rookie scoring this season - for everyone complaining about him being nominated...who else is more deserving?

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Waaaaaah

 

[HawksDub89]

Maybe next year they can explain to him what the thing called the "D zone" on the other side of the red line is.

God bless the plus minus truthers lol.

The Faber TOI and plus minus highlight video is gonna hit like crack. Absolutely can’t wait. Lol

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Nice. Now we can finally talk about who might win.

Bedard will be a deserving winner, but it's an uphill climb for a defenseman to win when people just think about it like the rookie Art Ross.

 

[Lapa]

Faber deserves to win, but Bedard is the sexier pick so he wins.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

Nice. Now we can finally talk about who might win.

Bedard will be a deserving winner, but it's an uphill climb for a defenseman to win when people just think about it like the rookie Art Ross.

It's not just the age, but also the production.
Same reason an OLineman doesn't win rookie of the year

Faber deserves to win, but Bedard is the sexier pick so he wins.

Blame it on Fabers parents/genetics