i'm trying to think of borderline HHOF cases where the calder might come into play.
makarov... probably doesn't make any difference. but his calder was tainted by his age, plus it was a very weak rookie class.
on the other hand, would modano winning that calder tip the scales for his case? i see him a textbook borderline guy. thin on individual accomplishments, decent team accomplishments, good but not outstanding career totals, long but not incredibly long career (i'm assuming), steep decline in his last years. the modano we tend to remember is a guy who was somewhat slow to develop, was one of the league's most complete players in his prime, very consistent in his prime but a shadow of his former self after his prime. now, because he's american, he'll probably eventually make the HHOF anyway, but imagine for a second that he was born in saskatewan. with his accomplishments and his career arc, i think a calder might actually make a difference. even though he has a reputation for taking a while to develop, he was a good offensive producer in his early years, and i think we tend to forget that. having a calder on his resume would help remind voters.
i think for bure too, it might make a difference. first, his rookie class was way better than modano's, and it helps that his byline says he beat lidstrom for the calder (though it doesn't help all that much). second, the calder serves to remind people of the impact he had when he came into the league, both as a contributor to an astonishing one-season improvement by the canucks, and as a ridiculously exciting player that captured the imagination of fans everywhere. not all calders do this-- gomez's calder or raycroft's calder are throwaway accomplishments. but in this case-- like selanne's calder also-- it marks a significant contribution to the game. if it happened that lidstrom ended up winning that calder and not bure, we might not be so quick to remember how great he was in that first year. unlike selanne, he doesn't have all those scoring records to remind us, just the trophy. for example, kovalchuk (to a lesser degree than bure) set the league on fire when he came in, but he got injured and heatley ended up with more points so he didn't win the calder. how many of us think of kovalchuk as a guy who stepped right into the league and was a game-breaker?