Rookie of the Year 2018-2019 Season Candidates

[Finster8]

Perfetti has 4goals and 3 assists in 9 games. Not to shabby.

 

[dirty12]

Rossi is my pick, as long as he is not displaced from top six as the ‘67s gear up for a long playoff run.

 

[OMG67]

Rossi is my pick, as long as he is not displaced from top six as the ‘67s gear up for a long playoff run.

He’s sittting well between Felhaber and Keating. As long as that line keeps clicking, I doubt they will make a shuffle. He’s also a year older than the traditional NA Rookies.

He is in the best position amongst all other rookies. Perfetti is maybe the only other player that will get bonafide minutes on a quality team. Byfeld will get minutes but will the Wolves continue to play at a high level? To me it is those three right now. Rossi is in the lead.

 

[WolvesFanSudbury]

He’s sittting well between Felhaber and Keating. As long as that line keeps clicking, I doubt they will make a shuffle. He’s also a year older than the traditional NA Rookies.

He is in the best position amongst all other rookies. Perfetti is maybe the only other player that will get bonafide minutes on a quality team. Byfeld will get minutes but will the Wolves continue to play at a high level? To me it is those three right now. Rossi is in the lead.

we have so far

 

[dirty12]

Rossi: 22 GP, 14g, 13a, +23. Unlikely that any rookie catches up; but, there will be an opportunity while Rossi is away for WJC..

 

[OMG67]

Rossi: 22 GP, 14g, 13a, +23. Unlikely that any rookie catches up; but, there will be an opportunity while Rossi is away for WJC..

Will he be away? I think he is in the B side of the tournament. Don’t they play that in the summer?

 

[dirty12]

Will he be away? I think he is in the B side of the tournament. Don’t they play that in the summer?

Schedules can change ... remember Lszczarcyk leaving the wolves to play for Poland over the holidays two seasons ago

 

[OMG67]

Schedules can change ... remember Lszczarcyk leaving the wolves to play for Poland over the holidays two seasons ago

I just checked. The Division 1-A is scheduled from Dec 9 to 15 in Germany. So, he may miss a little time.

 

[OMG67]

WOW just WOW.

Marco Rossi goes down with an injury on November 15th. Misses nearly two months, returns on January 5th. In 6 games he’s compiled 9 points and worked his way back to two points behind Perrault for the Rookie lead in scoring.

He seamlessly transitioned right back between Keating and Felhaber like he didn’t even miss a beat. Essentially the #1 centre on a CHL top 10 team as a rookie 17 year old. I find that astonishing.

A quick comparison look at the scoring leaders shows he is:
2 points behind Owen Tippett in one more game played
Tied with Mackenzie Entwistle with 7 less games played
3 points behind Jack Studnicka with five less games played
These are serious 19 year olds we are comparing him to in the scoring chart!

I said at the beginning of the season this kids hi-light pack reminded me of Mitch Marner. I am pretty sure he is staking his claim right now.

Is there any question this kid isn’t the Rookie of the Year when everything is all said and done?.....barring injury of course....

 

[EvenSteven]

No disrespect to Rossi, and I can't claim to have even seen him play even once live, or some of the other top candidates either, but if there is a 16-year-old out there who finishes with close to the same stats as a 17-year-old import player, history shows in favour of the 16-year-old.

Is it fair. Nope. We were in your boat a few years ago with Radek Faksa. Rangers faithful thought he should have won but it went to a 16 year old. (can't even remember who now. Have to look it up).

If I remember correctly, the points were close but it seems they deem a 16-year-old more worthy of the award because it is harder for a 16-year-old to put up points comparable to a 17-year-old import. Usually imports at that age already have more experience against better competition.

I don't know if that's the reason why but it just seems to have been that way at times in the past.

Plus, Rossi is playing with a top team in the country. It could be argued that a 16-year-old on a much lesser team would have a much harder time putting up points with a lesser supporting cast.

Edit:

Just checked the stats. 17 year old import Faksa was on a very good Kitchener team and scored 62-29G, 37A, for 66pts in 62 games.

"Exceptional" player Aaron Ekblad, a d-man, scored 24G, 30A, for 53 points in 58 games on a team that finished last overall the year before.

It may be not the best example, but the fact that Ekblad was two years younger, a defenseman, but still put up those points, gave him the nod.

I'm not going to say Faksa was head and shoulders better and didn't get it because he was a year older and an import, but some argued that they had comparable seasons and the deciding factor was more than likely Ekblad's age and the position he played.

Also, the league is always happy to make sure that whoever their award winners are, they are the type of player that the league can put up front and celebrate in an effort to sell the league.

Who better to win the rookie of the year award that year than the player that OHL executives awarded exceptional player status to? Exactly!

It's like back when Windsor won their two Memorial Cups. Even though Adam Henrique was easily the most valuable player in the tournament, they awarded it to Taylor Hall for no other reason than so that they could pump him up as potential first overall pick in the NHL and Memorial Cup MVP.

Looks great on the cover of the OHL yearbooks etc.

Yeah, I'm a cynical SOB! Lol.

 

[Fischhaber]

Defensemen like Drysdale, Kolyachonok, and O'Rourke also deserve a mention in this thread. In terms of value to their team, I think they are right up there with the high scoring forwards.

 

[OMG67]

No disrespect to Rossi, and I can't claim to have even seen him play even once live, or some of the other top candidates either, but if there is a 16-year-old out there who finishes with close to the same stats as a 17-year-old import player, history shows in favour of the 16-year-old.

Is it fair. Nope. We were in your boat a few years ago with Radek Faksa. Rangers faithful thought he should have won but it went to a 16 year old. (can't even remember who now. Have to look it up).

If I remember correctly, the points were close but it seems they deem a 16-year-old more worthy of the award because it is harder for a 16-year-old to put up points comparable to a 17-year-old import. Usually imports at that age already have more experience against better competition.

I don't know if that's the reason why but it just seems to have been that way at times in the past.

Plus, Rossi is playing with a top team in the country. It could be argued that a 16-year-old on a much lesser team would have a much harder time putting up points with a lesser supporting cast.

Edit:

Just checked the stats. 17 year old import Faksa was on a very good Kitchener team and scored 62-29G, 37A, for 66pts in 62 games.

"Exceptional" player Aaron Ekblad, a d-man, scored 24G, 30A, for 53 points in 58 games on a team that finished last overall the year before.

It may be not the best example, but the fact that Ekblad was two years younger, a defenseman, but still put up those points, gave him the nod.

I'm not going to say Faksa was head and shoulders better and didn't get it because he was a year older and an import, but some argued that they had comparable seasons and the deciding factor was more than likely Ekblad's age and the position he played.

Also, the league is always happy to make sure that whoever their award winners are, they are the type of player that the league can put up front and celebrate in an effort to sell the league.

Who better to win the rookie of the year award that year than the player that OHL executives awarded exceptional player status to? Exactly!

It's like back when Windsor won their two Memorial Cups. Even though Adam Henrique was easily the most valuable player in the tournament, they awarded it to Taylor Hall for no other reason than so that they could pump him up as potential first overall pick in the NHL and Memorial Cup MVP.

Looks great on the cover of the OHL yearbooks etc.

Yeah, I'm a cynical SOB! Lol.

Ekblad was also a D-Man which makes his stats pretty exceptional. If there were a 15 year old D-Man putting up 50 points this season, I would agree.

Barring injury, I don’t think the points will be close. He had a significant lead at time of injury and was sitting in the 11th spot in overall scoring. In six games he has already reeled in the leaders. He may take the lead as early as this weekend.

Regarding his playing with elite players, you need to be elite to play with them. Top teams in the country don’t slot in a player to stretch a roster. Both Sasha Chmelevski and Mitch Hoelscher are NHL drafted players. Both of them would have started the season ahead of him on the depth chart. But, Rossi proved he was in that category in training camp and exhibition and simply took that spot. He centred two of the top 4 OHL scorers through Nov 15th (injury).

Rossi will probably top 70 points (maybe 30 goals) and will have done it in 53 games. Again, I don’t think anyone will come close enough. A 16 year old with 60 points in 68 games vs a 17 year old with 70 points in 53 games.... I dunno. That bridge may be too far to close that gap. Plus running as the #1 centre on a “loaded’ team is impressive by itself.

 

[ohloutsider]

You can throw all the stats you want around but this is a political decision - Byfield wins.

 

[dirty12]

Right now, there is not a legitimate reason for Rossi not to be a unaminous winner of ROY award. He is in the same NHL draft class as the ‘02 born ROY candidates while leading all rookies in pts/g and SOG and +/- by a considerable margin.
Honourable mentions such as Perreault, Perfetti, Byfield, Cuylle, Foudy, Koly, Drysdale, Quinn, Stranges have all had opportunity playing on competitive teams and/or top lines and PP.
It is a great group though. We are going to watch some awesome talents develop over the next few seasons.

 

[OMG67]

You can throw all the stats you want around but this is a political decision - Byfield wins.

There’s no significant evidence from past winners that suggests it is political.

Svechnikov won it last year. Two of the last three winners were European. I don’t think a first overall pick has won it since Travis Konecny.

I am not sure if there is anything political about Byfeld that would seriously matter. The only potential bias would be skin colour and I think the OHL and the game of hockey in general is far beyond token awards based on race or skin colour.

 

[ohloutsider]

There’s no significant evidence from past winners that suggests it is political.

Svechnikov won it last year. Two of the last three winners were European. I don’t think a first overall pick has won it since Travis Konecny.

I am not sure if there is anything political about Byfeld that would seriously matter. The only potential bias would be skin colour and I think the OHL and the game of hockey in general is far beyond token awards based on race or skin colour.

No none of the above for sure - I just see it as the 1st overall pick that agreed to go to Sudbury - league will reward him for that and numbers are close enough that they can internally justify it.

 

[OMG67]

No none of the above for sure - I just see it as the 1st overall pick that agreed to go to Sudbury - league will reward him for that and numbers are close enough that they can internally justify it.

Barring injury, it is very likely Rossi will outscore Byfeld by a wide margin, probably a good 15-20 points and will have done it in considerably less games. As I write this, he has scored two goals through the first half of today’s game.

I can’t see it. I guess I just don’t understand the importance or significance of rewarding a player with ROY for reporting to a team. That concept is lost on me.

 

[ohloutsider]

Barring injury, it is very likely Rossi will outscore Byfeld by a wide margin, probably a good 15-20 points and will have done it in considerably less games. As I write this, he has scored two goals through the first half of today’s game.

I can’t see it. I guess I just don’t understand the importance or significance of rewarding a player with ROY for reporting to a team. That concept is lost on me.

Well hope you are right and let the best rookie win.

 

[HockeyPops]

Barring injury, it is very likely Rossi will outscore Byfeld by a wide margin, probably a good 15-20 points and will have done it in considerably less games.

It's always dangerous to extrapolate points over the last half of the season, doubly so when doing it with rookies. Rossi has certainly had a good first half, probably the best of any rookie. But they need to play the second half. It's still close enough that we can't declare a run away winner.
Perrault 41 GP, 39 PTS
Rossi 30 GP, 38 PTS
Perfetti 38 GP, 36 PTS
Byfield 39 GP, 34 PTS
Foudy 40 GP, 34 PTS

Any one of these players is capable of finishing at the top of the list. ROY may not go to the top scorer, but just in case let's not spot Rossi a 20 point cushion just yet.

 

[OMG67]

It's always dangerous to extrapolate points over the last half of the season, doubly so when doing it with rookies. Rossi has certainly had a good first half, probably the best of any rookie. But they need to play the second half. It's still close enough that we can't declare a run away winner.
Perrault 41 GP, 39 PTS
Rossi 30 GP, 38 PTS
Perfetti 38 GP, 36 PTS
Byfield 39 GP, 34 PTS
Foudy 40 GP, 34 PTS

Any one of these players is capable of finishing at the top of the list. ROY may not go to the top scorer, but just in case let's not spot Rossi a 20 point cushion just yet.

Playing with Felhaber and Keating I think it's pretty safe to suggest he'll get his points.

Even if he gets moved off that line, he'll play with two of Maksimovich, Chiodo, Clark, Clarke.

As mentioned, he did miss 7 weeks to injury and no one separated themselves from him.

Barring injury, I will chew off my left arm live on the Internet if Rossi doesn't outscore Byfeld by 15 points at seasons end.

 

[InSuL1nImP]

Jacob Perreault. And it shouldn't even be close.

 

[dirty12]

Perreault was a great get at #19; but, Rossi should be unanimous ROY winner

 

[HockeyPops]

Where were all these good 16 year olds last year?

 

[OMG67]

Where were all these good 16 year olds last year?

Where are all the good 17 year olds this year!

 

[dirty12]

Good on Hamilton & Kitchener for being able to keep two ‘18-2nds while being big buyers.
Good for NB, Guelph, London, Saginaw too. Good luck to those teams not having ‘18 2nds & 3rds.