The Race for the Calder Trophy

[CBJx614]

Yes there was a Calder prediction thread but this thread is to keep track of the top 5 in the current Calder race. I will try to update this first post once or twice a week with the current totals.





As of 9PM 10/31 - Order is the same as listed on the NHL website.

Skaters:

#1 Ridley Greig(C) - 8GP 2G 5A 7P 15:49 TOI

#2 Connor Bedard(C) - 9GP 4G 2A 6P 19:45 TOI

#3 Bobby Brink(R) - 8GP 2G 4A 6P 16:31 TOI

#4 Pavel Mintyukov(D) - 9GP 1G 5A 6P 19:09 TOI

#5 Luke Hughes(D) - 8 GP 1G 5A 6P 19:39 TOI

#6 Logan Cooley(C) - 8GP 0G 6A 6P 16:56 TOI

#7 Matthew Poitras(C) - 9GP 3G 2A 5P 15:13 TOI

#8 Adam Fantilli(C) - 9GP 2G 3A 5P 16:22 TOI

#9 Luke Evangelista(R) - 8GP 1G 4A 5P 14:57 TOI

#10 Marco Rossi(C) - 9GP 3G 1A 4P 14:50



Goalies :

#1 Joseph Woll - 4GP 3W 1L 1.33 GAA .961 SV%

#2 Lukas Dolstal - 5GP 4W 1L 2.79 GAA .921 SV%

I'm not going to include goalies with a 3+ GAA as there's no chance a goalie would win Vezina with that kind of record.

Click to read more...

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

This will hopefully be an exciting race and not Bedard running away with it.

 

[TheYardMachine]

Mintyukov have a good start as well with 3 points in 6 games and being very solid overall for the Ducks!

 

[Eggtimer]

Mintyukov have a good start as well with 3 points in 6 games and being very solid overall for the Ducks!

He is a stud amd may end up the second best player taken in his draft. Is say it’s Cooley then either him Nemec or Jiricek . Ducks got a stud

 

[Gliff]

Mintyukov wont win because he is a defensemen in a class that has a lot of very good forwards, but he should be in the conversation.

He has been an absolute gem.

edit: for anyone who hasn't watched him, the points have nothinbg to do with Anaheim fans being excited.
He is playing amazing in all 3 zones, calm with the puck, great vision on when to jump up in the play, and is playing way more physical then I expected.
Watch a Ducks game. he is worth it.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Mintyukov wont win because he is a defensemen in a class that has a lot of very good forwards, but he should be in the conversation.

He has been an absolute gem.

edit: for anyone who hasn't watched him, the points have nothinbg to do with Anaheim fans being excited.
He is playing amazing in all 3 zones, calm with the puck, great vision on when to jump up in the play, and is playing way more physical then I expected.
Watch a Ducks game. he is worth it.

Faber is same description, leads the Wild in TOI this season, a full minute ahead of Brodin with a 63% DZs% and top competition. Had three third assists last game and looks like Minnesotas best defenseman clearly.

 

[BonMorrison]

Waiting for my boy Luke Evangelista to wake up a bit and then he'll be on here too.

 

[Ladyfan]

Poitras has been a blast to watch.

He looks 12.

I have a feeling he will be on the Bruins after the 9 days.

 

[CBJx614]

Mintyukov wont win because he is a defensemen in a class that has a lot of very good forwards, but he should be in the conversation.

He has been an absolute gem.

edit: for anyone who hasn't watched him, the points have nothinbg to do with Anaheim fans being excited.
He is playing amazing in all 3 zones, calm with the puck, great vision on when to jump up in the play, and is playing way more physical then I expected.
Watch a Ducks game. he is worth it.

I hate how every award is basically a point race. The Calder and Norris especially shouldn't be strictly a point race.

 

[MNRube]

Think this will come down to Bedard, Cooley & Fantilli. The latter two have looked great and have better infrastructure around them than Bedard. I think all 3 end up around 55-70 points pace eventually and Bedard will have to be clearly outperformed to lose the trophy

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Mintyukov wont win because he is a defensemen in a class that has a lot of very good forwards, but he should be in the conversation.

He has been an absolute gem.

edit: for anyone who hasn't watched him, the points have nothinbg to do with Anaheim fans being excited.
He is playing amazing in all 3 zones, calm with the puck, great vision on when to jump up in the play, and is playing way more physical then I expected.
Watch a Ducks game. he is worth it.

He won't win because he's not even the best rookie d man.

Faber should be in everyone's top 3 right now.

 

[CookiesAndMilk]

Faber is same description, leads the Wild in TOI this season, a full minute ahead of Brodin with a 63% DZs% and top competition. Had three third assists last game and looks like Minnesotas best defenseman clearly.

As an Oilers fan I have to say, that he looked absolutely fantastic. Was calm with and without the puck. Good passes, good D. Plays more like a veteran than a young player trying to find his spot.

 

[FooteBahl]

Waiting for my boy Luke Evangelista to wake up a bit and then he'll be on here too.

Same with our Luke (Hughes). 1G in 5 games and doesn’t look lost one bit.

 

[Gliff]

He won't win because he's not even the best rookie d man.

Faber should be in everyone's top 3 right now.

Have you watched one Ducks game? Just curious. I haven't watched the Wild yet so I can't comment on it, but I'm just wondering if you're making an honest evaluation from viewing both of them, or just assuming he is better.

Edit: 5 hours later and no response...Ya I figured as much... Easy to make statements about who is better when you have only seen one of them play lol

 

[jbeck5]

I was wondering why no one has been mentioning Greig when he's leading the league in rookie scoring while also bringing a toughness/chipiness element almost none of the other rookies bring. (Atleast not the ones competing for the scoring lead).

Every game he's dangling people.
Every game he's pissing off the other teams best players.
Every game he has a big hit.
Almost every game he's putting up points.

 

[Chips]

I hate how every award is basically a point race. The Calder and Norris especially shouldn't be strictly a point race.

I think it’s partly because defensemen often take a little while longer to peak too. But Seider definitely won in part for his defense, as did 18 year old outlier Ekblad.

 

[Deadly Dogma]

Knies will be up in there as well, he keeps getting bumped up our roster.

 

[pbgoalie]

He won't win because he's not even the best rookie d man.

Faber should be in everyone's top 3 right now.

I haven’t watched Faber yet. But if he’s clearly ahead of Mintyukov…..wow

Minty has been really good

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

I haven’t watched Faber yet. But if he’s clearly ahead of Mintyukov…..wow

Minty has been really good

You should check him out, I’ve caught a bit of Mintyukov and like what I see there too, great year for rookies!

 

[canuckslover10]

I have Mintukov winning if he keeps up this pace.

 

[Sensatauro]

I was wondering why no one has been mentioning Greig when he's leading the league in rookie scoring while also bringing a toughness/chipiness element almost none of the other rookies bring. (Atleast not the ones competing for the scoring lead).

Every game he's dangling people.
Every game he's pissing off the other teams best players.
Every game he has a big hit.
Almost every game he's putting up points.

He is a Senator. He deserves and gets no love because the Ottawa factor.

It's ok. He is a beast and the world will catch on soon.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

He is a Senator. He deserves and gets no love because the Ottawa factor.

It's ok. He is a beast and the world will catch on soon.

I was impressed with him against Detroit. I think he has 25-30 goal capability playing
a physical style. That's a really impact ful player in today's game.

You should check him out, I’ve caught a bit of Mintyukov and like what I see there too, great year for rookies!

Faber was impressive in The Olympics and WJC. Real good skater and reads the play well. Doesn't possess Sandersone's high end O skill but is better defensively IMO.

 

[Jared Dunn]

Strongest rookie class I can remember. If Levi and the Sabres pull it together there's a top end goalie in the mix as well

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

My current favorites for the Calder, with projections (assuming ~82gp unless stated otherwise).

Let the hater comments begin:

Forwards

1. Bedard 32g 71p
2. Cooley 19g 64p
3. Carlsson 20g 52p (60gp)
4. Fantilli 23g 47p
5. Reichel 19g 44p
6. Knies 21g 42p
7. Poitras 13g 41p
8. Greig 16g 38p
9. Evangelista 14g 38p
10. Laferierre 18g 36p

Defenseman

1. Hughes 12g 48p
2. Faber 9g 33p
3. Mintyukov 7g 39p
4. Korchinski 4g 31p
5. Jiricek 9g 25p (65gp)
6. Lacombe 3g 24p

With Bedard off to a slower start, the race feels pretty wide open. He's had some pretty poor puck luck, so I still expect him to break 30g and 70p. Unfortunately, Leo Carlsson probably isn't going to get a chance to play enough games to compete for the Calder, even though I think he might be the best overall rookie this year. Cooley will probably be the top challenger among forwards, but he'll need to start generating at 5v5 and shooting the puck more to keep up.

Among defensemen, I think Luke Hughes has a pretty good shot to win it. He's been the devils best overall defenseman through our first 6 games, despite having to carry around Brendan Smith (though to be fair, pretty much all of our defenseman have been terrible except for Hughes and maybe Bahl).

I've also been really impressed by Faber, who is likewise already his team's best defenseman. Mintyukov has also been stellar. But I don't know if either of them will get enough opportunities to pile up points over the course of the season to beat Luke in a vote, who will likely land in the 40-50+ point range if he continues to QB our top PP unit. He's been a huge part our early PP success despite not yet piling up the points - his ability to consistently setup controlled zone entries is like nothing we've ever had from a defenseman.

I was wondering why no one has been mentioning Greig when he's leading the league in rookie scoring while also bringing a toughness/chipiness element almost none of the other rookies bring. (Atleast not the ones competing for the scoring lead).

Every game he's dangling people.
Every game he's pissing off the other teams best players.
Every game he has a big hit.
Almost every game he's putting up points.

He's a good young player but I wouldn't count on him to continue scoring at anywhere near the clip he's been on. He's currently sporting a 24% on ice shooting percentage at 5v5, where he's scored all his points. The Sens have scored 9 goals vs 3.3 expected GF while he's been on the ice at 5v5. I think he'll probably have a Pinto-like rookie season, which would obviously be a great start to his career, but I wouldn't expect him to be a serious contender for the Calder.

 

[TLEH]

My current favorites for the Calder, with projections (assuming ~82gp unless stated otherwise).

Let the hater comments begin:

Forwards

1. Bedard 32g 71p
2. Cooley 19g 64p
3. Carlsson 20g 52p (60gp)
4. Fantilli 23g 47p
5. Reichel 19g 44p
6. Knies 21g 42p
7. Poitras 13g 41p
8. Greig 16g 38p
9. Evangelista 14g 38p
10. Laferierre 18g 36p

Defenseman

1. Hughes 12g 48p
2. Faber 9g 33p
3. Mintyukov 7g 39p
4. Korchinski 4g 31p
5. Jiricek 9g 25p (65gp)
6. Lacombe 3g 24p

With Bedard off to a slower start, the race feels pretty wide open. He's had some pretty poor puck luck, so I still expect him to break 30g and 70p. Unfortunately, Leo Carlsson probably isn't going to get a chance to play enough games to compete for the Calder, even though I think he might be the best overall rookie this year. Cooley will probably be the top challenger among forwards, but he'll need to start generating at 5v5 and shooting the puck more to keep up.

Among defensemen, I think Luke Hughes has a pretty good shot to win it. He's been the devils best overall defenseman through our first 6 games, despite having to carry around Brendan Smith (though to be fair, pretty much all of our defenseman have been terrible except for Hughes and maybe Bahl).

I've also been really impressed by Faber, who is likewise already his team's best defenseman. Mintyukov has also been stellar. But I don't know if either of them will get enough opportunities to pile up points over the course of the season to beat Luke in a vote, who will likely land in the 40-50+ point range if he continues to QB our top PP unit. He's been a huge part our early PP success despite not yet piling up the points - his ability to consistently setup controlled zone entries is like nothing we've ever had from a defenseman.


He's a good young player but I wouldn't count on him to continue scoring at anywhere near the clip he's been on. He's currently sporting a 24% on ice shooting percentage at 5v5, where he's scored all his points. The Sens have scored 9 goals vs 3.3 expected GF while he's been on the ice at 5v5. I think he'll probably have a Pinto-like rookie season, which would obviously be a great start to his career, but I wouldn't expect him to be a serious contender for the Calder.

Pretty good list. Mintyukov might score 50p