Stats:<\/strong> 19 GP, 12-3-4, .923 SV%, 4 SO<\/p>\nWheeler\u2019s ballot: No. 3
Dayal\u2019s ballot: No. 3<\/p>\n
Wallstedt\u2019s performance has been so excellent that we both briefly considered ranking him second. However, he\u2019s played only 19 of Minnesota\u2019s 47 games, which isn\u2019t quite a large enough sample yet to justify moving him ahead of Demidov. That absolutely could change, though, if he sustains this performance and finishes the season with 40ish games played.<\/p>\n
The Wall of St. Paul owns a .923 save percentage and four shutouts (tied with Ilya Sorokin) this season. Prior to Monday\u2019s 5-2 loss to the Devils, he had saved 14.2 goals above expected, which ranked 18th among all netminders. GSAx is an accumulation-based stat, so it\u2019s impressive that he ranks that high despite playing fewer than 20 games.<\/p>\n
Wallstedt\u2019s sensational arrival was key to turning Minnesota\u2019s season around in November. Stylistically, he\u2019s such a treat to watch \u2014 Wallstedt\u2019s technical mastery and positioning are pristine. He\u2019s exceptionally calm, poised, and in control in his crease, which allows him to make spectacular saves look easy at times. The 23-year-old Swede never overcommits to a singular play because of how well he controls his edges, which ensures that he stays in excellent position to stop second- and third-chance opportunities.<\/p>\n
4. Beckett Sennecke \u2014 RW, 19, Anaheim Ducks<\/p>\n
Stats:<\/strong> 45 GP, 14 G, 20 A, 34 PTS, 16:55 ATOI, -6<\/p>\nWheeler\u2019s ballot: No. 4
Dayal\u2019s ballot: No. 4<\/p>\n
When we did our last Calder list at the quarter mark, Sennecke was averaging 16 and a half minutes and playing at a 56-point pace. Both of those are very impressive for a teenage forward. Now he\u2019s playing at a 62-point pace and averaging 17 minutes per game. Where some rookies hit a wall at this stage in a season, Sennecke\u2019s production and role are actually expanding \u2014 even as his team has hit a bit of a rut. That\u2019s a testament to his talent. He belongs in the Calder conversation.<\/p>\n
T5. Ryan Leonard \u2014 RW, 20, Washington Capitals<\/p>\n
Stats:\u00a0<\/strong>39 GP, 9 G, 19 A, 28 PTS, 14:06 ATOI, +11<\/p>\nWheeler\u2019s ballot: HM
Dayal\u2019s ballot: No. 5<\/p>\n
Leonard looks like a game-breaker. The 20-year-old right winger is a top-notch puck transporter, capable of driving dynamic entries and rush chances with ease. He\u2019s shown tremendous growth in his playmaking, as his knack for finding dangerous east-west seams and setting up teammates for Grade-A scoring chances has been prolific. Leonard\u2019s precocious impact as a solo driver of play and offensive chances \u2014 which you have to see on a shift-by-shift basis to truly appreciate \u2014 makes him a slam-dunk future star.<\/p>\n
Leonard would be on pace for 58 points if he hadn\u2019t missed seven games with injury. That production is particularly strong because he\u2019s averaged just 14:06 per game due to how stacked the Capitals\u2019 forward group is. On a per-minute basis, Leonard\u2019s 2.62 points per 60 leads rookies and ranks 22nd among all NHL players.<\/p>\n
T5. Alexander Nikishin \u2014 LHD, 24, Carolina Hurricanes<\/p>\n
Stats:<\/strong> 45 GP, 5 G, 13 A, 18 PTS, 18:49 ATOI, +11<\/p>\nWheeler\u2019s ballot: No. 5
Dayal\u2019s ballot: HM<\/p>\n
Nikishin\u2019s production (a 32-point pace) isn\u2019t as glossy as his peers\u2019 in this rookie class, but he\u2019s playing almost 19 minutes per game on the best team in the Eastern Conference. He has quickly established his physical presence in the league (his 85 hits lead the Hurricanes and are just outside the league\u2019s top 10 D), he has a 55.4 percent expected goals share at five-on-five and the Canes have outscored the opposition 32-25 (56.1 percent) with him out there. Nikishin would have needed more power-play usage earlier in the year to amass the point totals that are typically required to become a contender for the award, but he deserves consideration down ballots.<\/p>\n
HM. Artyom Levshunov \u2014 RHD, 20, Chicago Blackhawks<\/p>\n
Stats:\u00a0<\/strong>44 GP, 2 G, 19 A, 21 PTS, 18:54 ATOI, -16<\/p>\nLevshunov\u2019s game comes with some ups and downs, and so has his season, but he\u2019s still playing at a 40-point pace, he has run the Blackhawks\u2019 power play for most of the season and he\u2019s now playing 23-24 minutes per game and starting to put it all together. On his best shifts, he can take over and run wild around the ice. If he continues to get the minutes he has played over the last couple of months, a step in the second half and down-ballot votes are entirely possible.<\/p>\n
HM. Oliver Kapanen \u2014 C, 22, Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n
Stats:\u00a0<\/strong>46 GP, 16 G, 11 A, 27 PTS, 14:52 ATOI, +5<\/p>\nThe hype around Demidov shouldn\u2019t make us overlook how enormously valuable Kapanen\u2019s rookie contributions have been. The 22-year-old Finnish forward has filled in admirably as the Canadiens\u2019 second-line center this season, a high-leverage role that the club would have otherwise struggled to adequately patch over.<\/p>\n
Kapanen leads all rookies with 16 goals. He isn\u2019t the main driver of Montreal\u2019s second line \u2014 Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsk\u00fd have done a lot of the heavy lifting \u2014 but he\u2019s been an excellent complementary fit, and has been especially productive lately, with nine goals in his last 21 games.<\/p>\n
Kapanen\u2019s underlying metrics are a bit soft (he earned 43 percent of shot attempts and 42 percent of expected goals before Monday\u2019s win over Vancouver), but the eye test shows that his positioning, reads and defensive play are polished for such a young center. Stylistically, that responsible approach has been a nice fit with Demidov\u2019s flashier, more dynamic skill set. Kapanen is fast enough to keep up with Demidov as a supporting offensive threat off the rush and can handle some of the dirty work to win battles and regain puck possession.<\/p>\n
Lately, his usage has increased significantly as well; Kapanen has averaged close to 18 minutes in his last 21 games, compared to just over 13 in his first 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each season at\u00a0The Athletic, reporters Scott Wheeler and Harman Dayal publish a quarterly Calder Trophy list ranking the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":513299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[3115,3107,291,3112,1301,293,62,67,132,68,3109],"class_list":{"0":"post-513298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-anaheim-ducks","9":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","10":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","11":"tag-minnesota-wild","12":"tag-new-york-islanders","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-washington-capitals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115888360273146846","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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