The Latest 2016 Calder Trophy Rankings in the NHL
With less than one month remaining in the NHL's 2015-16 regular season, it's time to start thinking about which players will receive this year's edition of the league's annual awards.
One of the most intriguing races this season is for the Calder Memorial Trophy, which goes to "the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League," according to NHL.com.
The winner is determined by votes from members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, who each rank their top five choices.
This year's rookie class includes a healthy collection of candidates who deserve consideration—each with his own pros and cons.
Expect to see Sam Reinhart of the Buffalo Sabres, Sam Bennett of the Calgary Flames and Anthony Duclair of the Arizona Coyotes all pick up a few points in the voting, but not enough to get them into contention.
Click through for a look at this year's top candidates right now. There's still room for movement—especially for surging Shayne Gostisbehere. Do you think he has enough momentum to become a finalist, or is his sample size too small?
8. Colton Parayko: St. Louis Blues
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Age: 22
2015-16 Stats: 68 GP, 7-21-28, plus-20
What He Has Accomplished
A third-round draft pick who played his junior hockey in Fort McMurray, Alberta before spending three years in college in Fairbanks, Alaska, 6'5" Colton Parayko had a brief 17-game introduction into the professional game at the AHL level last spring before stepping straight into a regular role with the St. Louis Blues in 2015-16.
Parayko's 28 points rank him second in scoring for rookie defensemen behind Shayne Gostisbehere. He also leads all rookies with a plus-20 while playing a solid 19:19 a game on a strong St. Louis Blues club.
What's Working Against Him
In October, Parayko introduced himself with a bang when he tallied four goals and seven points in his first 11 NHL games. His production has tapered off since then, but his two-way play remains excellent, especially for a rookie.
He peaked too early, so he won't be a Calder finalist, but Parayko's career potential looks excellent. The Blues got a bargain when they chose him 86th overall in 2012.
7. Max Domi: Arizona Coyotes
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Age: 21
2015-16 Stats: 68 GP, 17-27-44, even plus-minus
What He Has Accomplished
Third among rookies with 44 points, Max Domi is the main beacon of future success on a young Arizona Coyotes team that looks like it's only going to get better.
Arizona has also enjoyed strong performances this year from rookies Anthony Duclair and goaltender Louis Domingue. The next generation of Coyotes will be led by standout defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who's just 24.
What's Working Against Him
Playing in a low-profile market on a non-playoff team, Domi doesn't get seen much on the ice—even with a bigger spotlight on him than most rookies thanks to his famous father, Tie Domi.
Max started off the season well, with 11 points in 11 games, but his production has tapered off as the year has worn on and the Coyotes have slipped in the standings.
Domi showed signs of his dad's fiery temper when he earned a one-game suspension for instigating a late-game fight against Ryan Garbutt of the Anaheim Ducks on March 3—hardly the type of upstanding play that endears rookies to Calder voters.
6. John Gibson: Anaheim Ducks
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Age: 22
2015-16 Stats: 30 GP, 16-9-3, 2.25 goals-against average, .919 save percentage, four shutouts
What He Has Accomplished
Since starting his NHL season in late November, John Gibson has been a major catalyst for the Anaheim Ducks' surge up the standings from their early-season home in the cellar of the Pacific Division.
Gibson was named the NHL's rookie of the month for December, when he went 5-3-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average, a .929 save percentage and three shutouts, per NHL.com.
What's Working Against Him
We saw Gibson play three games in 2013-14 and 23 games last season, which means he just squeaks in under the Calder Trophy eligibility requirements, which state "a player cannot have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons in any major professional league," per NHL.com.
Also—as good as Gibson has been this season, he's being overshadowed by his counterpart Frederik Andersen down the stretch. Since Feb. 1, Gibson is 5-2-1 in nine appearances while the Ducks climbed the standings, but Andersen has carried the heavier workload with an 11-1-1 record in 14 appearances.
If Gibson was heading into the playoffs as Anaheim's clear No. 1 netminder, he'd be more front-of-mind when the time comes for Calder Trophy voters to cast their ballots.
5. Connor McDavid: Edmonton Oilers
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Age: 19
2015-16 Stats: 35 GP, 14-22-36, minus-three
What He Has Accomplished
Connor McDavid is the youngest of this season's Calder candidates, and he leads all rookies with a rate of offensive production of 1.03 points per game.
He has impressed when he has been in the lineup for the Edmonton Oilers, and he has bounced back nicely with nine goals and 24 points in 22 games since returning from his broken clavicle in early February.
What's Working Against Him
With only 35 games of NHL experience to date, McDavid's NHL resume is the most sparse of all the Calder candidates. His cause is also set back by the fact that, like many who have come before him, he has failed to elevate the Edmonton Oilers from the Western Conference cellar.
McDavid has shown plenty of promise, but he hasn't done enough in his abbreviated season to earn a spot as a Calder finalist.
Perhaps Connor can gather motivation from the fact that fellow Oiler Wayne Gretzky also didn't earn a Calder before going on to become the greatest player in NHL history.
Gretzky was ineligible because he had already played a year of pro in the World Hockey Association before the Edmonton Oilers joined the NHL for the 1979-80 season.
4. Shayne Gostisbehere: Philadelphia Flyers
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Age: 22
2015-16 Stats: 50 GP, 16-23-39, plus-eight
What He Has Accomplished
Though Shayne Gostisbehere didn't join the Philadelphia Flyers this year until mid-November, he has been a revelation.
He has played less games than most of his rivals, but Ghost currently ranks fifth among all rookies with 39 points, leads all rookie defensemen and is tied for fifth place among all NHL defensemen with his 16 goals.
Gostisbehere picked up his fifth game-winning goal of the season in a huge matchup on Tuesday as the Flyers moved within one point of a playoff spot after a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
What's Working Against Him
Because he spent the first 14 games of his 2015-16 season in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Gostisbehere's body of work is not as complete as most of the other Calder candidates. Also, as a third-round draft pick, he doesn't have the same cachet as some of the Grade-A prospects he's competing against.
Calder votes are submitted at the end of the regular season. Gostisbehere has already helped to push his team into postseason contention. If the Flyers make the playoffs, he could play spoiler and grab a spot among the top three finalists.
3. Jack Eichel: Buffalo Sabres
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Age: 19
2015-16 Stats: 70 GP, 22-26-48, minus-14
What He Has Accomplished
Straight out of the 2015 draft, Jack Eichel ranks second behind the more experienced Artemi Panarin in both goals (22) and points (48) among all rookies.
Eichel has quickly proved to Buffalo Sabres fans that he was a superb consolation prize when the team lost out in last year's draft lottery, earning fans by the day while leading all rookies in shots (212) and all rookie forwards in average ice time per game (19:09).
What's Working Against Him
Like Connor McDavid, Eichel's reputation suffers because he's playing on a bad team that hasn't made much of a move up the standings despite plenty of optimism last summer.
Though the Sabres still have a way to go before they get back in the mix as a respectable team, Eichel's full season of exciting, impactful play should rank him among this year's Calder finalists.
2. Dylan Larkin: Detroit Red Wings
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Age: 19
2015-16 Stats: 68 GP, 20-20-40, plus-17
What He Has Accomplished
On a Detroit Red Wings team that is notorious for taking its time in bringing its prospects up to the NHL, 19-year-old Dylan Larkin defied procedure by staking his claim as a battle-ready player just one year after his draft date.
Larkin's 25 points and plus-20 rating through the first three months of the season showcased him not just as an offensive threat, but also an unusually responsible two-way player for someone so young. He still holds the best plus-minus among rookie forwards and is just outside the top 20 in the entire NHL.
One of just two rookies selected to participate in this year's All-Star Game along with John Gibson, Larkin broke Mike Gartner's two-decade-old record in the fastest skater competition, shaving off more than two-tenths of a second to finish his lap in 13.172 seconds in Nashville, per Shawn Roarke of NHL.com.
What's Working Against Him
As often happens with rookies over the grind of an 82-game schedule, Larkin's strong play has tapered off as the season has worn on. Since the calendar flipped to 2016, he is just 7-8-15 and a minus-three in 31 games—a significant decline from his early-season numbers.
Larkin's Calder chances are also hurt by his team's late-season struggles. After Tuesday's loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit is now clinging to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference by just a single point.
1. Artemi Panarin: Chicago Blackhawks
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Age: 24
2015-16 Stats: 68 GP, 25-37-62, plus-six
What He Has Accomplished
In his first year in North America, Russia's Artemi Panarin was able to step in seamlessly to the Chicago Blackhawks' second line, forming a powerful unit with Patrick Kane and Artem Anisimov and leading all rookies in goals (25) and points (62).
With a cap hit of just $812,500 this season, per General Fanager, Panarin proved to be an outstanding low-budget addition to the top six for the cap-strapped Blackhawks.
What's Working Against Him
Does Panarin deserve to make the cut as a rookie? At 24, he had already been playing in Russia's KHL for parts of eight seasons, dating back to when he was 16 in 2008-09, per HockeyDB, before making the jump to North America.
Panarin's experience and level of maturity is certainly further advanced than any of this year's other candidates. But he has successfully overcome the difficult cultural transition from Russia to the U.S., which many of his fellow countrymen have failed to achieve over the years.
Yes, Panarin skated into a sweet situation when he lined up to play with Kane, but none of the younger rookies has come close to challenging the 24-year-old's on-ice impact this season.
He may not turn out to be the best player in this year's rookie class over the long term, but when the votes are counted, Panarin should be the NHL's first Russian rookie of the year since Evgeni Malkin in 2007.
All stats courtesy of NHL.com, current through games completed Tuesday, March 15.
