B/R's Calder Trophy Rankings for the NHL's Top Rookie During the 2025-26 Season
The Calder Trophy, handed out to the NHL's Rookie of the Year, is usually one of the bigger awards in the league because it highlights the next wave of stars to come through.
Some rookie classes are better and deeper than others, and the 2025-26 class boasts a particularly strong mix of potential superstars and serious depth, making it a fascinating competition. No single player stands out significantly above the rest, making it a wide-open race.
So let's take a look at 10 of the biggest contenders (as well as some honorable mentions that could also play their way into the discussion) for this year's award.
Defensemen dominate the list, but there are also some outstanding young forwards and one really promising goalie ready to make an impact.
Honorable Mentions
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Players that could make a serious push at the award but may not open the season high on the ranking list.
Sam Rinzel, Defense, Chicago Blackhawks: Rinzel is one of the many young players on the Blackhawks roster and figures to play a big role on their defense. He had five assists in nine games last season and will get a significant role this season. The thing that might hold him back a little is that rookie defenseman tend to struggle with a steep learning curve, and he's going to be in a bad situation that will have a lot of losing.
Artyom Levshunov, Defense, Chicago Blackhawks: Everything that just got said about Rinzel also applies here. Except Levshunov, the No. 2 pick in 2024, might be an even better prospect with higher upside. But how much of a learning curve will he have on a bad team?
Isaac Howard, Forward, Edmonton Oilers: Howard is intriguing because he is coming off a strong NCAA career and is getting an opportunity to play for a Stanley Cup contender. That can be a blessing and a curse for his Calder hopes. He has better talent around him, but will he get the minutes to stand out?
Harrison Brunicke, Defense, Pittsburgh Penguins: This is largely dependent on the Penguins keeping him in Pittsburgh all season, and they very well might end up doing so. He has rapidly climbed prospect rankings and has the look of a potential star in the NHL. His first two games this season have been wildly impressive.
Ville Koivunen, forward, Pittsburgh Penguins: Koivunen is one of the players the Penguins received in the Jake Guentzel trade a couple of years ago and has really turned himself into a strong prospect. After an outstanding rookie year in the American Hockey League a year ago, where he was one of the league's top scorers, he recorded seven assists in nine games during a late-season call-up, where he showed strong playmaking skills and NHL vision. He opened the season skating on a line with Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell. He figures to get a big role and play with NHL talent. That will help him.
10. Matthew Schaefer, New York Islanders
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The No. 10 spot might seem low for a No. 1 overall pick, especially one that has the type of talent and skating ability that Schaefer possesses. He is one of just five defensemen to be selected No. 1 overall since the 2000 NHL Draft and is going to help transform the Islanders' future.
He's an outstanding talent and is going to get serious minutes with the Islanders.
So why so low on the rankings?
Because it's sometimes hard for a defenseman to win the Calder Trophy (only 10 have won it since 1980), and he is incredibly young. The Islanders are going to ask him to play a big role for an 18-year-old, and there are going to be some serious ups and downs that come with that.
His potential is significant, his talent is enormous, and the Islanders' recent draft class and trades have dramatically improved their long-term outlook. That is going to be true whether Schaefer wins the Calder Trophy or not.
9. Michael Misa, San Jose Sharks
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Misa was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, just one pick behind Schaefer, and adds another potential star to a San Jose Sharks lineup that is loaded with young talent.
I give him a slight edge over Schaefer to start the year just because he might be in a better position to succeed. As a forward, he is likely going to finish with more points (which always stands out to voters in these awards), and was skating as the team's second-line center in practice between William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli.
That's not a bad starting point for a rookie.
8. Zayne Parekh, Calgary Flames
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The Flames selected Parekh with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and he is arriving in Calgary with massive expectations and hype. He was an outrageously productive defenseman in the OHL, finishing the 2024-25 season with 107 points in 61 games. That not only led all defensemen, but it was fifth among all skaters regardless of position.
While he has curiously yet to crack the Flames lineup this season, he did score a goal in his only NHL game a year ago and figures to not only get consistent playing time this season, but also power play time.
He could be this year's Lane Hutson as a breakout offensive star, assuming they actually start dressing him for games at some point.
7. Jimmy Snuggerud, St. Louis Blues
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There's a lot to like about Snuggerud and his potential, both this season and long-term for the Blues.
He has good size, is strong, always seems to be in the right place, and was fantastic during his career at the University of Minnesota. He made the jump to the NHL at the end of the 2024-25 season and immediately fit in with the Blues, scoring a goal and three assists in seven regular-season games and then adding two goals and two assists in seven playoff games.
He figures to get a top-nine (and perhaps even top-six) role with the Blues this season and could easily be in the 50-point range by the end of the season. That is going to put him right in the thick of the Calder discussion.
6. Maxim Shabanov, New York Islanders
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Shabanov isn't getting a ton of Calder Trophy hype at the start of the season ... but maybe he should?
He has been a late bloomer in his career, and after being undrafted, he spent four years in the KHL, gradually improving his production each season. By the end of his KHL tenure, he was a 67-point scorer and was one of the more intriguing free agent signings of the offseason.
He doesn't have the best size, but he is a skilled playmaker and is an older rookie (25) with years of pro hockey experience overseas. Rookies like that have a tendency to do well. He scored a goal in his NHL debut on Thursday night and figures to be a prominent player for an Islanders team that is desperately seeking offense.
Do not rule him out in this discussion.
5. Ryan Leonard, Washington Capitals
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The way the Capitals have rebuilt their organization on the fly is truly something to behold.
Just when it looked like their window was slamming shut and they would be in need of an extensive rebuild, they rapidly turned themselves back into contenders through some shrewd veteran additions and outstanding drafting that brought a fresh wave of young talent into the NHL.
Leonard is not only a big part of that wave, but he might be one of the best prospects of them all.
The Capitals selected him with the No. 8 overall pick in 2023 and watched him finish as a Hobey Baker Finalist as a sophomore at Boston College. He ended up making the jump to the NHL at the end of the 2024-25 season and appeared in 17 games (regular season and playoffs combined), scoring a goal and adding an assist.
He is still a work in progress, navigating the transition from the NCAA to the NHL, but he possesses the skill and physicality to figure it all out.
4. Yaroslav Askarov, San Jose Sharks
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The Sharks may still be quite a bit away from contending, but there is no denying the young talent they have coming through the organization and starting to reach the NHL.
There's a lot.
Askarov is one of the most significant prospects out of that group, and just based on his position (goalie), he has a chance to be one of the most impactful players out of this prospect group.
He is an incredible blend of size and athleticism, and was an outstanding starter in the American Hockey League the past three years. He is one of the best goalie prospects in the sport and should be ready to take on a significant role in the Sharks' crease this season.
He had a brief stint in the NHL last season, marked by an up-and-down experience, but the talent is real.
The big concern for Askarov will be the fact that he is playing behind a bad team with some defensive issues. That is not ideal for a young goalie. If he puts up big numbers behind that roster, he should be a serious candidate for the Calder Trophy.
3. Alexander Nikishin, Carolina Hurricanes
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Nikishin has been on the radar in Carolina for years, and after being selected in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft, he finally made his way over to North America late in the 2024-25 season and got some limited playing time in the playoffs.
He is set to take on a significant role this season and appears to be a perfect fit for the Hurricanes' style of play.
Although he is still a rookie, he is already 24 years old and has spent the past five years playing professionally in the KHL, topping the 40-point mark for three consecutive years. He comes in with serious pro hockey experience at a very high level.
That experience, along with the outstanding roster that Carolina has around him, should help give him the upper hand on a lot of rookies in this year's class.
It's an extremely deep class for defenseman, and Nikishin figures to get one of the more prominent roles of any of them. He will be doing so in an environment where he should be well-positioned to excel.
2. Zeev Buium, Minnesota Wild
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The Minnesota Wild have a lot to be optimistic about, both this season and in the future.
They were a playoff team a year ago, and probably could have made some noise had it not been for some devastating injuries to their best players and defense. They re-signed Kirill Kaprizov just before the start of the season, and they also have one of the NHL's best farm systems and prospect pools.
At the top of that prospect list is Buium, a sensational young defenseman that figures to jump right into the NHL this season and play a significant role. He played in four playoff games a year ago and recorded an assist, while also not really looking out of place as a teenager.
His offensive skills and instincts are off the charts, and figure to make him an immediate threat to be a play-driver on Minnesota's defense. He still has to work on some things away from the puck -- which is to be expected with a young defenseman -- but his puck skills and offensive upside could make him an immediate star.
1. Ivan Demidov, Montreal Canadiens
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If there is one rookie in this class that stands out as a clear preseason favorite, it has to be Demidov.
He fell to the Canadiens with the No. 5 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and even that seemed like an extreme slide given his talent level and upside. But because of the concern over how long it would take him to make the move to the NHL, he slid down the draft board a few spots. He was arguably the second-best prospect in his class.
Instead of making the Canadiens wait a few years, he came over far sooner than anybody anticipated and made an immediate impact at the end of the 2024-25 season and into the playoffs.
Montreal already has a fantastic young core with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Lane Hutson, and now Demidov is joining them. In terms of pure star power and upside, he might have the most significant upside out of any of them.
After making a shocking playoff appearance a year ago, the Canadiens followed that with a strong offseason that saw them add defenseman Noah Dobson and forward Zack Bolduc to the roster. Getting Demidov for a full season might be even more exciting than all of that.
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