Now that the regular season has been deemed complete, the NHL announced it’s candidates for the 2019-20 Calder Trophy, awarded to the best rookie in the league.
Buffalo’s Victor Olofsson was not selected as a candidate despite finishing 4th in rookie points with 42 in just 54 games. He also finished 2nd among rookies in goals with 20 and power play goals with 11. Olofsson’s hot start and heavy power-play success really had him a top candidate for Calder at the time, but he ended up missing some action and slowing down. That allowed a few others to gain a big advantage.
Quinn Hughes
A defenseman with just eight goals, but 45 assists lead rookies in points with 53 (25 on the power play) and may be a top candidate for this year’s Calder.
The Canucks really saw Hughes excel and should definitely be ecstatic to have this guy on the blue line for years to come.
Cale Makar
Another defenseman worthy of this award. Cale Makar. He finished with 50 points (12 goals, 38 assists) in just 57 games and could very well edge out Hughes for the Calder.
Only 19 of those points were on the power play, and Makar arguably made a better all-around impact.
Dominik Kubalik
The first forward I’ll mention on this list, Kubalik put up 46 points (30 goals, 16 assists) in 68 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. 38 of those points came at even strength, which is very impressive.
His shooting percentage of 19.1% might be a little higher than most, but that shouldn’t take any votes away from his incredible season.
Other players to consider are Adam Fox and Nick Suzuki. Also, former Sabre Alex Nylander finished 9th in the league among rookies with 26 points in 65 games.
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