Why The Calder Trophy Race Is One Of The Biggest Stories Of This NHL Season

Folks, we've made it through the dark times… the NHL is officially back today.

Sure, we had the preseason and a couple of games in Prague to get things started, but we've got a legitimate slate of games on Tuesday evening and, as it always does, it feels like Christmas morning, spiced up with a couple of birthdays.

There will be plenty of storylines to watch this season. Can Alex Ovechkin catch Wayne Gretzky on the all-time goals list this season or the next? Will the Toronto Maple Leafs finally make a deep run through the postseason? Can the Edmonton Oilers fight their way back to the Stanley Cup Final after getting so close last season?

But the story I think may have the most legs is going to be the race for the Calder Trophy — awarded to the NHL's rookie of the year — because there are some big-time candidates.

As the top pick in this year's draft, San Jose's Macklin Celebrini will be one of the early favorites to win the Calder Trophy. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Macklin Celebrini

Obviously, there will be a lot of eyes on the first-overall pick any year, but one of the big things that was talked about with Celebrini before he was even drafted was the fact that he was widely considered to be ready for the NHL.

He's going to be part of a San Jose Sharks core with fellow rookie Will Smith, that will be formidable in the years to come, but will probably wallow away at the bottom of the Western Conference this year.

It's not unheard of for a Calder Trophy-winner to come from a lousy team. It happens a lot and did as recently as last season with Blackhawks star Connor Bedard. The only thing that can make it tricky is that Celebrini may have to be the driving force of the Sharks offense, which can be a big ask right off the bat.

He's expected to make his regular season debut on time despite missing some valuable playing time in the preseason due to injury, and we'll see if that affects how quickly he can get up to speed at the NHL.

Matvei Michkov is on the Flyers roster years ahead of schedule, and he brings with him some serious skill. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Matvei Michkov

While the Calder Trophy race is an 82-game marathon, not a sprint, I think there's something to be said about getting attention early and often, and I think Matvei Michkov will be the guy who does that.

The Philadelphia Flyers selected Michkov with the No. 7 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, in what was widely considered to be the steal of the draft. The reason? The expectation was that Michkov wouldn't be able to come to North America until his KHL contract was over several years from now.

However, the Flyers worked some magic, and he's here and has already been impressive during the preseason.

Michkov has an advantage that you sometimes see with European players and that is that, despite being just 19 years old, Michkov has a few years of experience playing in the KHL. That's a league of grown men, some of whom are NHL-caliber talents.

Is the level of play on par with the NHL? No, but it's closer to it than the NCAA — where Celebrini played most recently — is.

I think we're going to see Michkov get off to a hot start, and if he can maintain a decent scoring clip, I think he could be the one to beat. That would make him the first Flyer to ever win the award (which is kind of wild).

Anaheim's Cutter Gauthier, Dallas' Logan Stankoven, and Montreal's Lane Hutson could all make cases for a Calder Trophy win. (Getty Images)

But Wait, There's More!

What's going to be really fun this year, however, is that while Celebrini and Michkov are the ones to beat, there are plenty of players who could make cases for a Calder Trophy campaign.

Toward the top of that list is Anaheim Ducks' Cutter Gauthier. The 20-year-old out of Boston College appeared in one game with Anaheim last season after making news for not wanting to play for the Philadelphia Flyers, who drafted him with the No. 5 pick in 2022.

Gauthier tallied 65 points in 41 games for the Eagles last season and picked up an assist in his NHL debut. 

Elsewhere, there is some attention on Dallas Stars center Logan Stankoven. The 2021 second-round pick played 24 games for the Stars last season but spent most of the year with the AHL's Texas Stars, where he scored 57 points in games.

Stankoven is likely to be on the best team of any of these Calder candidates and that could either help him or hurt him. Those around him could elevate his play, but it could also make it harder for him to stand out among a really solid Stars team.

Then there's Montreal Canadiens' Lane Hutson. He's an offensive defenseman on a team without a stud puck-moving D-man, and at least at the college level, Hutson proved he can put up some serious numbers. He spent two seasons at Boston University and, in his freshman campaign, scored 48 points in 39 games. He then followed that up with 49 points in 38 games in his sophomore campaign. In both years, he potted 15 goals. 

Hutson appeared in two games for the Canadiens late last season where he tallied two assists.

There could be some other names that emerge as the season progresses, but I think it's safe to say the next crop of NHL stars is a solid one.