Calder Trophy Tracker: Beniers Paces the Pack But Gap Closes

The Seattle Kraken's Matty Beniers still leads the rookie of the year race, but Owen Power, Logan Thompson and others are starting to seriously challenge him.

New year, new Calder Trophy Tracker. The picture is becoming clearer as the calendar turns to 2023. Matty Beniers has been the front-runner from the start of the season, but the gap is closing. Performances from fellow first-year stars have risen to the top of the crop.

Pyotr Kochetkov and Logan Thompson have been outstanding in net, ranking among the best goaltenders in the league at times this season. Owen Power and Jake Sanderson have emerged as stalwarts on the backend for their respective teams. Forwards such as Cole Perfetti, Jonatan Berggren and Matias Maccelli have all scored at respectable rates.

Despite all of that, the Seattle Kraken’s No. 1 center still has a grip on the top spot on the Calder Trophy Tracker.

The leading rookie scorer when it comes to both goals and total points, Beniers has stepped into the NHL and looked the part of a top-six center. He's given the Kraken a high-paced offensive difference-maker while continuing to play a sound defensive game. Beniers uses his speed and high-end motor to pressure opponents at both ends of the ice when they have the puck, hunting it down to get his team back on the attack. Beniers’ 30 points lead all rookies.

The top pick in the 2021 NHL draft, just before Beniers, has established himself as a true top-pair defenseman on the Sabres. The Sabres dominate play when either he or Rasmus Dahlin are on the ice and struggle mightily when they are not. Power’s offensive counting stats haven’t popped off the page just yet as he sits at 14 points in 34 games, but he plays over three more minutes per game than any other rookie (Sanderson) while posting shot differentials and goals-for percentages in the top 10 amongst all rookies. Power has stepped into top pairing deployment and performed admirably and he gets more comfortable every month.

The Vegas goaltender is a major reason for the team sitting atop the Pacific Division and third league-wide in the league. He has had a massive workload, playing more minutes than all but three goalies in the NHL while posting a .914 save percentage and sitting fourth in wins. Thompson has had a bit of an up-and-down month but he remains a top ten goalie in almost every stat amongst goalies with at least 15 games played and he will have to continue playing a big throughout the season as the options beyond the 25-year-old Thompson are limited and lackluster.

‘Kootchie,’ as he’s been referred to by the Canes fanbase and media, has been simply outstanding. His workload is limited as he’s only played in 16 games, but the Carolina netminder has a .919 save percentage, good for seventh in the NHL among goalies with at least 15 games played. His three shutouts are tied for the league lead. Kochetkov looks like a legitimate NHL starter and has stepped into the NHL without issue. The 23-year-old goalie could be the difference maker the Canes need come playoff time.

The biggest reason holding him out of the top two spots on the Calder tracker is the future is up in the air a bit. With Frederik Andersen set to return later this month and Antti Raanta also in the fold, Kochetkov could be relegated back to the AHL, even if it’s completely unwarranted based purely on merit. Kochetkov has been Carolina’s best goalie this season, but Andersen and Raanta won the Jennings as the leagues league’s top tandem last year. If he stays in the NHL and wins the bulk of the starts, he could challenge for the annual rookie of the year honor.

Currently out with a minor injury, Perfetti has been a fixture in the Jets' top six for much of the season. The pace issues he had coming out of the draft haven’t been as much of a factor as he’s adapted to pro hockey, and the AHL time last year certainly helped. Perfetti can use his intelligence and playmaking ability to mesh with the Jets’ top players. Depending on how long this injury keeps him out of the lineup, Perfetti is a candidate to take a big step in the second half thanks to his IQ.

The 2020 fifth-overall pick has stepped into Ottawa’s lineup and immediately become their 1B to Thomas Chabot’s 1A. There are legitimate arguments Sanderson has even surpassed Chabot. Sanderson is intelligent with and without the puck. He makes so many defensive plays the rest of the Sens’ D-corps simply aren’t capable of, and he has the skating ability that’s allowed him to be a presence in transition as well. As Sanderson becomes more confident with the puck, he will do more than flash his offensive ability.

Stuart Skinner has taken over the starting gig in Edmonton from off-season big-ticket signing Jack Campbell, and he earned himself a new contract of his own. Even though Skinner has a .915 save percentage on the year, he has been sub-.900 in four of his last eight games, and he’s been at or below .800 in two of those games. Skinner may not be quite ready for the full workload Edmonton’s porous defense is going to force him into taking. He has been solid for the Oilers so far, but he’s starting to trend in the wrong direction.

Quinn is a top-10 rookie scorer and has been a nice addition to the Sabres’ forward group. He has an excellent shot and underrated passing ability that has allowed him to be a nifty play facilitator. He has been playing on the Sabres’ “Kid Line” with JJ Peterka and Dylan Cozens, giving Buffalo fans a peak into the future. Quinn has some work to do to move up in the rookie of the year race, but he’s been getting better as the year goes on.

The Stars’ 19-year-old is playing a third-line role and excelling. His 11 goals rank second among rookies, while his 17 points have him in a tie for seventh. Johnston has shown growth and improvement each month this season. He has the skill to move up the lineup eventually, but as of right now, he is providing some excellent secondary scoring for a very good Dallas squad. Last year’s CHL scoring leader has flashed two-way brilliance at times, but like most teenagers in the NHL, he will need to find consistency.

The Red Wings called Berggren up with the hope of giving him a taste of NHL action as he filled in for an injury. By all reports, the expectation was that he would be sent back to the AHL, and while that’s certainly still possible as other veterans get healthy, Berggren has impressed in a big way. He ranks seventh in rookie points per game and has shown high-level intelligence and skill. His playmaking ability has been impressive, and he’s shown he can put the puck in the net a bit as well.

Honorable Mentions: Matias Maccelli (injured for six weeks), JJ Peterka, Mason McTavish, Arber Xhekaj, Shane Pinto, Dylan Guenther, Calen Addison, Fabian Zetterlund and Kaiden Guhle.