Projecting The Top Five Candidates For The 2026-27 NHL Calder Trophy

Predicting which players will emerge as Calder Trophy candidates each NHL season is difficult for many reasons.

Development isn’t always linear, and even the league’s most highly touted prospects can struggle to find their footing.

Opportunity can also be just as important. While rookies need skill to make an immediate impact, they also need the ice time, linemates, and usually a clean bill of health to emerge as serious candidates for the award.

That being said, there are a few intriguing prospects projected to become full-time NHLers in the 2026-27 season who stand out from the rest. 

Let’s break down the early candidates for next year’s Calder Trophy.

After leading Michigan State with 25 goals and 50 points as a freshman, Porter Martone started hot out of the gate when he joined the Philadelphia Flyers for the team’s 2025-26 playoff push.

Martone had 10 points in the team’s final nine games to close out the regular season and carried that momentum into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 19-year-old became the youngest player in Flyers history to score in their post-season debut and recorded points in the team’s first three games against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This strong first impression solidified Martone as a top-six forward for the Flyers and earned him a spot on Canada’s World Championship roster, where he put up 5 points in 10 games. 

Martone is the prototype for the NHL’s modern power forward, possessing the hands and playmaking to be an offensive threat in space while also using his frame to gain advantages over opponents in tight areas of the ice. 

Travis Konecny will likely remain the top right winger on the roster, but Martone should still earn plenty of minutes with his compete level and offensive capabilities. He likely has the highest goal-scoring upside of the upcoming rookie class and should be one of the pre-season frontrunners for the Calder.

While Kantserov stands at 5-foot-9, 176 pounds, he hasn’t let his physical disadvantages prevent him from developing into an offensive threat against older and stronger competition in Russia. 

The 2023 second-round pick led the KHL with 36 goals this season as a member of Metallurg Magnitogorsk, becoming the first 21-year-old to do so since Kirill Kaprizov did in the 2018-19 season.

Kantserov’s playmaking ability often gets overlooked with his high goal totals, but he’s shown a consistent ability to read defences at high speed and thread passes through multiple layers. Spending time at center and on the wing this season, he plays with a competitive edge and generates offense in a way that feels very transferable to the NHL level.

Similarly to how Ivan Demidov leaped to the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens, Kantserov has the smarts that could make him an impactful forward right away with the Chicago Blackhawks. If he ends up alongside Bedard, his offensive production could take off, making him a strong candidate for the Calder next season.

Frondell is a Blackhawks prospect hockey fans may be more familiar with after delivering a stellar performance at the world juniors, scoring five goals and eight points while being named the tournament’s best forward by the IIHF directorate.

The 19-year-old was then called up to the Blackhawks in March, where he suited up for 12 games, tallying three goals and nine points while averaging just under 18 minutes of ice time.

Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson recently suggested that Frondell will play at center next season, but it wouldn’t be surprising if that experiment is short-lived. With his blistering shot, Frondell’s habits away from the puck, and his ability to find soft ice made him a threat on the wing at the world juniors and in the SHL. Having him buried behind Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar would limit his ability to contribute offensively.

The dark days in Chicago are slowly coming to an end, and Frondell’s offensive package makes him an intriguing player to watch among the rookie class next season.

There’s no question that Hagens has all the tools to become a high-end top-six center in the NHL, but it’s unclear if he’ll break out in his first full year as a pro.

Hagens had a difficult end to the season where, after a dominant campaign with Boston College, he joined Providence on an amateur tryout for six games and was then immediately launched into the NHL.

The 2025 seventh overall pick slotted in a middle-six role for just two regular-season games before getting his first taste of the post-season. Things didn’t go as planned, as he was scratched for the Boston Bruins’ final three games against the Buffalo Sabres. He then traveled to the World Championships, where he recorded just one point and largely played as a 13th forward on a Team USA roster that was lacking offensive firepower.

It was a discouraging finish, but there’s still reason for optimism. With such rapid progression from the NCAA to the NHL and then onto the international stage, Hagens had no time to settle into a consistent role anywhere. While those experiences didn’t translate into immediate results, he got a glimpse of the pace and physicality he needs to play at to be successful, which could prove pivotal to his development.

Hagens’ skill set is undeniable, and there’s a real scenario where everything falls into place, and he finishes with more than 40 assists alongside David Pastrnak next season, but it will be an uphill battle with the team’s positional depth.

While the top players in the 2026 NHL Draft class have yet to be selected, projected top prospect Gavin McKenna stands out as a potential breakout candidate if he were to be selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs with the first overall pick.

McKenna’s playmaking, vision, and hockey IQ would make him an ideal fit on a top line alongside a goalscorer of Auston Matthews’ caliber, and on a top power-play unit in Toronto that is loaded with talent.

The Calder Trophy usually favours players who are a year removed from their draft, but Matthew Schaefer and Macklin Celebrini have shown that teenagers can thrive in the modern NHL when given the right opportunity.

If McKenna manages to put up 50-60 points and can help the Maple Leafs return to the playoffs next season, it’s going to be tough for other first-year players to make a better case to win the award.

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