The Blue Jackets' Adam Fantilli, Wild's Marco Rossi and Devils' Luke Hughes could catch up to the Blackhawks' Connor Bedard in NHL rookie points, but will that affect the Calder Trophy vote?

Chicago Blackhawks star rookie Connor Bedard suffered a setback Friday, when he collided with New Jersey defenseman Brendan Smith and fractured his jaw. 

The 18-year-old has been far and away the NHL’s top freshman, with 15 goals and 33 points in 39 games. He’s got nine more points than the next-best rookie – Columbus center Adam Fantilli. Bedard’s going to be sidelined indefinitely, possibly four to six weeks, adding to the Hawks’ significant injury woes.

By the time Bedard returns, the race for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie will probably be much tighter. Along with Fantilli (24 points), the other top rookies this season in terms of points are Minnesota Wild forward Marco Rossi (23 points), and Devils defenseman Luke Hughes (22 points). Those rookies could have between now and February or March to catch up to Bedard in the points race. Given that each of those three are currently averaging about 0.60 points per game, they’ll probably get close to or right at Bedard’s current points total.

Let’s presume Bedard’s injury is more severe, and he’s out until early March. That would still give him about 20 regular-season games to get back in top form and once again average nearly one point per game. That would put his production in the area of 55 points, and that’s probably going to be at or near the top of the list of rookies in the points department. Fantilli, Hughes and Rossi will almost assuredly be in that race as well, but they haven’t shown the dominance we’ve seen from Bedard in his first NHL season. We also need to factor in the possibility one of those three rookies also gets injured; if that happens to any of the three we’ve named, catching Bedard will be next to impossible.

Most hockey observers projected Bedard to win the Calder this season, including 25 of THN's 33 respondents in a pre-season poll, and people have had good reason for that projection. The other rookies will probably be terrific NHLers over the long haul, but at the moment, they’re simply not as good as Bedard. If the voting for the Calder was done today, there’d be no question Bedard should win it. He shouldn’t be pushed out of the Calder race because of this injury. Indeed, when he does return and continues to maul opponents with his craftiness and instincts, Bedard will confirm he’s the best first-year player in the game.

Bedard’s injury will likely take him out of action for the upcoming NHL All-Star Game, and that’s a shame. However, there’s no doubt he was on his way to taking home the Calder, and this setback probably won’t be damaging enough to keep him from winning the award. It should be the first of many awards for Bedard, and his current health status isn’t going to stop him from leaving a massive imprint on the sport. He’s a generational player, a bona fide needle-mover and the best thing that’s happened to hockey in Chicago for many a year. This injury is a blip on his radar, and being sidelined isn’t going to define him. He’ll be back relatively soon, and he’ll remain an elite force.