NHL Calder Trophy Tracker: As Connor Bedard Starts to Pull Away, Battle for Second Begins

Calder Trophy candidate Connor Bedard has been as advertised in his first NHL season. 

The Chicago Blackhawks phenom is a lethal goal-scorer. Unfortunately, with the undermanned roster around him that seems to lose another forward every week, there aren’t many others scoring. That's affected his assist numbers, even though he generates plenty of offensive chances.

With those great expectations came the likelihood he would lead the Calder Trophy charge for most of the year. That hasn’t changed as of yet. While we have plenty of hockey to play and anything can happen – remember, Connor McDavid didn’t win the Calder – Bedard is the front-runner, and he’s beginning to create some separation between him and the field.

The Calder Trophy Tracker is back, and it’s time to look at the leaderboard as we try to figure out which NHL freshman is going to push Bedard in the annual race for the rookie of the year award.

He leads all rookies with 10 goals, and his 18 points are four ahead of any other first-year player. Bedard is simply showing just how special he is as an elite shooter. His playmaking doesn’t get the credit it deserves because his linemates keep changing, whether it's due to injury or underperforming.

If Bedard finds a linemate or two who can actually keep up to him offensively, even as purely complementary players, he may end up truly running away with the rookie scoring title. Right now, he’s being asked to do everything and more on his line. Credit to him – he’s done it.

If there is any case to be made for a player outside of Bedard, it’s Luke Hughes. 

The Devils blueliner is a difference-maker for the squad, and he seems to be heating up as the team is. He may not have the defensive end of the ice figured out as of yet, but there is plenty of time to learn and grow in that regard. Right now, he’s one of the most lethal offensive defenders in the game – especially if he gets a bit of space.

The dynamic defender scored a beautiful overtime-winner in the Devils' most recent game to close out November. The connection that he and his brother, Jack, have shown since Luke joined the team has been everything they could have hoped for when they drafted the youngest Hughes brother fourth overall in 2021.

When the Ducks drafted Mintyukov 10th overall in 2022, he was this offensive juggernaut on the back end who needed to get his game sorted out defensively. At times, he just didn’t seem to care about that side of the puck. I jokingly labelled him as an LD/LW because of how much of his game was focused on him being effective offensively. 

The strides that he's taken to this point in his career are far and away the most impressive of any rookie in this class.

Mintyukov’s offensive numbers are impressive. His 12 points sit tied for fifth among rookies, and three-quarters of them came at even strength. 

The amazing thing about Mintyukov’s game is just how good he is defensively this year, using his skating and length to deter opposing offensive rushes and strip pucks away from opponents. Mintykov became the two-way defender every team hopes their all-out offensive blueliner can become, and he’s doing it as a 20-year-old rookie in the NHL.

There was a lot of pressure on Cooley to be the savior for a franchise that's only made the playoffs once in the last 11 years. He responded to that pressure by sitting tied for third in rookie scoring despite what many have called a bit of a slow start to his NHL career.

Cooley is on the top line at the moment after Barrett Hayton went down with an injury. Finding chemistry with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz is definitely a work in progress, but Cooley still manages to make positive plays. 

Could he shoot a bit more? Sure, but he's always been a player focused on making those around him better. The Coyotes are a young, developing team, and as they accumulate more talent, Cooley will lead the charge.

The Leafs have needed stability in net for quite some time now. Although they’ve found stop-gap fixes for stretches of time, they might have finally found their answer in homegrown netminder Joeseph Woll. 

After joining the team late last season and starting some games late in the playoffs, he came into the year as one-half of a tandem with Ilya Samsonov. In the early goings of the year, Woll outplayed his Russian counterpart, and he’s been given a run of starts recently as a reward for it.

Woll sits just inside the top 10 league-wide with a .917 save percentage among goalies with at least eight games played. His eight wins lead all rookies and sit tied for 10th in the entire NHL. 

Woll is a steadying presence for the Leafs in the crease, and the team's expressed as much in post-game interviews and scrums. Woll may get the chance to run with the starting gig, and if he does, he could shoot up this list.

Marco Rossi has quietly worked his way from a bottom-six winger to the top-line center position on this year’s Wild squad. Although the team as a whole is struggling, Rossi is one of the few bright spots. 

His blend of skill and intelligence has made him such a valuable piece for the Wild. He could end up being their long-term answer down the middle in the top six – a role they’ve long looked to fill.

Rossi is a welcome presence on the top line, as it helps give the lineup a bit more depth and allows him to flourish with the likes of Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello. Rossi sits tied for fifth in rookie scoring, and with the opportunity on the top line, he should move up that list.

Raise your hand if you expected Connor Zary to step into the NHL and have the immediate impact he’s had thus far. If you raised your hand, you’re probably not being honest because Zary’s start is exceptional. 

With 10 points in 13 games, Zary doesn’t have the sample size of most other rookies in the Calder race, but he produces at a rate higher than every single one of them aside from Connor Bedard (with at least 10 games played).

Zary’s arrival in Calgary is exactly what they needed. The team has gone 8-3-2 in his 13 games with the club, and his injection of skill and offensive production is much needed as the club tries to figure out what it is at this point. Zary gives this team energy, and if he keeps it up, he might end up a Calder finalist.

It’s so tough to figure out where to put Leo Carlsson on these Calder trackers. By default, he lands near the end of the list because although he impresses whenever he's on the ice, the Ducks’ development plan has him sitting out games to acclimate him to the grind of an NHL season. They hope to ramp things up for him in the second half of the season.

That means that he’s only played in 15 games to this point. On the flip side, he has 10 points in those 15 games, which is excellent. Carlsson is the Ducks' No. 1 center when he is in the lineup, and his ability to impact the game at both ends of the ice makes him one of the NHL's best rookies. 

Ultimately, we must see what the Ducks’ development plan entails. If he truly does find his way into more games after the new year, we could see Carlsson shoot up this list very quickly.

There isn’t a rookie who flies under the radar and does all the little things better than Brock Faber. 

Faber is so incredibly mobile on his feet, and his play awareness and diagnostic defensive mind make him such a sound and effective player. He plays on the top defensive pair alongside Jonas Brodin recently, and he’s looked comfortable doing so.

Faber’s defensive metrics are impressive, and his growing offensive game has been a welcome sight. Faber only has eight points on the year, but his confidence with the puck continues to grow, and he makes plays with the puck and shows a willingness to attack down the wall or cut into the slot with the puck more often recently. 

Faber may not ever put up huge offensive numbers – which will ultimately hurt his Calder candidacy – but make no mistake, he is one of the best rookies in the NHL right now.

Things in Columbus have been rocky as of late. The team is sitting stars, and they are blending the lines like no other team in the league at this point. 

Fantilli’s production has been fine, but it isn’t where he or anyone expected at this point, with just 10 points on the year. Fantilli does all of the little things right, and when you watch him, he looks like a bona fide top-six NHL center, but with the chaos around him right now, it’s hard to find stability.

The tools and skill are obviously there. No one doubts that Fantilli has a chance to be a very special player for the Blue Jackets. It’s just been a bit of a frustrating start as a team, and the environment has affected Fantilli’s play as well. With a bit of stability and consistent linemates, Fantilli could be in line for a monster resurgence.

Outside Looking In: Luke Evangelista (Nashville), Matthew Knies (Toronto), Lukas Dostal (Anaheim), Matthew Poitras (Boston), Dmitri Voronkov (Columbus), Bobby Brink (Philadelphia)