NHL Calder Trophy Tracker: Connor Bedard’s Injury Leaves the Door Open for Brock Faber

Injuries made the NHL's Calder Trophy Race much tighter than before. Who climbed up the race, and who fell?

The NHL Calder Trophy race is beginning to look like a war of attrition. It really might be a last-man-standing wins scenario.

The Calder Trophy favorite, Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard, has been out of action since Jan. 5 after a hit on a zone entry resulted in a fractured jaw that required surgery. With a return expected to come no sooner than at least mid-February, the time off has undoubtedly left the door open for the NHL’s annual rookie of the year award.

Adam Fantilli was beginning to make up ground in the scoring race, but a laceration to his calf in a recent game will keep him out of the Blue Jackets' lineup for eight weeks. Leo Carlsson missed a month with a knee injury, and he’s received a limited workload by the Ducks to allow him to acclimate to the NHL, which already reduced his game action.

Other Calder Trophy eligibles, such as Joseph Woll, Ridly Greig, and Zach Benson, have missed time due to injuries as well. It’s been a rough go for rookies, but it remains a very strong group. 

Despite the injury, Bedard should have a chance to come back and contend for the Calder, but any delay in the recovery process or a slow start when he does come back could derail his Calder candidacy. 

Let’s look at where we stand in the race as of right now.

If there was any doubt that Faber was a deserving Calder Trophy candidate, Faber put that to bed over the last month. With 13 points in 12 games since Connor Bedard went down, Faber has risen to second in scoring among rookies with 29 points in 49 games – a 49-point pace over a full season. Not bad for a defensive specialist.

Faber controls the game defensively and gives Minnesota excellent minutes despite being a rookie for the underwhelming club. He has been a bright spot since the start of the season, and he’s continued to improve and add layers to his game as he becomes comfortable. Bedard getting hurt and missing six to eight weeks put Faber firmly in the driver’s seat for the time being.

Despite being out of the lineup with a fractured jaw that required surgery, Chicago’s newest superstar still leads NHL rookies in scoring and has the game-breaking ability that should allow him to get back into the Calder race after a lengthy absence. His underlying numbers may not look nearly as good as Faber’s. Still, he’s the No. 1 center on a team that the NHL chose not to have an All-Star Game representative after Bedard had to bow out – and the NHL wants each team represented.

Bedard is an all-world shooter already, and if he wasn’t hurt, he would probably continue to run away with the rookie of the year award. When he returns from injury, he will have a chance to not only regain or add to the rookie scoring lead but pull away to the point where he reclaims the No. 1 spot on the Calder Tracker.

The Devils have had a bit of a weird season, but Luke Hughes has been one of the more consistently good stories for the team this year. He leads all rookies in power-play goals and points, helping give the Devils a dynamic offensive presence at the blueline while Dougie Hamilton is out of the lineup.

Hughes is averaging over 20 minutes a game already in his young career, and aside from Bedard, there may not be a rookie that has as many flashy, high-skill plays this season. Hughes hasn’t been shy about playing his game, and he’s finding a ton of success doing so, pushing the pace and using his skill and skating every time he is on the ice.

It’s so good to see Rossi back to playing hockey at a high level and doing so at the NHL level. Rossi's been elevated in the lineup and has found himself playing on the top line for the Wild. Although he hasn’t been quite as hot in January as he was in December, Rossi still finds himself third in rookie scoring.

Rossi is an intelligent center who has found ways to contribute in any role he’s been asked to play. He’s not getting much prime power-play time, which would likely help his scoring rate. But just as he always has done, he will continue to improve throughout the year. Rossi is poised for a big back half of the year.

After starting the season in the AHL, Zary has been a breath of fresh air for a team in transition. The Flames needed a good story, and Zary provided that, coming in and instantly showing he can be an effective player. He sits in a tie for third among rookies for points per game with 23 points in 39 games.

Even a fantastic start for Zary hasn’t been enough to help the Flames out of the funk they’ve been in. The recent trade of Elias Lindholm will give Zary even more opportunity, though, which could be good for his Calder case, and maybe he can make a second-half push and get recognition as one of the three finalists.

As good as Carlsson has been – top-line center and second in scoring on a per-game basis – there may not be enough runway to get into the top end of the rookie of the year race. Between an injury and the team-driven load management plan for his rookie season, he just hasn't had as many games as the rest of the pack to draw enough attention.

He has been dominant when in the lineup, which is great to see. The team has previously discussed allowing him to play a more full workload in the latter half of the season, so maybe there is still time for Carlsson to get in the race.

After a blazing hot start to the season, looking fantastic at both ends of the ice, Mintyukov has come back down to earth a bit. Just as the Ducks have fallen down the standings, Mintyukov has fallen down the board on the Calder Tracker. The young defender still shows impressive flashes and good signs for the future, but consistency has become an issue. Mintyukov has a very bright future with the Ducks, and a strong tail end of the season would be great to see.

Possibly the most underrated rookie this season, Voronkov has steadily produced for a dreadful Columbus team. Voronkov is sitting tied for third in rookie goals, and he is tied for sixth in points despite averaging bottom six minutes for the most part. He plays the least on a per-game basis among the top 15 rookie scorers and finds a way to produce through it all. In a year where Columbus needs anything to go their way, Voronkov has been one of the few bright spots.

If he is out at least eight weeks with injury, Fantilli may be out of the race, unfortunately. He was doing his best, emerging through the chaos and climbing into the scoring race. As mentioned, Columbus has been going through it this year, but Fantilli was finding ways to succeed. Coach Pascal Vincent had been toying with his lineup placement, but Fantilli always answered the call. The injury is unfortunate.

A late arrival on the scene, Nemec has found his way into a very solid role in New Jersey. Despite playing in just 26 games so far, Nemec has crept into the top 10 in points per game among rookies with at least 20 games played. Although his defensive faults have been highlighted online, his offensive flair has been welcome in New Jersey. He’s probably a bit too late to be a true contender, but he deserves some love and recognition.