Montreal Canadiens fans hoped to see the Calder Trophy go to one of their favorite for a second year in a row, but New York Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer has other plans.
There’s no denying that Ivan Demidov is having a good rookie season, so far, the Montreal Canadiens’ winger has put up 47 points in 58 games, on pace for 66 points. That was Lane Hutson’s total last season when he won the Calder Trophy, but it may not be enough this season.
On Friday night, Bennett Sennecke put up three points in the Anaheim Ducks’ 5-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets, which allowed him to overtake Demidov in the rookie scoring race with 48 points. The Ducks’ winger is now on pace for 68 points, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down with 10 points in his last 10 games, just like Demidov. The rookie scoring race could go down to the wire, but this season, the most productive rookie may not win the rookie of the year trophy.
As Canadiens’ fans saw at the Bell Centre on Thursday night, New York Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer is an absolute force to be reckoned with on the ice. The rearguard is playing some amazing hockey and is dominant from the blueline, even though he’s only 18. Furthermore, he’s also been able to put up 41 points in 59 games, on pace for 57 points while averaging over 24 minutes of ice time. He’s been a key cog in the Isles’ success this season, and Patrick Roy is using him in all scenarios. Against the Habs, he played 23:47 at even strength, 1:32 on the power play, and 0:23 on the penalty kill.
Given just how dominant Schaefer is in all aspects of play, Demidov would need to put up incredible numbers until the end of the season to stop him from being voted rookie of the year, and even then, there’s more to hockey than just points, and the PHWA members who vote for the award are well aware of that.
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