In this year’s shortened season, rookies aiming for the Calder Trophy have less time than ever to prove themselves. We’ve already seen roughly 20 percent of the NHL season come and go, and the name of the game now is showing up first.
In 8 of the past 10 years, a forward has taken home the Calder, with the exceptions being defensemen Aaron Ekblad (2015) and Cale Makar (2020). Since 2009, no goalie has won the Trophy and no team has produced back-to-back Calder winners since the 1968-69 Bruins. The last Calder winner to be drafted outside of the first round was Steve Mason with the Blue Jackets in 2009, and in the past 20 years, only three winners were non-first round draft picks.