Early Calder Rankings: Who is #1?

When young NHL players first get drafted, the short-term goal that every rookie works towards is the Calder Memorial Trophy. The sought-after award, first presented in 1933, was named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Names like Teemu Selanne, Mike Bossy, Alex Ovechkin, and Cale Makar have been presented with this award for being the best rookie of the year.

Currently, in 2023 there isn't one player who analysts and journalists have agreed on, but rather multiple rookies from all different positions who may win this trophy. In this article, we will be looking over three of the top rookies; Matty Beniers, Logan Thompson, and Stuart Skinner. 

Matty Beniers:

Coming into the 22-23 NHL season, every article stated that Matty Beniers was the rookie to watch. The Seattle Kraken drafted Beniers second overall in the 2021 draft making this his second season with an NHL franchise. Last season Beniers played only ten NHL games due to his commitment with the University of Michigan, where he was the star of the Wolverines men’s ice hockey team.

Beniers played 37 games during his second season with the Michigan Wolverines scoring 43 points, and ended his season with a 29 plus/minus. This season is Matty Beniers’ official rookie season, and he is making the most of it, even being named to his first All-Star game. The 6 '2 center is currently playing on the first line and is second in scoring on the Kraken, just behind Burakovsky with 34 points in 41 GP. He has scored 16 goals and 18 assists, making him the highest-scoring rookie. Even though his stats are exceptional, there is more talent who could take this trophy right from under him.

Logan Thompson:

Robin Lehner was set to be the Vegas Golden Knight's starting goalie for the 22-23 season, but unfortunately, since he was required to get hip surgery, it was announced he would miss the entirety of the season. This news resulted in a young star emerging and making a name for himself. 

Logan Thompson has been instrumental in the Golden Knights’ success this year, gaining a .914 SV% and 2.66 GAA along the way. The 25-year-old goaltender went undrafted but worked even harder and made it to a point that he is being considered for rookie of the year in the biggest hockey league in the world. On January 5th, 2023, it was announced that Thompson was named to the Pacific All-Star team for the first time in his career. Last season Logan Thompson only played 19 games, making him not “Calder eligible,” but this year, he was given another chance because of injuries, and he has definitely stepped up to the occasion. 

Stuart Skinner:

This Edmonton-born goalie and lifelong Oilers fan is living his dream, filling a starting goalie position for the Oilers, and is now in the running for the Rookie Of The Year title. For the past couple of years, Edmonton has always had goaltending issues, but Stuart Skinner has alleviated those issues. 

Skinner currently has a .914 SV% along with a 2.96 GAA. With just under 1500 on-ice minutes, Skinner has faced 851 shots toward his net, stopping 778 of them. Drafted by the Oilers 78th overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft, Skinner spent most of his time with the Bakersfield Condors. When Jay Woodcroft - the former Bakersfield coach-  was named head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, he decided to give Skinner a chance, given their history. Skinner proved that he could be the Oilers’ starting goalie and his stats show it. 

With these three rookies showing outstanding performances, it is still uncertain who will be the Calder recipient. Will it be one of these players mentioned throughout this article, or will another young player come into view and gain the title of “Calder Memorial Trophy Winner 2023”?