The Calder Trophy is given annually to the best rookie in the NHL as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
This season, Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild and Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils are the finalists.
The award will be given to one of these rookies during the NHL Awards on June 27 at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN).
While we wait to find out the winner, NHL.com writers Tracey Myers and Mike G. Morreale, and Editor-in-Chief Bill Price, debate the merits of each finalist in this Awards edition of State Your Case.
Connor Bedard
I mean, did you really expect me to pick anyone else? I got a first-hand look at the dynamic Blackhawks center throughout the season, and seeing is believing. The hands, the vision, the wrist shot: the 18-year-old, who the Blackhawks selected with the No. 1 pick at the 2023 NHL Draft, has it all. Bedard led all NHL rookies with 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 68 games. He was second among rookies with 21 power-play points (behind New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes with 25). Who knows what Bedard would’ve gotten if not for a fractured jaw that sidelined him for more than a month? All due respect to the fellow finalists, but I expect Bedard to win the Calder Trophy with a sizeable amount of votes. The future is brighter in Chicago because Bedard will be a huge part of it. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer
Brock Faber
I think we all figure Bedard is going to win, and sure, Hughes has a case, but Faber should win this award. Faber played all 82 games for the Wild as a top-pair defenseman, the same number as Hughes and 14 more than Bedard, who sustained a broken jaw in December. Faber also didn’t have time to ease into NHL, playing top-pair minutes all season. He averaged 24:58 per game, the most among all rookies and nearly 3:30 more than Hughes and five minutes more than Bedard. His time on ice was sixth-highest in the entire NHL. In the item below, Mike Morreale will give the shot attempts controlled by the Devils and Wild when Faber and Hughes were on the ice, but let’s look at these numbers - Faber had a minus-1 rating this season (fourth-best among rookie defensemen) playing the most ice time of any rookie, while Hughes was minus-25 and Bedard was minus-44. And this is facing the pressure of playing on his hometown team. Again, I think Bedard will win because he got so much attention as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and had a strong season, but to me, Faber should walk away with the Calder. – Bill Price, Editor in Chief
Luke Hughes
The Devils defenseman made the cut out of training camp as a 20-year-old playing the toughest position in the best league in the world. The No. 4 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft was then asked to handle tough situations his first season, particularly after veteran defenseman Dougie Hamilton tore a pectoral muscle Nov. 28 and missed the final 62 games of the season. Hughes led all NHL rookie defensemen in goals (nine) and power-play points (25) and tied for the lead in overall points (47). He led New Jersey in average ice time (21:28) in 82 games, one of five Devils players to play every game, while tasked with running the first power-play unit. He learned how to balance his elite transitional abilities with in-game reads and positional play required to limit the opposition, evidenced by the fact he led all first-year NHL players with 47 takeaways. Hughes has rightfully earned his chance to win the Calder Trophy, particularly when you consider Bedard missed 14 games this season. Additionally, the Devils controlled 54.3 percent of all shots attempted at 5-on-5 when Hughes was on the ice, which ranked first among all NHL rookie defensemen. The Wild controlled 47.5 percent with Faber on the ice. -- Mike G. Morreale, senior draft writer
