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In this edition of the hotstove we share our midseason picks for the Calder Trophy.
Todd Cordell
Prior to the season I went against the grain a bit and picked Zach Werenski for the Calder.
He has been way better than I could have imagined and I still can't say with any confidence he is most deserving of the Calder. Why? Auston Matthews is too damn good.
On top of driving possession and posting fantastic underlying numbers, Matthews is on pace for 44 goals and 75 points. He is already one of the very best players in the league and that's not going to change anytime soon. He's my Calder choice.
Adam French
Auston Matthews is my choice.
Patrik Laine is close. Werenski is closer. There's a slew of extremely impressive guys after the obvious three like Marner, Nylander, Provorov, Mantha, Skjei, Old Man Zaitsev and Tkachuk. Matthews is my pick at the moment.
Matthews is tied with Laine in goals and points, but has done so in fewer games. I would post his advanced stats, but my boy Tanner or Cordell will get those. Needless to say he's rather insane in those regards. He has the highest PPG of any rookie. He was the first to hit 20 goals (by one day, but come on, still cool).
He also happens to lead the Leafs in goals and points while playing with a revolving door of rookies (Hyman, Brown and Nylander). I can't think of the last time an immediately drafted rookie led his team in points and goals with rookies on his line. John Tavares was close with a 27 year old rookie Matt Moulson and a sophomore Kyle Okposo. Even then, Matthews is just 4 goals from passing his 24 and on pace to top his 54 points. I guess it's also just the nature of having seen Matthews play a lot over these Holidays. He's just at a different level right now. He is excelling at every facet of the game right now...except face-offs. Even when he was on his insane scoring drought he was playing well.
It's too early to tell in such a heavily contested race, but it's Matthews for me.
Jan Levine
Matthews or Laine, Laine or Matthews. Take your pick and you can't be wrong. Both are showing they will be future leaders, likely more so Matthews than Laine given his role as a center but Laine is proving to be an elite sniper. Right now, I give Matthews a slight edge over Laine due to his play the first half of the season and better than expected goal scoring. But Laine could end up with 40-plus goals and if he gets in a roll, that might be enough to edge out Matthews. The NHL has been blessed by a tremendous rookie class the past few seasons and this year is no different.
James Tanner
Auston Matthews.
He's been one of the best players in the league this year and he plays less and with worse wingers than any other player also in the conversation.
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