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Connor McDavid: Calder Trophy Finalist

May 2, 2016, 9:12 PM ET [236 Comments]
Matt Henderson
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Earlier this evening the NHL made it official, announcing Connor McDavid as one of the three finalists for the Calder trophy. The award will go to one of McDavid, Ghostisbehere, or Panarin.

The award has already been voted on, the winner is known to an accounting firm that will keep the results secret(ish) until the winner is formally announced at the NHL Awards ceremony. With that in mind, there’s nobody left to try to convince to vote one way or the other, but I’ll take a minute to repeat the case for McDavid and the one specifically against Panarin.

The one for McDavid is simple. He was the best/most proficient/most electrifying rookie in the NHL this past season. In every game he played, he was the most dangerous player on the ice and he did it as a true rookie. He stepped onto the ice as an 18 year old and was already faster than everybody in the league and made the Western Conference’s best defenders look like beer-leaguers.

Statistically, he had the 3rd highest Points per Game in the entire NHL and tops among rookies with 1.07 Points per Game. Connor McDavid finished 2nd in the NHL in 5v5 Points per 60 minutes with 2.69 P/60 (Jagr 1st with 2.70 P/60). In 5v4 Power Play Points per 60 minutes hes was 6th in the NHL with 6.68 P/60. 4 of the 5 players ahead of them come from teams ranked top 6 in Power Play efficiency, Edmonton was 18th.

He scored 48 points in 45 games this season and is only likely to get faster and stronger as his body matures. The mind boggles.

Now, about the very talented, very proficient Artemi Panarin: He’s not a rookie.

I’m not drinking bleach, I know the NHL classified him as a rookie. However, no reasonable person could possibly have done that. If the NHL told us all that Crosby was now a goalie, would he get Vezina trophy votes? No. Of course not. That would be ridiculous.

As per the NHL’s own website, in order to be eligible for the Calder Trophy, “a player cannot have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons in any major professional league.”

The rules are pretty clear, play in a major professional league and you can’t win the Calder. Artemi Panarin has been playing games in the KHL since Connor McDavid was 11 years old. That’s not an exaggeration, if you thought I was making that up for comedic effect.

Now, we can quibble about the major status of the Finnish league or the Swiss league, but not the KHL. The KHL is the 2nd best league in the world. It has its own development league (MHL). It competes directly with the NHL to attract European talent (primarily) and despite its financial troubles has an extremely high NHL Equivalency when it comes to scoring points.

“But Matt, doesn’t that mean anyone who spends time in the AHL wouldn’t qualify for the Calder?” You might ask. No. The AHL is not a major pro league. It is a minor pro league and advertises itself as such. No worries about the AHL.

“OK, Matt. You’re just an Oiler fan who wants McDavid to win because you’re a homer.” Granted, I am. However, Artemi Panarin is not an Oiler fan and he also doesn’t believe he should be considered a rookie. As per Chicago’s Mark Lazerus, Panarin was embarrassed that the NHL considered him a rookie.

So why would the NHL opt not to consider the KHL a major pro league? Well, the two leagues are having their own cold war right now and neither would acknowledge the other. The NHL certainly doesn’t want to lend any legitimacy to the KHL at all and recognizing that their players can’t be considered rookies would do just that. Of course, I’m more cynical than to think it’s just sheer pettiness. I imagine there are also financial/contractual benefits for the owners if the NHL doesn’t recognize the professional seasons players have in the KHL that I’m just not thinking of.

At any rate, Connor McDavid is a finalist for the Calder trophy and he did it while appearing in only 45 games. That in and of itself is a great accomplishment. Let’s see where he finishes.

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