Welcome to another edition of the Hockeybuzz hotstove.
With all-star weekend marking the unofficial half-way point of the 2014-15 NHL campaign, the hotstove will continue to hand out their midseason awards. This time we're sharing our Calder picks for the NHL's best rookie.
Todd Cordell: Aaron Ekblad
There are a few very good candidates this year, but I have to go with former Barrie Colt Aaron Ekblad.
He's stepping into the NHL as an 18-year-old and he's not only holding his own, but playing at a level well above average by an NHL standard.
He's playing top pairing with Brian Campbell and facing top competition on a nightly basis. While doing this, he's producing a lot of offense, and is a big reason why the Panthers are in the thick of a playoff race.
Filip Forsberg and Johnny Hockey have both been very impressive and have put up a good amount of points, but Ekblad's impact on his team is about equal to those two, and he's doing it at 18.
All three of these guys drive possession, generate chances and produce more offense than their team does without them. That said, Ekblad is right on par with Forsberg in terms of the impact he's making and, again, he's only an 18-year-old defenseman. They usually take much longer to adjust to the NHL level, which makes Ekblad's year all that more impressive.
Tim Chiasson: Aaron Ekblad Ekblad has come in as an 18 year old and lived up to expectations.
He's playing great in the offensive zone and the defensive zone, he's smart with the puck and he's the best rookie defenceman the league has seen in several years.
25 points in 44 games as a rookie defender is a great statistic and what he's doing as a whole impresses me more than what any rookie forward is doing because it's tougher to come in as an 18 year old defender.
Adam French: Aaron Ekblad I'm going with Aaron Ekblad just like I went with Jonas Brodin when Huberdeau won in the half-season. Ekblad has had a ridiculous rookie year. The 18 year old has been dynamic and playing far above anything we could have predicted. It's not just offensive ability, it's an all-around game that is downright impressive. He plays a mixture of top-pairing to number four minutes...at 18. He has 20 even strength points in just 44 games, that's massive. On a Panthers team that isn't very strong at scoring, he is up there in overall defense scoring. If I had asked you who would likely lead the Panthers in point production...would you have guessed Ekblad is 2 off from leading his entire team? I wouldn't, couldn't and shouldn't have guessed that.
I can't and won't take anything away from Forsberg...or even Gaudreau...or Hutchinson, but Ekblad is an 18 year old defenseman playing at a near elite level which is so rare. I think Forsberg will win it, but I favor Ekblad.
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