I was chatting it up yesterday with someone about the rookies making a name for themselves at the quarter-mark of the season and we were both pleasantly surprised that of the dozen guys we talked about only three were drafted this June and that most of them had cut their teeth in the AHL last year - something a Calder winner hasn't done in a decade.
Before we take a look at who's got potential to add some hardware to their mantle next summer, I want to show some love for Frederik Andersen out of Anahiem who did more than just hold the fort as Jonas Hiller's back-up while Viktor Fasth was on injured reserve and then a conditioning stint for a lower body injury. He won his first six games with a 1.66 goals-against average and .943 save percentage. Barring another injury and subsequent call up, he will unfortunately have no chance of being in the discussion for this award, but that's just a matter of circumstance, not ability. There's always next year and with Hiller's UFA status, you never know what could happen.
Taking a look at the defensemen first, I've got five guys on my radar.
Boston's Torey Krug is at the top of my short list simply because of his offensive production, the result of earning beaucoup minutes on the power play. He's also positionally sound and defensively reliable. He worked his tail off last year in Providence and we saw what he was capable of in the playoffs. There were concerns that he wouldn't be able to continue that effort this season, but he's done a very good job of putting those concerns to rest. He's getting it done on both ends of the ice.
Ryan Murphy from Carolina entered the discussion in the offensive defenseman category as well, but, while he's got a ton of talent, he's not offensive enough nor strong enough defensively to really be a part of this discussion.
That leaves us with the defensive defensemen with an offensive upside.
Nashville's Seth Jones is logging more than 23 minutes a game and seems to be improving with every shift under the tutelage of Shea Weber. He's a great skater, getting more involved physically, unleashing his slapshot a little more often, but he's still getting caught out of position on a fairly regular basis and unless that is rectified, he's not as dominant as he'd need to be to earn this award.
Danny DeKeyser out of Detroit was my frontrunner in this category until he hurt his shoulder and will be out at least a month. Until that point, he was eating up a lot of minutes, providing stability on the blue line, playing in all situations, contributing offensively with his skating and creative vision. If he recovers quickly and jumps right back in where he left off, he could still make a strong push to be considered.
Finally, we have Anaheim's Hampus Lindholm. He's a big body, defensively responsible and earning more and more minutes with every game. As the sixth overall pick in last year's draft, I'm not sure how he's managed to fly so far under the radar this year, but he certainly has. Kid's a stud and I'm very eager to see how he progresses throughout the rest of the year.
On the offensive side of things…
Edmonton's Mark Arcobello has spent two years in the minors and finally got a crack at an NHL spot out of camp due to the injuries the team was dealing with. While at Yale he was fast and skilled and always an offensive threat. It's taken him awhile to get his game up to NHL caliber, but he's put in the effort and is reaping the rewards. I don't think he'll end up winning this award, but he'll get a round of applause from me and raise in his new contract.
My counterpart wanted to throw Brandon Pirri from Chicago into the mix, but while he's finding himself in the lineup more often than not and playing well when he does with solid numbers, his time on ice is relatively low, inconsistent and not nearly enough for me to consider him compared to other players.
The next two on my list are guys I thought would be in the mix last year - Dallas' Alex Chiasson and New York's Chris Kreider. These two just took a little bit longer to earn their ice time and spot on a line that puts them in a position to succeed and use their talents to the max. I think both of these players are going to have breakout years and if they do, they will work their way into this discussion in a big way.
I think we all knew Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon would be in the mix and while his numbers are decent, he's not at all dominating this race. He's had a great start and has been a contributing factor in the teams hot start to the season, but for all the hype about him, he's not there yet. That's not to say it won't come eventually, we just haven't seen it yet and I'm not sold he'll even be in the final three for this award come April.
Finally, for the surprises - San Jose's Tomas Hertl and Calgary's Sean Monahan. I don't know if Hertl gets the edge because he's managed to be a contributing factor on a much better team or if Monahan gets the edge because he's managed to be successful on a team that's struggling, but either way, they're both having terrific starts to their rookie seasons. They've seen their ice time rise as they've made good use of the opportunities they've been given and earned the opportunity to be put in even better situations and I fully expect them to rise to the challenge and keep raising the bar on each other.
In my mind, these two are leading the pack and I don't see them letting up anytime soon.
Julie
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