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Who will win the Calder Trophy in 2019-20?

September 7, 2019, 10:23 AM ET [24 Comments]
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In this edition of the hotstove, we share our picks for the Calder Trophy in 2019-20.

Todd Cordell

Jack Hughes.

I don't think there's much debate Hughes is the most talented rookie in this class and he's walking into a pretty good situation in New Jersey.

The Devils have a suddenly strong, and deep, group of wingers including Taylor Hall, Nikita Gusev, Kyle Palmieri, Jesper Bratt, Wayne Simmonds and (perhaps) SHL standout Jesper Boqvist. I doubt he gets much even-strength ice with Hall – at least to start – but Hughes will have offensively gifted flanking him regardless. He should also get steady power play time and the Devils now have the talent up front and on defense (P.K. Subban and Will Butcher both have experience running PP1s) to help maximize his ability regardless of which unit he is on.

Hughes' skillset is tailor made for today's NHL. Given the supporting talent, I doubt it'll take long for that to shine through.

Michael Stuart

I'm torn on this one, so I'll cheat and give two answers: Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes.

Both are dynamic, both are going to get ample opportunity to succeed, and both have made the most of their short cups of coffee at the NHL level to date. There’s no reason to think that won’t continue.

I expect that Hughes will immediately become Vancouver’s number one power play option, which should give him the chance to feed off Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser (once signed…) during high-value minutes. In addition, the Canucks are woefully weak on the blue line, so there won’t be a shortage of opportunity for Hughes in other situations either. It’s a great fit for him to be able to establish himself as “the guy” early on in his career.

On the other side of things, not much needs to be said about Makar. He was electric during the playoffs this year, and is surrounded by a criminally underrated cast of characters in Colorado. His point totals could be off the chart this season, making him tough to ignore in any Calder discussion.

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