Bovada has released its Calder Trophy odds, and the names on the list shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes tops the list at 9/2, followed by 2017 first overall pick Nico Hischier, who recorded his first NHL point for the New Jersey Devils on Monday, and what a thing of beauty that was.
Here’s a look at the list:
Clayton Keller (Arizona): 9/2
Nico Hischier (New Jersey): 5/1
Anders Bjork (Boston): 7/1
Brock Boeser (Vancouver): 7/1
Charlie McAvoy (Boston): 7/1
Alex DeBrincat (Chicago): 8/1
Nolan Patrick (Philadelphia): 9/1
Dylan Strome (Arizona): 9/1
Tyson Jost (Colorado): 12/1
Jakub Vrana (Washington): 20/1
Kailer Yamamoto (Edmonton): 20/1
Again, nothing really out of the ordinary with that list, highlighted by top prospects and first-round draft picks. It’s still early and plenty can change, of course, but there is another first-year player that, if things continue the way they are going, should start to gain more attention throughout the league.
He isn’t a first-round pick.
No, you’d have to scroll all the way down to the sixth round and the 162nd overall selection in the 2016 NHL Draft to find this player’s name.
At 19 years of age, Jesper Bratt of the Devils has been able to fly under the radar to some degree because of the addition of Hischier with the top pick in June, and a number of acquisitions made this offseason to upgrade that club’s offense heading into the 2017-18 campaign.
Maybe not for much longer, though.
The first week of the new NHL season isn’t over yet, but so far Bratt leads all NHL rookies with three goals and five points in two games. He scored twice on Monday, as the Devils crushed the Buffalo Sabres.
“He’s a really good hockey player already. He’s young and he just got over here,” said Devils forward Marcus Johansson, per NJ.com. “It’s fun to watch, and I think everyone can agree on that. If he keeps going at this pace, it’s going to be pretty impressive.”
It should be mentioned that he’s currently sporting a shooting percentage of 100. That will, likely at some point in the next few days, begin to go down. Early on, though, he’s been a productive player for a Devils team that made several high profile moves over the past two summers to improve their woeful scoring attack.
There have already been a few surprises to begin this NHL season. You can add the early breakout of Jesper Bratt to that list.