How wild is Calder Trophy eligibility? According to the NHL, a player fits the criteria if they have not played more than 25 game in a single preceding season or six or more games in any two preceding season in any major professional league. A player also cannot be older than 26 years old by Sept. 15 of their rookie season.
All that means that Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, a Calder finalist last season remains eligible for the award this season. He fell short to Kirill Kaprizov, but maybe 2021-22 will be his year! Jake Allen benefited from these rules after he broke into the NHL as he was named the goaltender on the 2012-13 and 2014-15 All-Rookie teams.
The Calder Trophy is awarded to the “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.” It is voted own annually by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
TOTAL BALLOTS (Points allocation: 10-7-5 for 1st-2nd-3rd)
1. Moritz Seider, Red Wings - 37 (20-7-10)
Trevor Zegras, Ducks - 37 (20-10-7)
2. Lucas Raymond, Red Wings - 31 (10-21-0
3. Anton Lundell, Panthers - 5 (0-0-5)
Michael Finewax, NBC Sports Edge Senior Hockey Writer/Editor
1. Moritz Seider, Red Wings
2. Lucas Raymond, Red Wings
3. Trevor Zegras, Ducks
Zegras gets most of the publicity because of his highlight reel plays but Seider has been the best rookie this season at a very tough position, a young defenseman. Raymond was questionable to even make the Red Wings this season but got his big break when Jakub Vrana went down in training camp and Raymond has not looked back since. He leads all rookies with 35 points. Watch out for Anton Lundell as well as he has been hot of late.
James O’Brien, NHL writer
1. Moritz Seider, Red Wings
2. Lucas Raymond, Red Wings
3. Trevor Zegras, Ducks
Seider checks all the boxes: workload, production, even the “fancy stats.” Raymond and Zegras are both already essential scorers for their teams. That said, there’s room for movement in the Calder Trophy race -- don’t sleep on Michael Bunting, Seth Jarvis, and others. (Also, imagine where Matt Boldy might rank if he didn’t suffer an injury before he even got started.)
Sean Leahy, NHL writer
1. Trevor Zegras, Ducks
2. Moritz Seider, Red Wings
3. Anton Lundell, Panthers
If you’re a rookie and you provide the hockey world with two plays that go viral and you put up points, you deserve plenty of recognition. Zegras has brought the fun to the NHL this season and his 12 goals are third among rookies while his 32 points is second. We just need him at the NHL Awards show to do another cool thing.
Jake Abrahams, Managing Editor, NHL content
1. Trevor Zegras, Ducks
2. Lucas Raymond, Red Wings
3. Moritz Seider, Red Wings
Zegras and Raymond are neck and neck; I’m giving Zegras the edge right now because he’s got more responsibility as a center. Their production has been similar to this point so I think this will come down to the stretch run. If Anaheim makes the playoffs, that could work in Zegras’ favor as well.
Adam Gretz, NHL writer
1. Lucas Raymond, Red Wings
2. Trevor Zegras, Ducks
3. Moritz Seider, Red Wings
These three are at the top of the class this season, and really, I would have no objection to them being in any order. Raymond and Seider are going to be the foundation pieces the Red Wings need to build around for years, while Zegras already looks like the star the Ducks have been lacking in their rebuild.