NHL.com’s Dan Rosen posted a mailbag article this morning, and he addresses the emergence of a pair of surprise Calder Trophy candidates from the Red Wings:
What is your take on the Calder Trophy race right now? Cole Caufield being sent down by the Montreal Canadiens while Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are bringing it all. Who are you picking? — @alehtonen_
I picked Florida Panthers goalie Spencer Knight to win the Calder Trophy voted as NHL rookie of the year before the season. It’s early to move off that pick, especially because Knight has played well, but if Sergei Bobrovsky continues to play like a candidate for Vezina Trophy, given to the goalie voted best in the NHL, it’ll be hard for the 20-year-old behind him to play enough games to earn enough Calder votes.
Bobrovsky is 6-0-0 with a 1.81 goals-against average and .944 save percentage (11 goals on 198 shots) in six games. Knight is 2-0-1 with a 1.95 GAA and .929 save percentage (six goals on 85 shots) in three games. I picked Knight thinking Bobrovsky could struggle, and Knight would have the No. 1 job by December of January. Clearly, Bobrovsky has thrived so far.
Seider was named NHL Rookie of the Month for October. I would say the Detroit Red Wings defenseman is the early favorite for the Calder with about 11 percent of the schedule completed (143 of 1,312 games have been played to date). Seider has been physical, aggressive in the corners, strong with the puck on his stick, smart with his reads, and a weapon on the power play. He leads Detroit and NHL rookies with eight assists, including four on the power play. He was also the first Red Wings defenseman in history to score eight points in his first nine NHL games. Nicklas Lidstrom scored seven points (one goal, six assists) in his first nine games, and he’s one of the best defensemen to play in the NHL. Seider is playing 22:26 per game, first among rookies and second on the Red Wings behind defenseman Filip Hronek (23:05). He looks like a future franchise defenseman.
Raymond looks good, but three of his four goals and four of his nine points (four goals, five assists) came in a 6-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 24. If he continues to produce at a point per game pace, then he’ll be running neck and neck with his teammate in the Calder Trophy race.
Continued (welcome to the new world order)
