We’ve now gone past the quarter mark of the season and The Athletic published its ranking of the NHL’s top five rookies in the Calder Trophy race. Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson is not at the top of the list, but ranking fourth on the list and is also the only defenseman to find himself in the rankings.
They actually have a tie at the top, Philadelphia Flyers Russian wonder Matvei Michkov and Calgary Flames’ goaltender Dustin Wolf. Michkov leads all rookies in scoring with 17 points in 20 games while Wolf has an 8-3-1 record in 12 games, a 2.47 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage,
The Dallas Stars’ sometimes center sometimes right winger Logan Stankoven comes in at third place. In 20 games he has 15 points and a plus-4 rating. He is now on the Stars’ first power play and leads all rookies in both assists and shots on goals.
Canadiens’ Hutson comes in at four. In their assessment, he’s likely to reach bottom or top 40 points but also add it wouldn’t be surprising to see him touch the 50-point mark. They also acknowledge the fact he is playing huge minutes in a defensively challenged team to say the least.
Related: Canadiens: One Month, In Hutson Is In The Calder Conversation
Closing out the rankings is Macklin Celebrini. The first overall pick has only 10 points, but he’s only played 12 goals so far because of injuries. Expect him to ramp up his production now that he’s healthy.
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