Each year at The Athletic, reporters Scott Wheeler and Harman Dayal publish a quarterly Calder Trophy list ranking the top rookies in the NHL.
In this final instalment of the 2025-26 season, they submitted five player ballots mimicking the PHWA’s voting process. Here are their top five rookies in this year’s class at the three-quarter mark, plus a few honorable mentions.
1. Matthew Schaefer — LHD, 18, New York Islanders
Stats: 64 GP, 20 G, 26 A, 46 PTS, 24:16 ATOI, +12
Wheeler’s ballot: No. 1
Dayal’s ballot: No. 1
Dustin Wolf and Macklin Celebrini combined to take away 26 first-place votes from Lane Hutson last year. The year before that, Brock Faber took 42 first-place votes from Connor Bedard. It should be unanimous this year: Matthew Schaefer is to quote the definition of the award, the “player … most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.” And while it’s the record-breaking goal totals that have put it to bed, his impact on the Isles extends to being among the league leaders in ice-time and doing it with world-class skating and a great head on his shoulders, driving positive impact at both ends. He has single-handedly elevated the Isles’ ambitions.
Even if Sennecke or Demidov were to go on a 30-in-20 heater to get close to point per game (the kind of season that wins the Calder in a landslide most years) Schaefer still probably runs away with it.
T2. Ivan Demidov — RW, 20, Montreal Canadiens
Stats: 62 GP, 13 G, 35 A, 48 PTS, 15:19 ATOI, +5
Wheeler’s ballot: No. 2
Dayal’s ballot: No. 3
Demidov isn’t yet playing the high-teens minutes that allow a 60-point player to become a point-per-game player, but his impact in his minutes as a rookie has been undeniable. He’s got a real chance at 65 points (a total that has won lesser players the Calder), his skill level has consistently flashed, and he has played to better underlying defensive results than Sennecke has. The “Ducks give up a ton as a team” excuse doesn’t hold up quite as well side-by-side Demidov, either, because the Habs also give up a ton as a team and he has still managed to have an impact on that side of the puck.
He has also, to the eye, often looked like a driver on his line — like other guys enjoy playing with him and play better when they do, a marker of a true star.
Demidov and Sennecke feel neck-and-neck for the Calder silver medal.
T2. Beckett Sennecke — RW, 20, Anaheim Ducks
Stats: 63 GP, 20 G, 31 A, 51 PTS, 17:37 ATOI, -9
Wheeler’s ballot: No. 3
Dayal’s ballot: No. 2
There’s a growing argument for Sennecke to overtake Demidov for second place on a lot of Calder Trophy ballots.
Since mid-November, Sennecke has scored 39 points in 45 games (a 71-point pace). He’s got a seven-goal and three-point lead over Demidov in the scoring race for the season and has arguably been more important to his team as well — Sennecke is Anaheim’s leading point-getter since mid-November, and had to step up when Leo Carlsson was injured.
Sennecke’s combination of power, speed and silky smooth skill is extremely rare. He drives controlled entries and rush offense, has a fun, creative bag of dekes and is already a prolific shot generator (leading all rookies in shots on goal). He adds a unique dimension with his physicality and snarl, which has been more and more noticeable night-to-night.
Demidov is winning his matchups more decisively in terms of five-on-five goal differential, but you could argue that Sennecke’s underlying play-driving profile has actually been more impressive. Demidov’s line has earned 45 percent of shots and 46 percent of expected goals, whereas Sennecke has driven 51 percent of shots and 51 percent of expected goals.
The surprise with Sennecke isn’t that he’s emerged as a star winger, but rather how quickly he’s hit this level — he was 19 at the start of the season, was viewed as a raw project, and wasn’t even a guaranteed full-time NHLer for 2025-26.
4. Jesper Wallstedt — G, 23, Minnesota Wild
Stats: 26 GP, 14-6-5, .913 SV%, 4 SO
Wheeler’s ballot: No. 4
Dayal’s ballot: No. 4
Before the Wild acquired Quinn Hughes in December, who vaulted the team to Cup contender status, it was Wallstedt who arguably saved the team’s season. Minnesota ended October with a nightmare 3-6-3 start, with the club’s woes keeping pucks out of their net emerging as one of their biggest issues.
With the Wild in trouble, Wallstedt went on one of the hottest streaks we’ve seen from any NHL goaltender this season: From Nov 1 onward, he won nine of his next 10 games while rocking an outrageous .954 save percentage. The Wall from St. Paul has come back down to Earth lately — his save percentage is .888 since Jan. 1 and Filip Gustavsson has re-established himself as the starter — but overall, this has been an enormously impressive breakout season.
Stylistically, he’s such a treat to watch — Wallstedt’s technical mastery and positioning are pristine. He’s exceptionally calm, poised and in control in his crease, which allows him to make spectacular saves look easy at times. The 23-year-old Swede rarely overcommits to a play, which ensures that he stays in excellent position to stop second- and third-chance opportunities.
5. Ben Kindel — C, 18, Pittsburgh Penguins
Stats: 60 GP, 15 G, 15 A, 30 PTS, 15:21 ATOI, -8
Wheeler’s ballot: No. 5
Dayal’s ballot: No. 5
Kindel, Oliver Kapanen and Fraser Minten don’t have the counting stats to truly compete with Sennecke and Demidov but what they do have for down-ballot consideration is that they’ve each centered top-nine lines on teams that, at the present moment, are all in a playoff position. We leaned Kindel here because of his craft, smarts and excellent defensive metrics. He has also featured more prominently on his team’s power play and has really stepped up in stretches this season when the Penguins have been banged up.
Ben Kindel unexpectedly made the Penguins out of camp right after being drafted. (Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
HM. Oliver Kapanen — C, 22, Montreal Canadiens
Stats: 62 GP, 19 G, 13 A, 32 PTS, 14:50 ATOI, +3
Kapanen has filled in admirably as the Canadiens’ second-line center this season, a high-leverage role that the club would have otherwise struggled to adequately patch over. The 22-year-old Finn is third among rookies in goals and fifth in points. He isn’t the main driver of Montreal’s second line — Demidov and Juraj Slafkovský (before his recent move back to the first line) have done a lot of the heavy lifting — but he’s been an excellent complementary fit. Kapanen is fast enough to keep up with Demidov as an offensive threat off the rush, has a great knack for getting open in the slot, and can handle some of the dirty work to win battles and regain puck possession. He deserves down-ballot consideration, but we ended up giving Kindel a slight edge because he’s had significantly worse linemates, which makes his comparable offensive results and superior two-way metrics more impressive.
HM. Ryan Leonard — RW, 21, Washington Capitals
Stats: 58 GP, 12 G, 21 A, 33 PTS, 14:30 ATOI, +1
Leonard is already a fun player to watch. The winger is a top-notch puck transporter, capable of driving dynamic entries and rush chances with ease. He’s shown tremendous growth in his playmaking, as his knack for finding dangerous east-west seams and setting up teammates for Grade-A scoring chances has been prolific. Leonard’s precocious impact as a solo driver of play and offensive chances — which you have to see on a shift-by-shift basis to truly appreciate — makes him a slam-dunk future star.
Leonard has hit a wall in the second half, though. He was playing at a 58-points-per-82-games pace during our midseason check-in, but has slumped lately. We’re still very high on the player, though, and believe he’s only scratching the surface of his potential, especially since he’s averaged only 14:30 per game this season.
HM. Noah Ostlund — LW/C, 22, Buffalo Sabres
Stats: 52 GP, 10 G, 14 A, 24 PTS, 13:46 ATOI, +8
Ostlund has been an immediate difference-maker in Buffalo’s middle six. The undersized but crafty forward is an excellent stickhandler in traffic and boasts strong playmaking vision. His overall point totals may not jump off the page, but his five-on-five point production rate is already second-line level. He’s also holding his own from a two-way perspective, as the Sabres are controlling a positive share of shots, scoring chances and have a plus-10 goal differential during Ostlund’s five-on-five shifts.
HM. Fraser Minten — C, 21, Boston Bruins
Stats: 63 GP, 14 G, 15 A, 29 PTS, 15:00 ATOI, +17
If you sort this year’s NHL rookie class by goal differential, No. 1 on the list is Minten. Strong two-way play isn’t normally enough to drive voting for the NHL’s major awards without the production to match it, but Minten’s game is built around reliability and he has been just that as a young center in the league this year, helping the Bruins fill an important hole in their lineup. The top three spots on Calder ballots feel pretty sewn up (with variation likely in terms of ordering Nos. 2 and 3) but Minten deserves real consideration for Nos. 4-5 on folks’ ballots and we expect he’ll get some votes.