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<\/p>\nEach year at The Athletic, reporters Scott Wheeler and Harman Dayal publish a quarterly Calder Trophy list ranking the top rookies in the NHL.<\/p>\n
In this final instalment of the 2025-26 season, they submitted five player ballots mimicking the PHWA\u2019s voting process. Here are their top five rookies in this year\u2019s class at the three-quarter mark, plus a few honorable mentions.<\/p>\n
1. Matthew Schaefer \u2014 LHD, 18, New York Islanders\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stats: 64 GP, 20 G, 26 A, 46 PTS, 24:16 ATOI, +12<\/p>\n
Wheeler\u2019s ballot: No. 1
Dayal\u2019s ballot: No. 1<\/p>\n
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 \u201cplayer \u2026 most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.\u201d And while it\u2019s 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\u2019 ambitions.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
T2. Ivan Demidov \u2014 RW, 20, Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n
Stats: 62 GP, 13 G, 35 A, 48 PTS, 15:19 ATOI, +5<\/p>\n
Wheeler\u2019s ballot: No. 2
Dayal\u2019s ballot: No. 3<\/p>\n
Demidov isn\u2019t 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\u2019s 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 \u201cDucks give up a ton as a team\u201d excuse doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
He has also, to the eye, often looked like a driver on his line \u2014 like other guys enjoy playing with him and play better when they do, a marker of a true star.<\/p>\n
Demidov and Sennecke feel neck-and-neck for the Calder silver medal.<\/p>\n
T2. Beckett Sennecke \u2014 RW, 20, Anaheim Ducks<\/p>\n
Stats: 63 GP, 20 G, 31 A, 51 PTS, 17:37 ATOI, -9<\/p>\n
Wheeler\u2019s ballot: No. 3
Dayal\u2019s ballot: No. 2<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a growing argument for Sennecke to overtake Demidov for second place on a lot of Calder Trophy ballots.<\/p>\n
Since mid-November, Sennecke has scored 39 points in 45 games (a 71-point pace). He\u2019s 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 \u2014 Sennecke is Anaheim\u2019s leading point-getter since mid-November, and had to step up when Leo Carlsson was injured.<\/p>\n
Sennecke\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Demidov is winning his matchups more decisively in terms of five-on-five goal differential, but you could argue that Sennecke\u2019s underlying play-driving profile has actually been more impressive. Demidov\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The surprise with Sennecke isn\u2019t that he\u2019s emerged as a star winger, but rather how quickly he\u2019s hit this level \u2014 he was 19 at the start of the season, was viewed as a raw project, and wasn\u2019t even a guaranteed full-time NHLer for 2025-26.<\/p>\n
4. Jesper Wallstedt \u2014 G, 23, Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n
Stats: 26 GP, 14-6-5, .913 SV%, 4 SO<\/p>\n
Wheeler\u2019s ballot: No. 4
Dayal\u2019s ballot: No. 4<\/p>\n
Before the Wild acquired Quinn Hughes in December, who vaulted the team to Cup contender status, it was Wallstedt who arguably saved the team\u2019s season. Minnesota ended October with a nightmare 3-6-3 start, with the club\u2019s woes keeping pucks out of their net emerging as one of their biggest issues.<\/p>\n
With the Wild in trouble, Wallstedt went on one of the hottest streaks we\u2019ve 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 \u2014 his save percentage is .888 since Jan. 1 and Filip Gustavsson has re-established himself as the starter \u2014 but overall, this has been an enormously impressive breakout season.<\/p>\n
Stylistically, he\u2019s such a treat to watch \u2014 Wallstedt\u2019s technical mastery and positioning are pristine. He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
5. Ben Kindel \u2014 C, 18, Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n
Stats: 60 GP, 15 G, 15 A, 30 PTS, 15:21 ATOI, -8<\/p>\n
Wheeler\u2019s ballot: No. 5
Dayal\u2019s ballot: No. 5<\/p>\n
Kindel, Oliver Kapanen and Fraser Minten don\u2019t have the counting stats to truly compete with Sennecke and Demidov but what they do have for down-ballot consideration is that they\u2019ve 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\u2019s power play and has really stepped up in stretches this season when the Penguins have been banged up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Ben Kindel unexpectedly made the Penguins out of camp right after being drafted. (Charles LeClaire \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
HM. Oliver Kapanen \u2014 C, 22, Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n
Stats: 62 GP, 19 G, 13 A, 32 PTS, 14:50 ATOI, +3<\/p>\n
Kapanen has filled in admirably as the Canadiens\u2019 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\u2019t the main driver of Montreal\u2019s second line \u2014 Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsk\u00fd (before his recent move back to the first line) have done a lot of the heavy lifting \u2014 but he\u2019s 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\u2019s had significantly worse linemates, which makes his comparable offensive results and superior two-way metrics more impressive.<\/p>\n
HM. Ryan Leonard \u2014 RW, 21, Washington Capitals<\/p>\n
Stats: 58 GP, 12 G, 21 A, 33 PTS, 14:30 ATOI, +1<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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\u2019s precocious impact as a solo driver of play and offensive chances \u2014 which you have to see on a shift-by-shift basis to truly appreciate \u2014 makes him a slam-dunk future star.<\/p>\n
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\u2019re still very high on the player, though, and believe he\u2019s only scratching the surface of his potential, especially since he\u2019s averaged only 14:30 per game this season.<\/p>\n
HM. Noah Ostlund \u2014 LW\/C, 22, Buffalo Sabres<\/p>\n
Stats: 52\u00a0GP, 10 G, 14 A, 24 PTS, 13:46 ATOI, +8<\/p>\n
Ostlund has been an immediate difference-maker in Buffalo\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s five-on-five shifts.<\/p>\n
HM. Fraser Minten \u2014 C, 21, Boston Bruins<\/p>\n
Stats: 63 GP, 14 G, 15 A, 29 PTS, 15:00 ATOI, +17<\/p>\n
If you sort this year\u2019s NHL rookie class by goal differential, No. 1 on the list is Minten. Strong two-way play isn\u2019t normally enough to drive voting for the NHL\u2019s major awards without the production to match it, but Minten\u2019s 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\u2019 ballots and we expect he\u2019ll get some votes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each year at The Athletic, reporters Scott Wheeler and Harman Dayal publish a quarterly Calder Trophy list ranking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[1419,64,63,5789,6581,7530,7524,5790,5791,575,4785,85,4791],"class_list":["post-533457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-anaheim-ducks","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boston-bruins","tag-buffalo-sabres","tag-fantasy-hockey","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-nhl","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-sports","tag-washington-capitals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}