Is there a more fun award chase than the Calder Trophy?

Each year, the same candidates will battle for the Norris, Hart, Vezina, you name it. But the Calder Trophy is unique in that the talent pool changes every single season.

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson took home the Calder Trophy in 2024-25, dominating the PHWA’s opinion with 165 first-place votes – 150 more than Calgary’s Dustin Wolf in second place. If Ivan Demidov has his way, the Calder will remain at the Bell Centre this year, too.

Today, we’re looking at some of the top candidates to win the coveted rookie of the year hardware. This isn’t an expansive group – a larger one will come when we know the opening night rosters. Instead, this is just a primary list to give you a taste of the talent we should see challenge for the coveted award throughout the season. There’s a chance a few might not even become full-time NHLers.

To be considered, every player had to already have an NHL contract. San Jose Sharks prospect Michael Misa has yet to sign his entry-level contract, so we left him off. Some players who were considered, but ultimately left off, were San Jose’s Sam Dickinson, Ottawa’s Leevi Meriläinen, Minnesota’s Danila Yurov, Edmonton’s Matt Savoie and Toronto’s Easton Cowan.

Here’s a look at 10 names you need to know, sorted by the team’s alphabetical order:

Parekh might be the most confident prospect in the game – and for a good reason. He’s unique in the way that he can dominate in so many elements of the game. It felt like early in his junior career, he had that offensive potential, but he was making too many mistakes in his own zone. We just don’t see that as much these days, which allowed him to put up triple-digit numbers in Saginaw. I don’t think he has any reason to head back to Saginaw, but does he have a spot locked up with Calgary? We’ll see after training camp. If not, look for Parekh to challenge for the top defender spot on Canada’s World Junior team.

Nikishin finally joined the Hurricanes for the playoffs last season after years of fans awaiting his arrival. He has quickly become one of the most exciting defensive prospects, and one who should get top-four time right out of the gate. Nikishin used to be more of a perimeter guy who kept passes simple. But once he started going for high-risk, high-reward plays, the numbers started to balloon in the KHL. Granted, NHL players will force you to make quicker, tougher decisions, which could prove challenging. But Nikishin has added more urgency in his puck game, especially last season. Nikishin is big, smart and great with the puck, and all those traits should allow him to challenge for first-pairing minutes sooner rather than later.

After an outstanding year in college, Rinzel turned pro and played more than 20 minutes in every single one of his nine NHL outings. It’s not entirely surprising, though, given how dangerous he was in college this year. The 6-foot-4 defender has obvious size, but he also had 32 points in 40 games. The fact that he had 10 goals while playing all situations and dealing with tough matchups for Minnesota is remarkable. Defensively, Rinzel is smart, and he’s much better with the puck than scouts gave him credit for ahead of the 2022 NHL Draft. Rinzel should have little issue developing into a solid NHL defenseman very, very quickly, and might even be on the top pairing to start the season.

Buium truly thrives in high-pressure moments, and there’s every reason to believe those moments are coming for the Wild sooner rather than later. With an impressive resume that boasts two World Junior Championships, an Under-18 title, and an NCAA championship, he has already racked up invaluable experience at such a young age. I believe there’s potential for Buium to add a bit more muscle, which would allow him to shine early on. Many fans draw comparisons between Buium’s college journey and that of Cale Makar. Buium likely won’t reach Cale Makar-level heights in the NHL, but he should challenge for heavy minutes out of the gate for the Wild – a team that desperately wants to start pushing the needle.

Habs fans got a small taste of what Demidov is capable of in his short NHL stint last year. Now, it’s time for the real deal. Demidov set the KHL U-20 scoring record last year with 49 points in 65 games. He did so despite his fluctuating ice time – from the odd benching to a sudden trip to the top line. But Demidov never seemed deterred, hung around and always made the most of his opportunities. He led the team in points despite playing fewer than 10 minutes on 20 occasions and was even healthy scratched at times. Demidov is extremely creative, perhaps the most of any prospect in the world right now. He utilizes a stutter-step that confuses defensemen, making it hard for them to predict his next move. It’ll be interesting to see who Demidov will play with, but Habs fans have every reason to be excited this year.

It’s rare for a first overall pick to not become a full-time NHLer, but I feel like Schaefer would benefit from heavy minutes in the OHL. But knowing how skilled and smart Schaefer can be, I wouldn’t be shocked in the slightest if he ended up winning the Calder. Seriously, he’s the real deal. Schaefer is as good a puck distributor as you’ll find, and it’s only a matter of time until he pops off in the NHL. That’s partly because he thinks the game at such an advanced level for his age, often luring opponents in before pulling off a deceptive deke and getting the puck where it needs to be. Scouts note just how high his hockey IQ is. You can have all the skill in the world, or you could be the biggest, meanest defender around, but if you can’t make quick decisions and your skating lags behind, you’re toast. It’s truly difficult to find one negative aspect of his game right now. We’ll see how up to speed he is come camp, though.

Perreault had an electric two-year run in college before making his NHL debut to close out the 2024-25 season. While his overall numbers were down as a sophomore at Boston College, Perreault proved to be better away from the puck. We’ve seen a lot of positive development over the past two years, so much so that there’s a real belief that he can be an impact NHLer right out of the gate this season. His deployment in his early NHL action was questionable at best. But there’s still much promise given how he makes plays in open space and gets the puck where it needs to be. The Rangers will look a little different this season after moving on from Chris Kreider, but I hope they find the right spot for Perreault in the lineup.

The multi-time all-star was a shining star for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda last season and looked like a true No. 1 at times with the big club. It might take a few years for us to see just how good Askarov is as the Sharks continue to rebuild. But with ideal size and incredible athleticism, it’s safe to call Askarov the best goaltending prospect in the game today – just like he was a year ago. It’s time for Askarov to start living up to the billing – and he’ll have a perfect opportunity to prove that in San Jose. It’s hard for a goaltender to win the Calder Trophy (Wolf put up a good fight last year, though). But Askarov should have the edge over Alex Nedeljkovic heading into camp, and, potentially, lead the Sharks a few spots up the standings.

Snuggerud looked excellent to close out the 2024-25 season, and I fully expect him to challenge for top-six ice time this year. The two-time Hobey Baker top 10 finalist just fell short of the 50-point mark with the University of Minnesota last year, but he was still their primary offensive weapon. Snuggerud has good overall strength, a high hockey IQ, and a good shot release. He has a pro-ready game, and I think he’ll finish somewhere in the 40-45-point range with St. Louis. The Blues aren’t projected to be a good team this year but I think Snuggerud will be one of their shining stars.

Leonard scored his first goal in the same game that Alex Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record, and Leonard brought his trademark toughness to every shift. Leonard has shown the ability to dominate in big games. He was instrumental in USA’s consecutive gold medals at the World Juniors in 2024 and 2025 and even took home tournament MVP honors in January. The Hobey Baker finalist can score, hit, intimidate and do just about everything in his power to make himself a danger to society. He had some mixed results to start his NHL career, but it’s never easy to go straight from college to the NHL just before the playoffs. Look for Leonard to start the year on the Capitals’ third line before becoming an instrumental cog in the team’s long-term plans – he’ll be the forward center piece of the team’s post-Ovechkin era.

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