The Calder Memorial Trophy is an award given out to the best rookie of the NHL each season. The two current front runners for the Calder are Connor Bedard from the Chicago Blackhawks and Brock Faber from the Minnesota Wild. These two players have had amazing seasons so far and both have made a strong case for the Calder.
Connor Bedard
Bedard was the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft and is considered a generational talent by many. Bedard has given us hockey fans a show this year as he has a total of 39 points in 42 games played. He leads all rookies in points with 39 and also leads all rookies in goals with 17. Bedard was so dominant that even though he went out with a broken jaw, and missed 5 weeks of hockey no other rookie could beat his point total of 33. Bedard came back from injury this week and has already gotten 6 points in 3 games! Conor Bedard’s stats are more than impressive and show us just how good he is. Many people though think that Bedard is over-hyped and like to point out his +/- rating of -24 which yes, is very low, but you can’t expect him to have a high rating when he is the only functional offensive player in this Blackhawks roster who are dead last in the NHL. Connor Bedard has just been overall impressive this season and has backed up people’s claims that he’s a generational talent.
Brock Faber
Faber has a total of 33 points in 55 games and leads all rookies in assists. You might be saying “Oh, Bedard has more points in fewer games so obviously he’s the better player.” Brock Faber is a defender! He shouldn’t be putting these types of stats up! Faber’s also 19th out of all defenders in the NHL in points as a rookie! Faber was also a second-round pick in 2021! He wasn’t expected to come in from college and compete with Connor Bedard the most hyped prospect since Connor Mcdavid for the Calder. Brock Faber also has a +/- rating of +4 which although I think is a useless stat, it’s still better than Bedard’s -34 rating. Faber has made a strong case for himself on why he should be considered for the Calder.
Who Will Win?
Personally, I think that Bedard will end up winning the Calder. I know that Faber is a defender and shouldn’t be doing as well as he is, but Bedard is just doing so well and has so many points in so few games. The fact that he was out for 5 weeks and was still first in points out of all the rookies just shows why he deserves the Calder. But Faber should still be proud of his accomplishment because he went toe to toe with a player who was supposed to easily win the Calder. Faber should also be looked at as a future top defender in the NHL.
