Rookie Watch 2022

This has been a great rookie class that we have seen this season. As of right now we have 4 rookies that have 40 or more points. So today I will be breaking down who has the best odds to win the Calder this season. These are in order of who I think has the best odds to win it.

Moritz Seider - DET

Seider leads all rookies in assists and power play points. In his first NHL game, he had 2 assists against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and would get another assist 2 nights later against the Canucks in his second career game. He is in a 4 game pointless streak but he is one of the best rookies in this class no doubt. He has 41 points in 59 games as a defenseman. He is 11th in points for all defensemen. This guy is a great hockey player. It will honestly make it hard to choose between these 3 players at the top. The main thing that puts Seider on top is that he is producing a lot of points as a defenseman.

Raymond and Seider . Source: https://theathletic.com/, (Max Bultman)

Trevor Zegras - ANA

Zegras has been a show this year. He has scored numerous incredible goals and continues to wow us. He has played 4 games less than Bunting and he has 4 less points. Zegras is tied for 2nd in power play points with 14 of them. Zegras played 24 games with the Ducks last season and finished with 13 points. This season he has 43 points in 54 games. He is projected to have 60 points by the end of the season. I do think that Zegras could win the Calder mainly because he has wowed everyone. Mainly because of his assist to Sonny Milano.

Michael Bunting - TOR

Bunting has seen great improvement this season. Previously, he has played a total of 26 games over 2 seasons with the Arizona Coyotes. In those 26 games he got 14 points, so not too bad. But this season, he has 47 points in 56 games. He started off the season on a bumpy roller coaster of games with points or no points. But recently, he has been red hot. He is in the middle of a 7 game point streak where he has 12 points in those games, including a 5 point game against the Red Wings. He is leading all rookie in goals with 20 and is second in assists, only behind Lucas Raymond.

Lucas Raymond - DET

Detroit has a very nice rookie roster with Seider, Raymond, and Ned. Raymond is 2nd for rookies in points and has 5 power play goals to his name. Columbus gave Detroit his very first NHL goal, because we are just too nice :). And then a couple nights later against Chicago he would get his very first hat trick in a 4 point night. Raymond gets a lot of his points from multi-point games, including the 2 goal game he had against Minnesota a couple nights ago. If Raymond was a bit more consistent, he would be higher on this list. But he is still a great player overall and he deserves more recognition.

Jeremy Swayman - BOS

Swayman is not only one of the best goalies in his rookie class, but one of the best goalies in the entire NHL. Swayman is 6th in the NHL in Save Percentage and is 8th in shutouts. Swayman is 17-7-3 in the 27 games he has played this season. He was sent down to the AHL for some time because of Rask’s “return” but he was eventually called back up after Rask retired. I think Swayman could be a future franchise goalie for the Bruins. With enough games to have a look in, he could do very well. The last goalie to win it was Steve Mason from the Blue Jackets in 2009, so he will have some work to do to get onto that list.

Matt Boldy - MIN

The Wild hopes to get 2 straight Calders with Matt Boldy. Boldy has 23 points in 26 games, almost a point per game. But the reason he is this low on the list is his lack of NHL games. Boldly was out due to injury at the beginning of the season and that cost him many games. Boldly would be highly likely to be much higher on this list if he were to play every single game this season. But nevertheless, still a great hockey player.

Stats from: nhl.com, hockey-reference.com