Top Contenders for the 2024 Calder Trophy Quarter-Season Update

Approaching the brand of a quarter of the NHL season, which is on November 23, the warmest race in the NHL is the Cher trophy, which is given each year to the best newcomer to the League, which was Voted by the Association of Professional Hockey Writers. Below are the three favorites for Rookie of the Year, their detailed statistics and their outlook for the rest of the season.

Logan Stankoven, Dallas Stars

The Stars forward leads all NHL rookies in the category in points (12), is tied for most assists (11) and has the most shots on target (53 in 18 games, 2.94 per game). Unlike most other players in the Calder Trophy race, the 21-year-old has NHL experience and played a key role last season for the Stars, who have one of the league's best offenses, an elite goaltender in Jake Oettinger and one of the most complete defenders in Miro Heiskanen.

Stankoven leads the league in mid-range shots on goal (18, 90th percentile), according to NHL EDGE stats. Stitchenon is tied to the third star with glasses (15 in 18 games), leading a strong attack with a goal. From the viewpoint of a photo leader with a high lens door among Dallas players, he approves only Whayette Johnston (19), Jamie Benn (17), Rupa Hinza (14) (13; League's 73rd model) ) Stankoven (5-foot-8, 165 pounds) may be the lightest skater to appear in a game for the Stars this season, but that hasn’t held him back from getting heavily involved in prime scoring areas.

Stankoven played 24 games last regular season, and, per NHL EDGE stats, ranked among the best in offensive zone time percentage at even strength (44.5; 93rd percentile). This season, Stankoven hasn’t had as much stability in terms of lineup placement, but he still has more shots on goal than last season in six fewer regular-season games (51 in 24 games). During the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Stankoven led rookies in points (eight in 19 games) and shots on goal (36) and stood out in EDGE stats for bursts over 20 mph (36; 93rd percentile), mid-range shots on goal (16; 95th percentile) and mid-range goals (two; 93rd percentile). With Stankoven being the most complete team in the group and playing for a Stanley Cup contender (Dallas has reached the conference finals in at least three of the last five seasons), he's the safest bet to overcome the ups and downs of his rookie season and win the Calder."

Matvey Michkov, Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers winger is already an elite offensive player and has shown playmaking ability on his top power-play unit early and often during his first NHL season. The 19-year-old Mishukov, who arrived in North America from Russia on an entry-level contract on July 1, is tied with Stankoven for the top spot among NHL rookies in points (15 in 18 games) and points per game (0.83), leads his class in power-play goals (3) and power-play points (8, leading the Flyers) and is tied for third in shots on goal (34).

Per NHL EDGE stats, Mishukov ranks among the top players in total skating miles on the power play (8.48 miles, 88th percentile) and has one of the top games in that category league-wide this season (1.17 miles on the power play, 97th percentile). Mitschkov also had 18 power-play attempts, second on the team behind forward Travis Konecny ​​(20), and was the only Flyers player to have more points (23 in 20 games) than Mitschkov.

Notably, Mitschkov, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, has been in good form in two games under head coach John Tortorella, digitally converting 0 of 4 man-advantage attempts in the Flyers' absence. With the man advantage, they have made 11 of 61 attempts (18.0 percent) when Mitschkov has played this season. The other two categories in which Michkov excelled were average shooting velocity (59.9, 76th percentile) and long shots on goal (8, ranking just outside the top 10 among forwards).

The Flyers are currently a playoff team in the Eastern Conference (just like last season, they missed out on the playoffs on the final day of the season), and helping Michkov qualify would certainly improve their chances of winning the Stanford trophy at the cost of a 10-point lead. McLean Celebrini (San Jose Sharks) The 2024 No. 1 NHL Draft pick got off to a stellar start to his career, recording a couple of points (one goal, one assist) in his debut on October 10, but then suffered an injury that kept him from returning until November. Although he was limited to 10 of 22 games on the season, Celebrini produced results, recording seven points (four goals, three assists), ranking among the NHL rookie leaders in points per game (0.70, third) and leading his class in shots on goal per game (3.30, 33 total).

The 18-year-old has already stood out in top shot speed (89.08 mph; 85th percentile) and 22-plus mph speed bursts (four; 91st percentile). Celebrini also skates 10.24 miles per 60 minutes (90th percentile) at all strengths, more than both Stankoven (10.07; 83rd percentile) and Michkov (9.92; 70th percentile). The Sharks are in the midst of a rebuild, but Celebrini has plenty of support in the lineup with productive forwards Mikael Granlund, Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund who could compete with Stankoven and Miskov for the scoring title, but he'll probably need to outperform them, or move away, to finally acquire Calder.