Several rookies were wrongly excluded from Calder Trophy consideration

There were plenty of deserving candidates excluded from being finalists for the Calder Trophy.

The NHL announced the finalists for the Calder Trophy on Wednesday, but there was no shortage of deserving candidates who were left off of the list.

Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks and Dominik Kubalik of the Chicago Blackhawks were named as the three finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy, which is given “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition.”

This NHL season provided one of the most interesting rookie classes to watch of the last few years. The back-and-forth race between Makar and Hughes drew the most attention, but there were plenty of other rookies deserving recognition for their fantastic rookie seasons.

The race to win the Calder undoubtedly comes down to a razor-close decision between Makar and Hughes, and it could be one of the closest races of the last decade. Even after five months to reflect on the season, there is no clear-cut favorite after the two became the first defensemen to finish first and second in the rookie scoring race in the modern era.

Makar led all rookies in points per game as well as goals and even strength points despite playing in 11 fewer games than Hughes. If he didn’t suffer a few injuries, he’d almost certainly have overtaken Hughes in rookie point race.

Hughes was right on Makar’s heels all season long and really came on strong towards the end of the season with his strong offensive play driving and powerplay dominance, while averaging almost 22 minutes a game for Vancouver. If Hughes wins the Calder, it’d be the second year in a row a Canuck has taken home the award after Elias Petterson won it last season.

While it’s razor-close, I’d say Hughes gets the edge in voting due to how much worse off the Canucks would’ve been this season without him since Makar plays on the far superior Avalanche. Maybe if the season was finished there’s be some form of separation, but it’s as close a race as we may ever see.

The other nominee, Dominik Kubalik, was the only rookie to hit 30 goals this season and led the next-closest rookie by 10 goals. The 24-year-old is the oldest of the bunch but came out of nowhere to even make the Blackhawks, turning into one of the best even-strength goal scorers in the NHL despite only getting the seventh-most minutes per game on the team.

While Kubalik had a great season and nothing can take away from that, there were plenty of other deserving candidates for that third spot that arguably should’ve been there instead.

The Calder Trophy snubs

Adam Fox

There is no bigger snub for a Calder nomination this year than New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox. Not only was he one of the best rookies in the league, he was one of the better two-way defensemen in the entire league.

Fox scored 42 points in 70 games this season, and while it’s not as much as Makar or Hughes, it’s still plenty impressive for a rookie defenseman. But it’s not points that made Fox so great this season. According to EvolvingHockey, Fox was one of the best defensemen in the league at drive play on offense, while also being among the best when it came to preventing shots against. He also led all rookies with 57 takeaways.

The case against him is that he wasn’t playing huge minutes like Makar or Hughes, but Fox started the season with fewer expectations and had to earn his way up the lineup after starting the season on the third pair. While saying he should win the Calder is a stretch, he was more than worthy of a nomination at least.

John Marino

Nobody surpassed expectations more than John Marino did this past season. A former sixth-round pick in 2015 by the Edmonton Oilers, the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Marino for a 2021 sixth-round pick last July, and there was no expectation for him to even make the team this season let alone play the role that he did.

Marino was the Penguins’ best defenseman on even strength and on the penalty kill, according to EvolvingHockey. While the Penguins suffered several injuries on the back end, Marino was tasked with more and more responsibilities all the way to the point of being a No. 1 defenseman on certain nights. And he kept succeeding.

Marino scored 26 points during the season, which for a defensively minded rookie is great but won’t get the attention of voters. If Marino hadn’t missed time with injury, he might’ve been able to make more of a case for himself.

Victor Olofsson

In a rookie class dominated by defensemen, former Buffalo Sabres seventh-round pick Victor Olofsson made a name for himself in the league with his elite shot, and he almost certainly would’ve been a nominee if not for injury troubles.

Olofsson missed 15 games this season, but was still second among rookie forwards and third on the Sabres in points with 42. Olofsson was also playing top six minutes with Jack Eichel, averaging 18 minutes a game, and a staple on the Sabres’ powerplay. If not for him, the Sabres would’ve had barely any offense at all outside of Eichel.

Had Olofsson not missed time with injury, he almost certainly would be far ahead of Kubalik in points and likely would be going toe-to-toe with Hughes and Makar for the rookie lead. Not bad for a seventh-round pick from six years ago.

Elvis Merzlikins

There were several points this season where the Columbus Blue Jackets could’ve come completely undone, especially when they lost starting goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for weeks due to injury in January. If it hadn’t been for Elvis Merzlikins stepping up the way he did, they might have.

Merzlikins posted a .923 save percentage and five shutouts, including an unbelievable stretch in January where he allowed just two goals in four whole games. He finished the month with an 8-2 record and a staggering .948 save percentage, almost singlehandedly pushing the Blue Jackets into the playoff race. Once Korpisalo came back, the two became one of the best goaltending duos in the league.

Merzlikins was never going to get a nomination because he only played 33 games, but he still got an $8 million contract extension from the Blue Jackets for his efforts.