NHL Rookie of the Year ladder: Big rise from Connor Zary in Week 6

The NHL Rookie of the Year battle is heating up as November 2023 wears on. Who are currently the top candidates in the running for the Calder Trophy?
Calgary Flames v Toronto Maple Leafs
Calgary Flames v Toronto Maple Leafs / Bruce Bennett/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next

5. Matthew Poitras, C, Boston Bruins

Matthew Potras only has eight points in 15 games, so he’s also well behind the front three in that category. However, he has a huge advantage of playing for one of the league’s best teams, where he will receive plenty of scoring opportunities down the stretch. 

Poitras, like the others listed above, also plays sound hockey when he doesn’t have the puck. So far in 2023-24, he has 11 blocked shots and 11 takeaways. Add that to the fact the Bruins have a save percentage of 96.0 at 5-on-5 when Poitras is on the ice, and he could skyrocket in these rankings in the near future.

6. Leo Carlsson, C, Anaheim Ducks

Leo Carlsson is one player to keep an eye on and he is also a prime candidate to quickly move up in these rankings. One knock against Carlsson is that he has only 11 games, the fewest of the players listed above him, but he also has eight points and six goals in those contests. 

Defensively, Carlsson hasn’t been as great as the top five, but it’s worth noting that he’s logging 18:18 of average total ice time. While he hasn’t scored often as of late, he did secure a hat trick on November 10th against the Philadelphia Flyers.