The NHL has announced this years finalist for the Calder Trophy. Gabriel Landeskog, Adam Henrique and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are the finalists. These three rookies made playing in the NHL look easy but did the NHL leave out a very important rookie?
Gabriel Landeskog (who I think is favorited to win) played for the Colorado Avalanche this season. He had an impressive 22 goals and 52 points this season with the Avalanche. Landeskog has a +20 ratio and he has had 5 game winning goals this season.
Adam Henrique plays for the New Jersey Devils. He is the only one out of the three Calder Trophy Finalists to be playing in the playoffs. Henrique has 16 goals and 51 points including 3 game winning goals. He has a +8 ratio and he has added tremendous depth to the Devils line-up.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins only played 62 games this season with the Edmonton Oilers due to a number of injuries however he was still able to compete with other rookies in the NHL. He had 18 goals and 52 points in the regular season including 2 game winning goals. I honestly believe that if it wasn’t for injuries Nugent-Hopkins wouldn’t of had much competition between him and the other rookies. He has a -2 ratio and even with missing 20 regular season games he still one of the top three rookies in the league.
So I have obviously stated who I think deserves the Calder Trophy this season but I also want to bring another rookie to everyone’s attention. I am wondering why Matt Read from the Philadelphia Flyers isn’t in the race for the Calder Trophy? I mean he had 24 goals and 47 points during the regular season. He had 6 game winning goals and he has a +13 ratio. He has also proven to be a dominate force in the playoffs scoring 2 goals and 1 assists in just 4 games. Perhaps the NHL thinks he’s too old to be considered a rookie? Landeskog is 19, Henrique is 22 and Nugent-Hopkins is 19. Matt Read is 25. Could his age be preventing him from a much deserved award? Who knows how they really decide the finalists anyway but in my opinion he is more deserving of being a finalist than Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Adam Henrique but lucky for them I am not the one choosing these finalists. Either way I think Gabriel Landeskog deserves this award and I hope the NHL makes the right decision. I just thought that even though Matt Read wasn’t a finalist he was definitely worth mentioning!
