After a tough October for many teams, the start of a new month could be a fresh start. There had been a handful of teams exceeding expectations in the month of October, such as Detroit, Buffalo, Florida and San Jose.
The difference maker for some of these teams, however, has been the immediate impact of their rookies. Montreal has just assigned the struggling Cole Caufield (Pre-Season Calder favorite) to the AHL affiliate Laval Rocket.
After Caufield's massive slide down the rookie leader stats, the question still remains, who will run away in this extremely tight Calder trophy race?
Every month we will dig deep into the stats to determine the top 5 Calder trophy power rankings at the start of the month, then compare it to previous months.
NOTABLE ROOKIE MENTIONS :
8 - Michael Bunting - Left Wing - Toronto Maple Leafs
Michael Bunting is currently 4th in points in the NHL Rookie race with 5 points (3 Goals, 2 Assists) in 9 games. What separates him from the rest in this rookie class is his
poor 13.6% Shot percentage and -5 in his role on the maple leaf's top line beside Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
7 - Karel Vejmelka - Goaltender - Arizona Coyotes
Karel Vejmelka has had some solid numbers playing between the pipes in Arizona. Putting up a solid .920% Save Percentage, 2.63 Goals against Average in 7 games played. However, he is 0-5-1 this season. These great goaltending numbers haven't been enough to help the struggling Coyotes.
6 - Tanner Jeannot - Left Wing - Nashville Predators
Tanner Jeannot currently has 5 points (4 Goals, 1 Assist) with a rating of +3 in 8 games, and 1 game-winning goal. However, Tanner has amassed 15 penalty minutes so far this season, almost averaging a penalty every game.
He was an undrafted player given an opportunity to play with the Nashville Predators last season with a respectable 7 points (5 Goals, 2 Assists) in 15 games. He stands tall at 6"2' and 208 lbs, so watch out for this guy.
TOP 5 ROOKIES :
5 - Jonathan Dahlen - Center - San Jose Sharks
Jonathan Dahlen currently has 5 points (3 Goals, 2 Assists) in 7 games with the San Jose Sharks, and is a +4 rating with 2 game-winning goals.
The young skilled center man was drafted in the 2016 NHL Draft at 42nd overall by the Ottawa Senators. He was then traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Alexandre Burrows, ended up only playing 2 games for the former Canucks AHL affiliate Utica Comets (Now Abbotsford Canucks) and landed in San Jose. the 23 year old is ready to make his NHL mark. and rightfully so, he is off to a great start. High quality goal-scoring centers are always valuable in this league.
4 - Bowen Byram - Defense - Colorado Avalanche
Bowen Byram Currently has 5 points (1 Goal, 4 Assists) and is a +4 rating in 8 games with the Colorado Avalanche, and he is looking exceptional on the top defensive pairing with young super star Cale Makar.
Byram was drafted 4th overall in the 2019 NHL draft with high expectations, and so far, he has delivered. He was the stand out player in the WHL with the Vancouver Giants. Putting up 52 points (14 Goals, 38 Assists) in 50 games.
3 - Moritz Seider - Defense - Detroit Red Wings
Moritz Seider has put up 8 points (0 Goals 8 Assists) with a 0 +/- rating in 9 games to start this season for Detroit. He has been a very consistent offensive defenseman putting up almost an assist every single game.
He currently leads all rookies in assists, is tied for the league-lead 8 assists for defensemen, and is currently in a 7-way tie for 3rd most assists in the entire NHL. Moritz sure is making a name for him in his young rookie career. And it will appear Detroit fans are getting excited already.
2 - Spencer Knight - Goalie - Florida Panthers
Spencer Knight has a .929 SV%, 1.95 GAA and gives Panthers fans a whole lot of reasons to be excited again. Knight has a record of 2-0-1 so far this season, and an overall record 6-0-1 record so far since making his debut last season. Knight was drafted 13th Overall in the 2019 NHL Draft.
This kid is off to a great start to his rookie campaign, and is a major factor contributing to Florida's 8-0-1 (1st Overall) start to the season.
Oh, and did i mention he is only 20 years old? He was the youngest goaltender in the league last season. Things are definitely looking up for Florida fans, and the future is definitely bright.
1 - Lucas Raymond - Detroit Red Wings
Lucas Raymond currently has 9 points (4 Goals, 5 Assists) with a +5 rating in 9 games so far in his rookie season. He leads all Rookies in points, Goals, and +/- Rating. Giving Detroit the top spot on this months Calder Watch Power Rankings, and two players in the current top 3.
In Lucas Raymond's 6th career NHL game, he became the first Detroit player 19 or younger to score a hat-trick, and to record four points in a single game since Yzerman in 1985.
Lucas was drafted 4th overall in the 2020 NHL draft by the Detroit Red Wings, and has blossomed into a star.
That concludes our monthly rookie power rankings. This rookie class has a lot of very talented forwards, defensemen and goaltenders. We will find out next month who can stay consistent moving forward through this tough NHL season.
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