jammer2 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 It is going to be a real tough, hard fought race for the Calder this year. Tons of top shelf talent are breaking in all around the league. My best stab at a top 10 follows..... 1)Auston Matthews....Toronto...has the most skill and hockey sense in this class....will he play with TO's established vets or form a rookie line? 2)Ivan Provorov....Philadelphia...a bit biased, but this kid has it all, the smarts, the skating, the vision, the shot....a true star....will he play on the top pp with Ghost? If not, that could effect his rookie stats. 3)Dylan Strome....the Yotes clear cut # 1 center. of the future and cornerstone of the franchise. Thle question...will they ease him in, or start him out on the top line ....training camp should decide this matter. This team has needed a true star center forever. He has arrived. 4)Mitch Marner....Toronto....this kid has "take you out of the seat" skill and moves. His game reminds me a lot of Johnny Gaudreau of the Flames....small frame, great skater, elite skill set and tremendous work ethic. Will all the young talent in TO give him more attentionpor will it have a cancel out affect on the 3 young star Leafs forwards? Needs to bulk up and work on consistency, he can disappear for stretches. 5)Patrick Laine....Winnipeg....one of the most skilled players to hit the NHL in quite a while. Kid has it all, but the one fault may be that "pull away" top end skating stride....but people said that about Tavares as well. Hard to say where this RW will fit in with the Jets...best case is he plays with #1 center Little and earns a birth on the top pp. Tons of young talent in the Peg this year. Kyle has #1 overall kinda skill, but should be playing in the Jets top 6, or perhaps a trip back to Michigan would be beneficial. 6)Kyle Connor....this is where things can go off the rails. Kyle has ELITE hockey IQ and skill set. He had very similar numbers to Jack Eichel in his first NCAA year....71 pts in 38 games is UNHEARD of in the NCAA, especially for a rookie. Michigan was a championship team with Kyle in tow. Red Berenson, the legendary coach of the Wolverines says he is one of the most talented kids he has ever seen.....that speaks volumes for me. 7)Jimmy Vessey.....New York Rangers...another NCAA wild card. This much I know, Vessey WILL be a Ranger this year. He should be top 6....probably in his contract...lol. His center will either be Derek Stephan on the top line or newly acquired Mika Zinjinablad on the second line with Rick Nash being the possible 3rd member of that line. The only LW ahead of him on the Rags depth chart is Chris Krieder. Jimmy could easily flip flop with Chris and become the top LW...a situation to watch real close. 8)William Nylander....Toronto....lots of skill here, and has put in a full year in the AHL, making him ready for the NHL this time around. He knows what to expect moving forward. He will be hurt by having Matthews and Marner on the same team. Still, a very talented kid in his own right. 9)Zack Werenski....Columbus....elite skater, talented offensive force, can throw the body nicely and has a bit of a mean streak to boot. In another year, he could be in the top 5....but this is a DEEP talent pool. He might get hurt by the lack of high end talent on the Jackets top pp. Will he move past former 1st rounder Ryan Murray on the depth chart in one year, or will it take 2, .cause it's a coming...lol. Sabastian Aho...Hurricanes. This talent pool is crazy deep, cause this number 10 ranked guy on my list has the skill and talent to win this trophy. With all the success of Johnny Hockey ect, size matters less and less..so his slight 5'10 and 170 lb frame are more likely to be overlooked in favour of his immense talent. He should easily be the Canes best player next year....if he becomes the star I think he will be, he may turn out to be one of the best ever 35th overall selections in the history of the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluPuk Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 If Mitch Marner turns out to be as good as Gaudreau, I'll be thrilled. As far as the Calder goes, sorry to say I couldn't care less. I don't put much stock in the trophy "winners" these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 23, 2016 Author Share Posted September 23, 2016 I just wanted to touch on Auston's first goal of the game for Team North America vs the Swedes. People are going stir crazy making statements such as best game ever....lol....but it was indeed one for the memory banks to keep track of. The Sportsnet crew focused in on the first Matthews goal...and for good reason. There were several outstanding elements of this goal. First off, the majestic stickhandling ability, even when Auston is on his knees he literally does not skip a beat controlling the puck. Then, he gets up in one motion and gives a crazy, almost no look tape to tape pass to Johnny Hockey, on the other side of the rink. What transpires next is the most impressive part of the entire sequence. It was all mental. From the moment the pass left his stick, he instinctively starterd skating towards Lundy and the net....not a flukey thing at all. He actually knew the puck was coming back to him, knew it as far back as maybe even the stickhandling on his knees trick. He has the all important 6th sense in hockey. The true stars have *it*...that special God given ability to know what is gonna happen before it does. Bobby Orr had .it....Gretzky had it, Mario had it...Stevie Y had it..an now Auston Matthews is on that same short list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 23, 2016 Author Share Posted September 23, 2016 Here is another Auston "feel good" story which are flowing out of the Toronto media with an alarming rate...this time, the Toronto Sun get's in on the fun.... http://www.torontosun.com/2016/09/22/auston-matthews-is-the-real-deal---5-other-things-we-learned-from-team-north-america the first gif in this story was the goal I was referring to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Nice list @jammer2 I think 20 year old Josh Ho Sang will also have a good shot at being in contention for the Calder Trophy. I think he's been forgotten about somewhat since he was shamed for being late to rookie camp last fall. The Islanders sent a message loud and clear to Ho Sang and I think he will make some folks pay attention this year. Ho Sang could be Okoposo's replacement this season along side Tavares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I'd say the Calder is Mathews to lose. He should get tons of minutes and lots of pp time. His toughest opponent may be the fact 3 Leafs could split votes. I think Provorov will get sheltered minutes if he make the Flyers. And the reality that Ghost and MDZ will take pp time away from him will also take the "shiny" factor away from Ivans chances. You have to rack up points to win NHL awards. Laine should have a shot...I think Scheifele takes over as #1 in the Peg this year. Should make for a lethal combo eventually. Nylander has looked impressive...but I think Mathews gets the nod over him as far as Leaf votes go. Marner doesn't have a chance with these two ahead of him on the same team..I don't even think he makes the Leafs...they can only have so many rookies. I don't think Ho-sang is in these guys stratosphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 1 hour ago, flyercanuck said: I'd say the Calder is Mathews to lose. He should get tons of minutes and lots of pp time. His toughest opponent may be the fact 3 Leafs could split votes. Trivia time! Can you name the last Leafs player to win the Calder trophy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 5 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said: Trivia time! Can you name the last Leafs player to win a trophy? Fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 2 hours ago, flyercanuck said: Fixed LOL. Alexander Mogilny. But can you tell me which trophy he won? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDevil Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 21 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said: LOL. Alexander Mogilny. But can you tell me which trophy he won? Lady Byng? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 23, 2016 Author Share Posted September 23, 2016 10 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said: Trivia time! Can you name the last Leafs player to win the Calder trophy? This feels like one of those trick questions. I will guess without googling. I'm gonna say Dave Keon, if not him....then I'll go way back to Teeder Kennedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 24, 2016 Author Share Posted September 24, 2016 13 hours ago, hf101 said: Nice list @jammer2 I think 20 year old Josh Ho Sang will also have a good shot at being in contention for the Calder Trophy. I think he's been forgotten about somewhat since he was shamed for being late to rookie camp last fall. The Islanders sent a message loud and clear to Ho Sang and I think he will make some folks pay attention this year. Ho Sang could be Okoposo's replacement this season along side Tavares. I'm not a big fan of Ho Sang. He is kinda small but lacks that elite skating that allows the other small players to be impactful. I see a 3rd line guy who does not check...but hey, I've been wrong before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 4 hours ago, jammer2 said: This feels like one of those trick questions. I will guess without googling. I'm gonna say Dave Keon, if not him....then I'll go way back to Teeder Kennedy. I had to Google it lol. Brit Selby in 1965-66. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 24, 2016 Author Share Posted September 24, 2016 19 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said: I had to Google it lol. Brit Selby in 1965-66. Wow....I know it was 50 years ago, but how does a LW win rookie of the year with 13 goals, 14 assists and 27 pts?? Yiesh, turns out he had his biggest year with the Flyers 15 goals that year. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=4864 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 25, 2016 Author Share Posted September 25, 2016 Very interesting article here....Should Tkachuck make the Flames, he may be placed into the top 6 right away, and perhaps pp duty with the likes of Monahan and Johnny Hockey. He moves right into the top 5 on this list....and he's a big body who scores, just what the Flames need. As you can see, the compareables with other players who have made the jump on their first try are right in line.... http://nhlnumbers.com/2016/9/15/can-matthew-tkachuk-make-the-nhl-right-away basically most of the forwards making the 1st year jump average over 1.5 per game in the CHL....Matthew had 1.9 last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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