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Toronto Maple Leafs: Potential Calder Trophy Finalists

By Lauren Kelly |
Apr 4, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (39) looks to pass the puck against the Florida Panthers at the Air Canada Centre. Florida defeated Toronto 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (39) looks to pass the puck against the Florida Panthers at the Air Canada Centre. Florida defeated Toronto 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The number of potential rookies that could play for the Toronto Maple Leafs next season and be eligible for the Calder Trophy is impressive.

In fact, with the way Leafs fans laud their talented prospects, as well as their impressive performances before they’ve even made the NHL, it may not be so far-fetched to believe the Toronto Maple Leafs could have two rookies nominated for the Calder. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves at this moment.

Keeping the Calder Trophy eligibility rules in mind (a player is eligible as long as he has not played more than 25 games in a single season nor have played in more than 6 regular season games in each of the two separate preceding seasons in any major professional league), there are a surplus of potential players who could play themselves into rookie of the year consideration.

From the obvious likes of William Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner, other possible (though not as likely) Calder Trophy candidates are Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Nikita Soshnikov, Andreas Johnson, and the list really does go on.

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Here are three potential Leafs who could get nominated for the Calder Trophy by the end of next season:

Mitch Marner

Marner had, arguably, one of the best junior hockey seasons in CHL history last year. There’s no doubt he’s finished with junior hockey, but the question will be whether or not he can translate his junior success to the NHL.

As he doesn’t have much experience playing against men (compared to Matthews and Nylander), it may take more time for Marner to adjust to the NHL game, which will slow his production.

But if he can make the adjustments and produce points at a pace even half as well as he did in junior, he might play himself into Calder consideration.

Auston Matthews

After seeing how well Matthews has played in the World Cup, going up against everyday NHLers and adding to his already impressive highlight reel, it doesn’t seem like he’ll have any problem adjusting to playing in the NHL.

Depending on how well he plays at the World Cup and how far North America goes in the tournament, Matthews might hit the ground running come NHL opening night at the Air Canada Centre.

While there are bound to be some growing pains (it wouldn’t be a proper rookie season without them), if he continues to play as he’s shown he can, he’ll be a favourite to win the Calder Trophy throughout the season.

William Nylander

Nylander only played 22 regular season games last season, so he’s still eligible for the Calder Trophy this coming season. In those 22 games, he didn’t disappoint, tallying 6 goals and 13 points.

While his point totals aren’t staggering, and there were some growing pains during those 22 games, he did show that he’s ready to make the final jump to the big league.

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He’s the only player of these three Leafs who’s had actual NHL experience, which gives him the edge over Marner and Matthews. He knows the game, he’s had experience playing it, and he knows what he has to do in order to have success in the NHL.

That’s not to say that there won’t be some growing pains throughout the season as well, but if he can build on the strides he made last season, there should be no reason as to why he can’t be a contender for the Calder as well.

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