The Calder Race
Now here’s where the comparison’s start to get interesting. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were the last pair of teammates to be finalists for the Calder Trophy in the same season, with Kane eventually taking the prize.
Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner may be on pace to mimic that season’s Calder race.
In 2007-08, Jonathan Toews put up 24 goals and 30 assists to total 54 points in 64 games as a rookie. Auston Matthews already has 27 goals and 19 assists for 46 points in 56 games.
In the same season, Patrick Kane scored 21 goals and 51 assists for 72 points in a full 82 games. Mitch Marner has 15 goals and 33 assists for 48 points in 56 games as well. Might as well note that Marner is currently leading all rookies in the league in points too, much like how Kane did in his rookie year.
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As the numbers show, Matthews and Marner are both on pace to match, if not beat the respective records of Kane and Toews.
In fact, as Sportsnet pointed out on Wednesday night, Patrick Kane had 12 goals and 46 points in his first 55 games, whereas Marner has three more goals and two more points in the same amount of games.
If anything, scoring has been deflated nowadays compared to 10 seasons ago, so this just shows that both Leafs rookies have an abundant amount of potential to turn into superstars themselves.
The numbers speak for themselves, but each pair had their own unique rookie race to win. In 2007-08, Toews and Kane had to compete with Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom (who finished second in voting) and Montreal’s Carey Price (who finished fourth).
This season, Matthews and Marner may have a bit more competition, with Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine tailing Marner and Matthews for first in both points and goal totals.
On top of Laine, Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray and Columbus’ Zach Werenski are big threats who can make a play for the award.
The Calder race may not necessarily be about who gets the most points in x amount of games (just look at how Connor McDavid lost the Calder last season), but but overall it is the biggest deciding point. Other than that fact, the players’ importance to their team is also a factor to take in.
In the 2006-07 season, the Blackhawks finished 13th in the Western Conference and last in the Central Division. With Toews’ and Kane’s help the following season, the team improved to 10th in the West and third in the Central just three points out of a playoff spot.
Last year the Leafs finished dead last, but Matthews and Marner are having a similar effect on Toronto, with the team improving to eighth in the East, currently sitting in a playoff spot.