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The Top 5 Calder Candidates for the 2024-25 NHL Season

The best part of the NHL season is always the new crop of rookies.

By James Tanner

Apr 18, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) in action against the Los Angeles Kings during the third period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 18, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) in action against the Los Angeles Kings during the third period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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The Favorite

Macklin Celebrin was drafted first-overall by the San Jose Sharks and will enter this season as the favorite to win the Calder.

Celebrini is a future star who should be about as good as Jack Hughes or Rasmus Dahlin. He isn't likely to enter into the Auston Matthews/ Connor Mcdavid Stratosphere.

He probably isn't going to enter the Nathan MacKinnon/ Connor Bedard tier either, but should be a better player than Owen Power or Nico Hischier.

Although, who knows? Did anyone expect Nikita Kucherov to be one of the best players of all-time when he was drafted?

The draft is just a big guess, and though Celebrini appears in line for stardom, who knows?

Big Mac, as I'm sure they will call him, scored nearly a goal per game (32 in 38) last year at Boston University. Is that good? Probably. I don't pretend to know much about American University hockey or how much competition there is, but it was obviously good enough to get him picked first-overall.

Celebrini has a good chance at the Calder but will be hurt because his team absolutely sucks. Though number-one picks almost always go straight to the NHL, given the advantage of having a superstar on an entry-level contract, you'd think teams would hold them back a year to try to win sooner, but what do I know?

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