The 2020-21 season on one hand seems like it was just yesterday. On the other, it seems like forever ago. What was so important about that screwed up, COVID-shortened season that started in January? Well, it was the same season that a 23-year-old kid named Kirill captured the hearts and minds of Calder Trophy voters with a 51-point season. In doing so, Kirill Kaprizov earned the first Calder Trophy in Minnesota Wild history.
The Wild could have up to four players that qualify as rookies on their opening night roster. Could any of them join Kaprizov in being named the league’s best rookie? Possibly, but it would take some strong performances coupled with some rookies around the league faltering a bit. According to FanDuel, Montreal’s Ivan Demidov is the odds-on favorite to win the award at +250.
The 19-year-old joined the Canadiens late last season and showed that he was worth the wait. He had two points in two regular-season games and then added another pair of assists in five playoff games. Outside of him, though, the field is wide open. Unlike the last two seasons, with Bedard and Macklin Celebrini, there aren't a ton of rookies generating a lot of hype prior to the season starting.
That could work in the favor of the Wild’s rookies. Using FanDuel’s odds, here are Minnesota’s best shots at bringing home the rookie hardware.
Zeev Buium (+1,100)
The Wild’s best shot at bringing home the hardware only has to look back a season to see what type of season a defenseman needs to have to capture the Calder Trophy. Montreal’s Lane Hutson picked up 165 of the 191 first-place votes to take home the hardware. Hutson led all rookies with 66 points (6 goals and 60 assists) to become the fourth defenseman in the modern era to win the award.
Hutson had the benefit of playing for a team that didn’t have a lot of pressure on them, especially early in the year. That gave him a lot of rope to make mistakes without the fear of losing ice time. Buium won’t likely have that luxury. Nor will he get the ice time in general, even with Jonas Brodin starting the season on injured reserve.
The 19-year-old is no stranger to putting points on the board as he had 50 points in his first year at the University of Denver and then followed that up with 48 in his second season. Now, just because a player racked up points in college doesn’t mean they’re automatically going to do the same in the NHL, but Buium’s skills should translate pretty well to professional hockey.
In order for him to win the voters over, he’s going to have to put points on the board and play sound defensive hockey.
He’s aided by the fact that no one is coming out of the most recent draft class with a lot of expectations. The top pick, Matthew Schaefer, is a fellow defenseman, and the best forward, Michael Misa, isn’t a lock to play in the NHL this season (he’s yet to sign his entry-level contract).
Jesper Wallstedt (+5,000)
It’s been a long time, a very long time since a goaltender won the Calder Trophy. Andrei Vasilevskiy didn’t win it. Connor Hellebuyck didn’t win it. In fact, neither of them were in the top three in their rookie years. The last netminder to claim the Calder? Columbus’ Steve Mason in 2009. All he did that year was put up 33 wins with a 2.29 GAA, 916 SV% and a league-leading 10 shutouts.
Wallstedt has the ability to post those numbers, but barring an injury to Filip Gustavsson, he’s not likely to get the chance to appear in 61 games like Mason did in his rookie year. One of the reasons goaltenders like Vasilevskiy and Hellebuyck weren’t in contention is that NHL coaches rarely hand the starting job to a rookie. Those that do, tend to be on bad teams.
Danila Yurov (+10,000)
Yurov is a bit of a dark horse prior to the season starting. While he has a similar path to the NHL as Kaprizov - debuting in North America after playing in the KHL for several seasons, he doesn’t have quite the same pedigree. Kaprizov put up 30 and 33 goals for CKA Moskva prior to making the jump. Yurov (who is making the transition at a younger age than Kirill) had 21 and 13 tallies for Metallurg Magnitogorsk in his final two KHL seasons.
Ice time could be a concern for the rookie as well. With Marco Rossi finally locking up his contract, Yurov is (at best) starting at the 3C spot for Minnesota. Kaprizov averaged 18:18 in his rookie season when he put up 27 goals. It’s very unlikely that Yurov is going to get that kind of ice time unless he goes crazy early in the season.
Being a center could help him. The last two forwards to win the award, Connor Bedard (2024) and Matty Berniers (2023) patrolled the middle of the ice. In fact, five of the last six forwards to win the award played the pivot position with Kaprizov being the lone exception. So, he has that going for him.
The Wild have a nice injection of youth coming into the line-up. Do they have anyone that will challenge for the title of top rookie? Only time will tell.