Lots of good rookies out there this year..

Some are expected to do well Tavares, Hedman, Duschene..

Some are more unexpected and have played really well Del Zotto, Oreilly....


I am pulling for Del Zotto..The kid looks really good.

Kadri obv

It won't be O'Reilly. I'd be surprised if he sticks around after his next game (his 9th).

I think Tavares, Duchene, Del Zotto have the inside track, so far.

I thought Stalberg was a lock.

he has a shot..

6-1 on 20 bucks that stallberg doesnt win?

I like MDZ, but it will be Tavares. Duchene rounds out the Calder field.

lol

JVR will go on a huge hot streak and ease into the award.

Tavares (thank god) is looking good but Del Zotto is playing very well and might give him a run.

Del Zotto is really fun to watch. I don't know if he will win, but you have to figure he will be a finalist.

Tavares

Oof, I was wrong on O'Reilly, they will keep him up: http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_13594935

He still won't enter into the Calder discussion, though.

.

If the kid is producing there's no reason not to let him beat expectations, it's situations like Gilbert Brule where he's clearly struggling but the team keeps him up anyway, destroying his confidence.

O'Reilly is tied with Paul Stastny in points, he's not struggling and the team needs him, so it's win/win.

Fairly good article over at Puck Daddy today that addresses this topic, kinda funny just a day or so after we were having the discussion.

He makes a good point in the article, Tavares is basically making Matt Moulson look like he's belonged in the NHL for years.

puck daddy always copies my posts.

There are so many great rookies again this year. It seems a lot of young players are making a fairly easy transition into the NHL these days. I'm curious to hear thoughts on why this is the case. Is it because of better coaching in junior, is it a matter of more youngsters being given the opportunity...what do you guys think?

I think it goes back to the rule changes to remove obstruction. One of the hardest things for rookies to adjust to coming to the NHL was doing what they had been doing before, but doing it with a 220 pound guys hanging on to them every step. Not only is the game faster, bigger, quicker, etc, but the size of the guys trying to slow you down is much larger. When they changed the rules, I think it allowed rookies more room to skate, and made the adjustment a lot easier...

wouldnt it work the other way for defenseman?

Last couple of years 18 year old dman like Bogosian,Schenn, Doughty,Hedman and Del Zotto(amongst others) have stepped in. Wouldnt the faster , bigger players cause them more problems than junior?

i actually think a lot of these young guys are more physically mature than in previous years. i'm not just talking about freaks like hedman either, i'm talking youngsters like duchene and o'reilly. year on year, junior players are getting better advice from their coaches about nutrition and weights programs tailored to suit them. i would say its the progression in coaching, weights and nutritional advice that is allowing youngsters to compete earlier in the nhl rather than any difference in talent.

Also, lets not forget salary. It's DEFINATELY an issue...

revisit:

A lot of us said Tavares..

i think Myers now..

Seems like I'm almost ALONE here, but Duchenne is far and away my rookie of the year choice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he leading points AND goals among rookies (ahead of Tavares even?) currently? And he is a great penalty killer too. Don Cherry did a segment on Coach's Corner a while back on a few of his PK shifts, and it was nothing short of spectacular.

Just saw the highlights and he scored a nice one tonight (and took a dumbass penalty too )

i was shocked to see Tavares's numbers..I think now 2 goals and 5 assists in his last 26 games..

pretty scary numbers

is hornqvist eligible this season or did he play too many games last year?

played 28 games..so not eligible.

I agree this guy wins it

I think it's between Duchene and Myers at this point. I'm pulling for Myers, for personal fantasy reasons, but I like Duchene a lot too.

Looking at the draft a year later..Do the Isles draft Tavares again??

Probably too early to tell.

agree. What makes it even harder is the learning curve is much slower for a D-man like Myers..... and yet he's playing like he's been in the league for 10 years. Maybe a tie, fwiw

Not sure why but I never seem to hear Jimmy Howard's name in ROY discussions. He's got a 2.27 GAA and .930 SP with a decent win-loss record. I think he should have a pretty decent shot at winning.

Jimmy Howard doesnt qualify for ROY:

1 you need to be a rookie (To be considered a rookie, a player must not have played in 25 or more
NHL games in any preceding seasons, nor in six or more NHL games in
each of any two preceding seasons. Any player at least 26 years of age
(by September 15th of that season) is not considered a rookie

reading that again I am still not sure..

He's 25. He should be eligible.

but he has played 9 games over 3 years..not sure how that is interpreted.

It says in EACH. He hasn't played 6 games in a season once, he'd need to have done it in EACH of any of his previous 2 seasons.

Yeah, he's eligible.

i believe you are correct..pretty weird way to be a rookie though..

It will definitely come down to these 4...

Matt Duchene
John Tavares
James van Riemsdyk
Tyler Myers

My order right now is...

1st Tyler Myers
2nd Matt Duchene
3rd John Tavares

Jimmy Howard
/homer

Tyler Bozak is having a great rookie campaign...He wont play enough games to get consideration, and he wont be eligible next year..

I think the finalists will be:

Matt Duchene
Tyler Myers (winner)
Tuuka Rask

And then there were two. Classic argument of forward or defense. My vote would go to Duchene, but I could just as easily see Myers also. I only say Duchene because I've watched more Avs games on CenterIce than Sabres.

I'm going with Duchene to stay on Davey's good side.

sorry zach.

disclosure: I haven't watched all 60 minutes of a non-blues game since October.

Duchene's really kept pouring it on.

Statistically, it looks like Myers hit a bit of a wall, but I don't know if that means he's not playing well lately.

Duchene just keeps scoring, though.

i dont think they can give it to anyone other than Duschene..He has had an amazing year, and just keep going...Myers should be second

With regards to Howard. I believe, but I may be mistaken, that for the purpose of rookie eligibility, games dressed as a backup goalie count towards the 'games played' number. I know they count 'backup' games toward waiver eligibility, so I assume they also apply towards rookie status.

Howard kinda sucks so it doesn't matter