The National Hockey League has unveiled the 3 finalists for the Calder Trophy, an award handed out each year to the league's most outstanding rookie for that particular season. There are going to be no surprises this year on the list, although one fan base may be quick to disagree with this assessment, everyone you would have expected to get a nod got one with perhaps one notable exception.
According to a breaking news announcement from the National Hockey League this year's finalists are going to be Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks organization, an early favorite to win the award, Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, probably the consensus favorite to win it prior to the start of the 2018 - 2019 NHL regular season, and Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues, a goaltender that dramatically turned the fortunes of the Blues around this season.
I have heard very few complaints about the 3 finalists this year with once exception, there are clearly a large number of hockey fans who feel that Dallas Stars defenseman Miko Heiskanen should have been given the nod over Binnington. There is certainly an argument to be made here based on how much Binnington played as well as how much time he spent down in the minors before becoming a "rookie," at the NHL level. However if I am being perfectly honest I do not believe that either Heiskanen or Binnington would have won the award here so I do feel it is somewhat of a moot point, although no doubt Heiskanen would have appreciated the nod.
What do you think of the nominations? Do you agree? Who should be this year's rookie of the year?
