April NHL Calder Trophy Update: It’s all down to Connor Bedard vs. Brock Faber

It’s finally here: the final month of the NHL regular season.

For as good of a freshman crop the league has been treated to this year, it’s always really been down to two stars: Chicago’s Connor Bedard and Minnesota’s Brock Faber. Both have been remarkable in their own way, from Bedard’s pure dominance with the puck to Faber’s near-elite defensive play.

Compared to the ho-hum Calder fight last year, it’s been incredible seeing what some of these players have been capable of this year. I’d bet on this group churning out one of the best crops of NHL players we’ve seen in quite some time, too.

With only a few weeks to get your bid in to show you’re worthy of Calder Trophy consideration, here’s a breakdown of 10 of the best first-year NHLers in 2023-24:

Connor Bedard, C (Chicago Blackhawks)

Only six players in the salary-cap era with at least 50 games played in their rookie season have outproduced Bedard’s 0.95 point-per-average this season. With 21 goals and 57 points in 60 games, Bedard has been miles ahead of the rest of the league’s first-year forwards, and that’s after missing significant time with a jaw injury, too. Since returning from injury on Feb. 15, Bedard has 24 points in 21 games, 10 points clear of Luke Hughes and 11 more than Logan Cooley. Sure, 11 of those points have come on the man advantage, but you gotta do what you gotta do when you’re playing on a bottom-feeder like Bedard is. Defensively, though, Bedard is behind most of this list. In the future, Bedard’s value will be what he brings to the ice with the puck, but we can’t completely ignore his poor defensive metrics, either.

Brock Faber, D (Minnesota Wild)

He has 41 points, which is great. But he also destroys all rookies with 25:02 in average ice time a game and is an absolute workhorse defensively—so much so that it won’t be long before he’s in the Norris Trophy conversation, really. The 21-year-old top-pairing defender has been one of the biggest bright spots for Minnesota, especially with Jared Spurgeon missing most of the season due to injuries. The issue? Bedard has played some incredible offensive hockey since returning from his injury, putting him on pace for one of the most productive seasons by a rookie in quite some time. That, plus Bedard’s pedigree, will likely not work in Faber’s favor.

Luke Hughes, D (New Jersey Devils)

From an offensive standpoint? Hughes has been tremendous, sitting at 41 points in 74 games. He’s on pace for 45 points, which would tie Erik Karlsson’s output from 2010-11 for seventh among U-20 single-season performances by a defenseman since the 2004-05 NHL lockout. His older brother, Quinn Hughes, has the best post-lockout single-season rookie output by a defenseman with 56 points in 2018-19, so it definitely runs in the family. Defensively, though? That’s where Faber has the clear advantage. Hughes has had to do so much heavy lifting on a team that has been burned by injuries and bad goaltending throughout the season, so it’s been successful.

Marco Rossi, C (Minnesota Wild)

It was a quiet month for Rossi, who had just three goals and four points as Minnesota’s playoff hopes continued to slip away. Still, the two-way center has been one of the better rookies throughout the season, giving the team some reliable depth center depth and even filling in while Joel Eriksson Ek was out with an injury. Kirill Kaprizov still holds the record for most goals by a Wild rookie in a season with 27, but at 20, Rossi sits second after recently surpassing Marian Gaborik.

Connor Zary, LW (Calgary Flames)

March was a difficult one for Zary, who was limited to just one point in six games last month after dealing with an upper-body injury. Since returning, the Flames are 1-4-0, so it hasn’t been an easy trek back for the guy the Flames relied on to bring energy and offense throughout most of the year. The 22-year-old forward has 12 goals and 30 points in 55 games while sitting inside the top 10 in rookie scoring almost from the get-go, which is good. He’s also one of the best analytical rookies, which is promising.

Logan Cooley, C (Arizona Coyotes)

Cooley is now the holder of one of the best single-game efforts of any rookie this season, scoring a hat-trick against Nashville last week on just three shots. It hasn’t been an overly easy season for the 19-year-old, who has 17 goals and 39 points in 74 games. But with 11 points in 15 games in March, Cooley was the third highest-producing rookie while scoring goals at 5-on-5, even strength and shorthanded. Cooley is doing a bit of everything for one of the NHL’s worst teams this season, showing his value as a great two-way player. So, while he’s not going to blow anyone out of the water with his offense this year, Cooley has been playing some of his best hockey recently.

Samuel Ersson, G (Philadelphia Flyers)

Ersson became the first rookie goaltender to reach 20 wins this year, leading the way with 21. His save percentage is a measly .892, but asking your rookie to try and lead a playoff push on a team that’s struggling to produce right now is quite a lot. Flyers fans will be the first to tell you Ersson is one of the biggest reasons why the team are still in the postseason hunt given everything that has tried to tear them down this season. That being said, March was a brutal month for Ersson, who went 4-5-3 with a .868 save percentage and 3.50 goals against average. Of the nine goaltenders with at least 10 games played in March, Ersson’s .886 save percentage and -5.95 goals saved above average at 5-on-5 were far and beyond the worst in the NHL. But have you seen the Flyers recently? There isn’t much he can do – the Flyers need to play much better in front of Ersson, no question about it.

Tyson Foerster, RW (Philadelphia Flyers)

It was another solid month for Foerster, who had six goals and seven points in 15 games in March while averaging 17:30 a night. The 22-year-old winger is up to 20 goals now on the season while being one of the more consistent, hard-working wingers in the lineup. Forester’s shot has always been a highlight of his, but his full two-way game? That’s been a different story. What we’re seeing from him this year is a guy who’s playing with increased confidence and overall on-ice awareness.

Ridly Greig, C (Ottawa Senators)

After missing significant time due to injury earlier in the season, Greig has found his role as Ottawa’s third-line center in Josh Norris’ absence. The advanced analytics have loved Greig from the get-go this season – his goals above replacement and wins above replacement put him fourth among all first-year NHLers, according to Evolving-Hockey. He only has 24 points this year, but he’s producing a solid 1.58 points per 60 at 5-on-5 while mainly playing in a bottom-six role. He’s also a solid shot generator at 5.52 shots per 60 while showing off his physical nature, too.

Pyotr Kochetkov, G (Carolina Hurricanes)

With Freddy Andersen back in the fold, this isn’t just Kochetkov’s net anymore. But let’s not get it twisted: Kochetkov has been one of Carolina’s most valuable players this season. Between Andersen’s health issues and Antti Raanta’s struggles, the fact that Kochetkov sits with 20 wins and four shutouts in 39 games is tremendous. His advanced analytics have been mid-pack for most of the season, but the 24-year-old has proven time and time again over the past three years that he can absolutely steal games when needed. The Hurricanes are one of the top teams in the NHL for a multitude of reasons, but Kochetkov’s ability to pull a win out of his rear end when his team is getting outplayed has been crucial. Need proof? He’s 9-1-0 when facing 30 shots or more this season.

Other notables: Dmitri Voronkov, LW (Columbus Blue Jackets), Simon Nemec, D (New Jersey Devils), Leo Carlsson, C (Anaheim Ducks), Matthew Knies, LW (Toronto Maple Leafs), Luke Evangelista, LW (Nashville Predators)