A month into the 2025-26 season, some rookies have already begun to separate themselves from the pack. Notably, recent first overall pick Matthew Schaefer and former fifth overall pick Ivan Demidov continue to make waves around the league.
There’s no questioning why the two are neck-and-neck in early Calder Trophy odds. Demidov is leading the way in rookie scoring with four goals and 12 points in 13 games with the Montreal Canadiens, while Schaefer is close behind with five goals and 11 points in 13 games with the New York Islanders.
At this point, if both players unexpectedly maintain a point-per-game scoring average, the voters will likely lean toward Schaefer, given that he’s a defenseman. Still, given the status of their respective clubs, Demidov has a far greater chance of pulling away from the pack. If Schaefer wins, it’ll be the first time that defensemen have won the award in consecutive years since Kent Douglas and Jacques Laperriere in 1962-63 and 1963-64.
Meanwhile, Schaefer and Demidov aren’t the only rookies making some noise this season. Although there are some questions regarding his play on the defensive side of the puck, blueliner Zeev Buium of the Minnesota Wild is scoring at a relatively high rate with three goals and nine points in 14 games.
Additionally, there are a pair of forwards looking to toss their hats in the ring. University of Minnesota alumnus Jimmy Snuggerud sits tied for second on the St. Louis Blues in scoring with four goals and eight points in 14 games. At the same time, recent seventh-round pick Emmitt Finnie has matched that level of scoring with the Detroit Red Wings.
Moving back to Montreal, Demidov’s performance so far hasn’t completely overshadowed the performance of his teammate, Jakub Dobes. Technically a rookie despite debuting last season, Dobes has managed a 6-0-0 record this season with a .930 SV% through the early part of the 2025-26 campaign. Unfortunately, he’s had to split the crease with Sam Montembeault, which would negatively affect his chances should that trend continue.
For most rookies, there’s about 80% of the regular season remaining, meaning there’s plenty of time for someone to pull away from the pack. Who do you think it will be?
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Didn’t even look at the other names. Just scrolled until I found Schaefer and clicked it.
As a Pens fan, I won’t begrudge anyone for the bounce of a ping pong ball, but just for the record….what a gift that just fell into the driftless Islanders’ lap.
As a Pens fan you understand they received 2 gifts during their driftless periods.
One gift and one innovation (I can’t find an earlier example of the modern tank job than the 83 Pens).
We pioneered our way to Mario.
Sid was luck (although, FWIW, we did have the worst record in the previously played season).
Buium could win it if not for John Hynes being the Wild’s head coach. Schaefer will probably win it.
I am waiting for Ryan Leonard to make his case for Calder, but Schaefer already is Islanders most important player at age 18
He won’t win, but Nikishin has been an absolute stud. Canes defense has had all kind of injuries and the kid has stepped up huge.
I was about to say Demidov (the guy most hawks fans wanted at #2 since before that draft) but im thinking Schaefer, their projected points based on their starts or on pace for, Demidov 75 point pace and Schaefer 70 point pace, given the extra responsibilities defenseman have it never goes by points for comparison as it usually does for forward vs forward Schaefer probably can be 10-15 points under and still win the Calder over Demidov, some sites also don’t provide WAR (Wins above replacement) stat for Rookies