There aren’t very many times to see an 18-year-old crack the opening night NHL roster, but it’s even more rare to see a rookie completely change the direction of their franchise as Matthew Schaefer did with the New York Islanders this season.

Unlike last night for the Vancouver Canucks, the Islanders won the NHL draft lottery, moving from the 10th overall pick to first and selected Schaefer. Although they ultimately fell short of the playoffs, the Islanders saw a nine-point increase in standings. Not only did Schaefer set an Islanders record for points by a rookie defenceman, but selecting him first overall allowed them to trade Noah Dobson, nab two first-round picks, select two falling players in Viktor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson, who have reshaped the Islanders’ prospect room.

After a year like this, Schaefer is among the three up for rookie of the year. Along with the Calder Trophy nominees, the NHL also released the finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy.

The Calder Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League player judged to be the most proficient in his first season.

Demidov had a successful first full season for the Montreal Canadiens. He scored 19 goals and 43 assists for 62 points with a plus-three rating, averaging 15:30 while playing all 82 games. The Russian winger played the majority of the year on the second line, while also earning power play time, where 20 of his 62 points came from. Demidov finished fifth in Canadiens scoring, but led all NHL rookies in scoring by two points.

As we already mentioned, Schaefer had a dominant rookie season for the Islanders, scoring 23 goals and 36 assists for 59 points with a plus-13 rating in all 82 games. What was most impressive was that he averaged 24:41 minutes of ice time, which was just under four minutes of average ice time more than the next highest Islander, Adam Pelech. Schaefer’s 23 goals tied Brian Leetch for the most goals by a rookie defenceman in NHL history. Schaefer finished third in rookie scoring and had a 26-gap on the next highest scoring rookie defenceman, Alexander Nikishin.

It was a big surprise when the Anaheim Ducks selected him at third overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, but it may have been an even bigger surprise seeing him pop as he did in his first NHL season. Sennecke scored 23 goals and 37 assists for 60 points with a minus-12 rating while averaging 17:27 minutes in all 82 games. The Toronto, Ontario native finished second in rookie scoring, third in Ducks scoring, and his contributions helped his team snap a seven-year playoff-less streak.

The Frank J. Selke Trophy is presented to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.

Cirelli had his second consecutive 50-point season, scoring 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points in 71 games. He finished with a career-high plus-38 rating, which ranked fourth among NHL forwards, and second on the Tampa Bay Lightning, trailing only Nikita Kucherov. Cirelli is the Lightning’s shutdown centre at 5v5 and a top penalty killing contributor. His 2:37 minutes of average shorthanded minutes per game ranked eighth in the NHL, and the most on the Lightning this season. Cirelli finished third in Selke voting last season and is up for the award after his efforts this season.

Nelson scored 33 goals and 32 assists for 65 points in 81 games this season. Those totals had him fourth in team scoring. He has now scored 30 goals in four of the last five seasons, missing only last season, a year he split between the Islanders and the Colorado Avalanche following the trade. The 34-year-old centre was a plus-15 this season, and averaged 1:51 minutes of penalty killing time per game.

Suzuki had a career year, hitting the century mark in points, scoring 29 goals and 72 points for 101 points in all 82 games. Those totals led the Canadians in scoring and sixth in league scoring. Suzuki did not have much penalty killing time this season, averaging just 43 seconds per game; however, his plus-37 rating this year was fifth-best in the NHL. Finishing as high as he did in league scoring this year, along with his defensive acumen, has him deserving of consideration for this award.