Can a goaltender win NHL rookie of the year this season?

Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterNov 13, 2024, 07:00 AM ET

CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.

SEATTLE — Dustin Wolf has faced a number of questions over the last seven years:

Is he really that good? Can a smaller goalie be trusted when every team wants a bigger option in net? Can he replicate his WHL success in the AHL? Can his AHL success be parlayed into giving the Calgary Flames a franchise goalie to win games and get into the playoffs?

Wolf now faces another question: Could he or someone else in this season’s rookie class become the first goalie in more than a decade to win the Calder Trophy?

“I had no idea,” Wolf said of the 15-year gap since the last Calder-winning goalie. “But you know what? My job is to try to stop as many pucks as I can and try to help the team win games. If the extra stuff comes along with that, then, it’s just an extra bonus.”

Steve Mason was the last goalie to win the Calder, in the 2008-09 season. Mason went 33-20-7 with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage, playing a crucial role in the Columbus Blue Jackets making the playoffs. Since then, the Calder has been a forward-centric award, with 11 of the last 15 winners being a center or a winger.

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There have been two goaltenders who have finished second in Calder voting since Mason won the award: St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington in 2018-19 and Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner in 2022-23. But there was a major gulf in first-place votes for Binnington (18 to Elias Pettersson’s 151) and Skinner (24 to Matty Beniers’ 160).

The Calder has been historically dominated by forwards. There are 62 forwards who have won the award, which was introduced during the 1932-33 season. By comparison, just 16 goalies have won. Yet the current 15-year gap since Mason won it is the longest gap. The previous long goalie-free streak was 12 years, from 1972 to 1984.

In the time since Mason won the Calder, the conversation surrounding goaltending continues to…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/42347912/nhl-2024-25-calder-trophy-goaltender-rookie-year-wolf-blomqvist-annunen

Author : Ryan S. Clark

Publish date : 2024-11-13 11:10:17

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