Philadelphia Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov currently leads the race, but Logan Stankoven of the Dallas Stars continues to follow close behind.

Heading into the 2024-2025 NHL season, it was widely predicted that San Jose Sharks rookie and first overall pick Macklin Celebrini would take home the Calder Memorial Trophy at the end of the year. In the first game of his career, however, Celebrini suffered a lower-body injury and was subsequently placed on injured reserve after recording a goal and an assist in his debut. The 18-year old is looked upon as the next franchise star of the Sharks and still has an incredible career laid out in front of him, but the likelihood of winning the Calder Trophy has probably vanished due to the amount of games he is set to miss. 

The Sharks are only 1-7-2 on the season and recently announced that Celebrini would need at least two more weeks of recovery before a return is debated. In his absence, a number of future stars have presented themselves as worthy of the Calder Trophy honor and the odds for who will receive the awards have shifted to favor a rookie out on the east coast. 

Despite starting the regular season with a 2-6-1 record, the Philadelphia Flyers have seemingly found its next great talent of the future in winger Matvei Michkov. While the young Russian was selected seventh overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, he only just ventured over to the US after spending an extra season in Russian playing for the KHL. 

His stay in Russia had a strong effect on how far he fell in the Draft, as many teams were worried about how long it would take before Michkov would come over to the states. Most assumed he would stay in Russia for at least three more seasons after being drafted, but the Flyers’ gamble paid off with Michkov choosing to come over much earlier than expected. 

He currently leads in odds to win the Calder Trophy at +100 on DraftKings and is on a point-per-game pace with four goals and five assists generated up to this point. While some foreign players take time to adjust to the NHL due to a difference in rink size and rules put forth by leagues such as the KHL, Michkov has faced none of these issues. The 19-year old (turning 20 in December) has the appearance of a future star in the league, with Philadelphia now just needing to surround Michkov with similar levels of talent to begin contending in the future. 

The Flyers will most likely not be contending for a playoff spot this season, but the final result of a team’s performance has never impacted Calder Trophy voting before, typically because the best rookies are always taken by teams with the worst record from the previous season. If Michkov is able to continue his strong start to the season, it would not be surprising to see DraftKings and other operators begin to list the Flyers rookie with minus odds soon enough. 

Logan Stankoven of the Dallas Stars has also made a name for himself on a team full of talent, scoring only one goal so far but adding eight assists for nine total points through the same number of games. The 21-year old center has more experience than that of Michkov and has used his talents to help lead the Stars to a 7-2-0 record up to this point.

The team is coming off a Western Conference Finals loss to the Edmonton Oilers, marking the second straight year the team has reached the penultimate round of the Playoffs only to fall short. With notable performers such as Matt Duchene, Jason Robertson and Mason Marchment already in the fold, the breakout of Stankoven could be what Dallas needs to finally reach the Stanley Cup Finals and have a chance at winning its first Cup since 1999. 

The rookie is listed at +200 on DraftKings to win the Calder Trophy and represents the only competition to Michkov based on the odds presented for other possibilities. If the Stars continue the success it started the 2024-2025 season with, Stankoven should continue becoming a prominent name in the NHL and rising up the odds boards for the award. His team has a clear talent advantage over the Flyers, but Stankoven will still have to outperform or at least stay on par with Michkov if he hopes to walk away with the Calder Trophy next summer. 

Even with the injury delaying his rookie year, Celebrini is still listed at +1400 on DraftKings, tied for third with the best odds to win the Calder Trophy. The rookie has immense talent and is seen on par with former number one overall picks that took the league by storm including Connor Bedard, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby. 

San Jose won the Draft Lottery to claim the first overall pick and Celebrini was immediately interviewed afterwards about what it would be like to join San Jose, without even being selected yet. His and Bedard’s entrance into the league will hope to set the NHl up for years to come as current stars slowly age out of their primes. 

As well-known players like Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos make their way towards retirement age, the age of new superstars will quickly take over the league to keep fans engaged with the sport. Future stars like Celebrini, Michkov and Stankoven are only getting started and as more time passes, their talent and experience will only continue to grow as well.