May 5, 2025
Macklin Celebrini, Lane Hutson and Dustin Wolf are Calder trophy finalists
The NHL tonight unveiled its finalists for the Calder trophy, awarded to the leagues player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League – and this year, there were several worthy players that didn’t get the nod. An ode to how much great young talent is entering the league.
The three that did make the selection, are Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini and Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf, who narrowly beat out Matvei Michkov of the Philadelphia Flyers for the final spot.
See Also: The Islanders win the NHL draft lottery and will pick first overall
Lane Hutson received the most votes and is perceived as the favorite to win the trophy. Hutson is coming off an incredible first season with the Montreal Canadiens, where he put up 66 points, including 60 assists – tying him for the most ever for a rookie defenseman with Larry Murphy. However, Murphy also scored 16 goals to Hutson’s 6.
Hutson isn’t just among the best rookies either, he’s tied for second in the entire league for assists from a defenseman with Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes with 60 – just two points back of Colorado’s Cale Makar. And tied for sixth in total points for an NHL defenseman with Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman with 66 points. Incredible numbers.
There’s a reason why Lane Hutson is the favorite to win this year’s Calder trophy – and if he does, he will be the first member of the storied Montreal Canadiens to do so in 56 years. Since 1972, when Ken Dryden won it.
Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks collected 63 points, including 25 goals this season. He and Hutson were teammates last year at Boston university, and both have made fast impacts on their clubs and the league. Celebrini, a former first overall draft pick, certainly has a huge career ahead of him – and any other year but this, might well have been the consensus favorite to take home the Calder trophy.
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Finally, Calgary’s Dustin Wolf has proven himself a starting goaltender in the NHL in just his first season, which in itself is fairly unheard of – although Wolf did have 18 NHL games played prior to this, his first full season with the Flames, The 24-year-old put up solid numbers, with a 2.64 goals against average, 0.910 save percentage and three shut outs.
THe Calder trophy will be presented at the 2025 NHL Awards ceremony which will take place in June 2025, but an exact date has yet to be announced.
