Why didn’t I vote Macklin Celebrini for the Calder Trophy?
Defenseman Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens was announced as the winner today. Goaltender Dustin Wolf of the Calgary Flames was second and center Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks was a close third.
Here’s the official PHWA vote:
Final voting results for the 2024-25 Calder Trophy: pic.twitter.com/nsK0fyUj0g
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 10, 2025
Here’s the voter-by-voter breakdown.
For the record, my vote was, in this order, Hutson, Celebrini, Wolf, Matvei Michkov, and the San Jose Sharks’ Will Smith.
I thought Celebrini and Wolf were very close, so I have no issue with Wolf getting second.
Celebrini had a marvelous season, his 25 goals and 63 points second or tied for second among all rookies. In the second half of the season, he also became the San Jose Sharks’ No. 1 center and handled being the focal point of his team’s offense competently. At 19:47 a night, he was the only rookie forward to average over 17 minutes a night.
Wolf led the Flames to the doorstep of the playoffs, falling short only because of two less regulation wins than the St. Louis Blues. Wolf was the only true rookie starter in the league last year, and behind the same team, had 29 wins to back-up Daniel Vladar’s 12, and a .910 Save % to Vladar’s .898.
So here’s why I voted Hutson No. 1.
There are the basic counting stats: Hutson, as a defenseman, led all rookies with 66 points. He became the first rookie blueliner since Nicklas Lidstrom in 1991-92 to surpass 60 points.
Hutson, like Wolf, also were key drivers to their team’s success. The Canadiens squeaked into the playoffs with Huston as their clear-cut No. 1 offensive and power play defenseman. The second-most prolific Habs rearguard was Mike Matheson’s 31 points, underscoring Hutson’s importance to a decent-but-not-great NHL roster.
I didn’t hold the Sharks’ lack of success against Celebrini — he showed a promising two-way game and wasn’t putting up empty-calorie points, and I absolutely think he is a winning player — but give Hutson and Wolf credit for their starring roles on playoff-caliber squads.
The biggest reason why I voted Hutson?
Critics want to call him a one-dimensional defenseman, and while he certainly leans offense, he averaged 22:44 a night and impacted the Canadiens in all three zones. He was the only blueliner to average over 19 minutes a night and was Montreal’s No. 2 most-used defender. You don’t play that much and get away with being just an offensive specialist.
Underscoring his overall impact on all three zones, at mid-season, I compared Macklin Celebrini and Hutson’s micro-stat cases for the Calder Trophy.
According to Stathletes, in All Situations, Hutson was elite (and remained so by the end of the season) in Assisted Chances, OZ Possession Time, and Successful Controlled Zone Entries. So it’s not as simple as Hutson racking up empty-calorie assists, he dominated the puck in the offensive zone, set up his teammates in the most dangerous areas, and also gained the zone at levels comparable not just to the top rookies, but to the best defensemen in the league like Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar and company.
The smaller Hutson isn’t a great one-on-one defender, but he was a willing one, and he also was key in getting the Habs out of the defensive zone. He led their defense in Stretch Carries (a successful carry of 30 or more feet) and was second to Matheson in successful DZ passes.
In all, Hutson played top-pairing minutes, reached offensive heights for a rookie defenseman that we haven’t seen in over three decades, drove his team to the playoffs, and under the hood, did a number of winning things at an elite defenseman’s level.
Generally speaking, it’s harder to be a top rookie defenseman than a top rookie center. It’s just the nature of the jobs.
Last year, Connor Bedard won the Calder Trophy, but not because of my vote. Brock Faber, granted more of an all-around defenseman, was the No. 1 blueliner as a rookie for a decent Minnesota Wild squad that missed the playoffs by a wide margin.
Rookie defensemen just don’t do what Hutson did in 2024-25 and Faber in 2023-24, which is why they were both my Calder votes.