For the entire season, it was a toss-up for the Calder Memorial Trophy between three players: the Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson, San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini, and Calgary Flames’ Dustin Wolf, and at the end of the day, it was the Habs blueliner who took the trophy home by a wide margin.

For Wolf, the Flames, and, of course, Flames fans, this was at the very least a much closer call than the voting would suggest, and there is a legitimate case that Wolf should have won the award entirely. Let’s break it down:

Dustin Wolf’s case for the Calder Trophy

Wolf took the NHL by a storm this season, coming into the year as the backup to Dan Vladar, but earning the crease and the tougher starts as the season wore on. Through 53 games, Wolf finished with a very respectable 0.910 save percentage and a 2.64 goals against average. Both were respectable numbers, with him finishing in the top 15 among goalies with at least 30 games played.

Among goalies who played at least 50 games, Wolf finished fourth in goals saved above expected at 5v5. Only three goalies also finished ahead of him in goals against, as he allowed just 90 through 53 games.

Put together, at 24 years of age, Wolf is establishing himself not just as the best rookie goalie but as one of the top netminders in the league.

Perhaps most importantly, Wolf did this all on a Calgary Flames team that was frankly not good all season long. It was on the back of Wolf that this team clawed its way to within inches of the playoffs. No skater finished with 70 points or more. There was no real scoring by committee, with just Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau putting up more than 60 points. Kadri finished 55th in scoring on the season, behind players like Drake Batherson and defenceman Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres.

The next highest scoring player? Matt Coronato and MacKenzie Weegar tied with 47 each. League-wide, Coronato finished 140th, while Weegar finished 147th. Both were in the range of players who played mostly middle-six or second-pairing defence. Not great for third and fourth in scoring on the team.

Combined, the team finished sixth-last in goals scored but 15th in goals against. Wolf went 29–16–8, while Vladar was 12–11–6. It was clear that Wolf was carrying this team all season long and getting very minimal run support. While his numbers do not necessarily jump off the page, the context is necessary to understand the enormous year he had.

Lane Hutson’s case for the Calder Trophy

There is no denying that Lane Hutson had an outstanding season in Montreal. He led all rookies in scoring with 66 points in 82 games and became just the fourth defenceman ever to win the award. With 60 of his 66 points being assists, he ties the record for most by a rookie in a single season.

Beyond that, in the entire history of the Canadiens franchise, the oldest in the league, no other rookie has recorded more assists in a single season. Only two rookie forwards had more points than he did in a single season for the Canadiens.

He put up these numbers while logging among the most icetime for the team this season, roughly 22 minutes per night. Rookie defencemen rarely see this much ice time, with Flames prospect Zayne Parekh playing just over 20 minutes in his one game with the team right at the end of the season in a game that meant nothing in the standings.

Even more than that, Hutson is an exciting player. The type of player who does so many great things away from the puck and creates offensive chances for his teammates. While not the strongest defensive defenceman, the things he can do in the offensive zone are incredible, and will likely put him in the Norris Trophy conversation in a year or two.

Montreal took a big step forward this year, and Hutson was a big reason why.

Was Wolf really snubbed?

It is worth noting that while Hutson did have an excellent year in Montreal, the vast majority of his assists were secondary assists, which studies have shown are largely a factor of being in the right place at the right time, more than actual support in the goal.

Hutson finished seventh in points by defencemen, but eighth in primary assists and 59th in goals. Of those assists specifically, Hutson recorded the majority on the power play. He had just 11 primary assists at 5v5, finishing 19th among all defencemen league-wide, and with fewer than the Oilers’ Darnell Nurse.

Wolf did not get this advantage, having to play behind a Flames defence that included a rotating cast of Daniil Miromanov, Joel Hanley, Jake Bean, and Tyson Barrie, splitting time in the bottom two pairings. Only three Flames defencemen were above 50% in expected goals.

The Flames’ netminder faced among the highest high-danger shots and rush attempts against in the league, and still put up very good numbers.

For media members who do not watch the Flames night after night, it’s easy to discount Wolf based only on his numbers. He doesn’t have the same highlight reel that Hutson does, but what he did provide this year was steady netminding for stretches of games where it felt like the Flames could not figure out how to get the puck, let alone how to get it out of their own zone.

This team managed to sneak out wins in games they had no business winning. While the stat line shows that they won 41 games, it came on the back of Wolf bailing them out for long stretches of games before they could score one off a bounce and pick up the two points.

All credit to Lane Hutson for a fantastic season. He is going to be an incredibly impressive NHLer for years to come, but hockey media did Wolf a disservice by not recognizing the outstanding impact that he had on this team. Three voters left him off their ballots entirely, while 77 had him between third and fifth.

While Wolf not winning does sting a little in the moment, he is on track to become a real NHL starter for this team. The best way to prove that he deserves this award is to keep performing on the trajectory he is currently on.

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