{"id":210955,"date":"2025-09-26T19:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T19:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/210955\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T19:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T19:08:12","slug":"who-will-challenge-ivan-demidov-for-the-nhls-2026-calder-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/210955\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Challenge Ivan Demidov For The NHL\u2019s 2026 Calder Trophy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ivan<\/p>\n

Ivan Demidov heads into the 2025-26 season as the strong favorite for the NHl’s Calder Trophy (Photo by David Kirouac\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

If you peruse the betting lines for the NHL\u2019s 2026 Calder Trophy at any of the popular websites, one name stands apart from the rest.<\/p>\n

Just months after Lane Hutson<\/a> became the first member of the Montreal Canadiens to be named rookie of the year since the late Ken Dryden<\/a> in 1972, his teammate Ivan Demidov will keep the Calder in La Belle Province if the oddsmakers have it right. He\u2019s the prohibitive favorite in a crowded field of rookies looking to make their mark in the 2025-26 NHL season.<\/p>\n

Selected fifth overall in 2024<\/a> and welcomed to the Canadiens by none other than singer Celine Dion, the dazzling and affable right winger arrived to great fanfare at the end of last season and scored in his debut as his team chased down its unexpected playoff spot.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old then chipped in two assists in Montreal\u2019s five playoff games while averaging 14:29 of ice time. <\/p>\n

The hype train may be slowing a bit, however. It\u2019s a fool\u2019s game to read too much into pre-season performances, but Demidov\u2019s first outing of 2025-26 didn\u2019t live up to the lofty expectations around him. As the Canadiens dropped a 7-2 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs on home ice on Thursday night, Demidov finished with one power-play assist but a minus-three rating, to go along with three giveaways in 16:09 of ice time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a reminder that the development paths of young players are unpredictable and rarely linear \u2014 and that pre-season favorites aren\u2019t Calder locks.<\/p>\n

Last year, Hutson surpassed the more hyped Macklin Celebrini and Matvei Michkov<\/a> to secure the trophy. <\/p>\n

This season, two older players could parlay their greater experience levels into Calder consideration. Defenseman Alexander Nikishin turns 24 in October and joined the Carolina Hurricanes last spring after five pro seasons in Russia\u2019s KHL, while 23-year-old Yaroslav Askarov will look to follow in Dustin Wolf\u2019s<\/a> footsteps by staking a claim as a rookie No. 1 goaltender in San Jose. <\/p>\n

With less than two weeks before the regular season kicks off on Oct. 7, here\u2019s a look at some of the younger challengers for the top rookie of 2025-26.<\/p>\n

The Class of 2025<\/p>\n

Not many just-drafted players can step straight into the toughest league in the world. So far, the first-overall pick Celebrini is the only player from his draft class to get into more than 20 NHL games. <\/p>\n

This year, it\u2019s expected that the unflappable No.1 pick Matthew Schaefer<\/a> will stick with the New York Islanders, although his road will be even tougher as a defenseman. <\/p>\n

The Sharks also taking a good look at their latest top prospect, Michael Misa, who was taken second overall and signed his entry-level contract on Sept. 10. He made a successful debut as a second-line center between Quentin Musty and Tyler Toffoli in the Sharks\u2019 3-0 home-ice shutout of the Vegas Golden Knights last Sunday.<\/p>\n

No. 5 pick Brady Martin, another center, is also earning some strong notices thanks to his powerful style and two goals in two games with the Nashville Predators, while No. 15 selection Braeden Cootes is being compared to a better-skating Bo Horvat<\/a>. He would fill a team need as a right-shot center if he can crack the opening-night roster of the Vancouver Canucks. <\/p>\n

The Class of 2024<\/p>\n

From Demidov\u2019s draft class, all eyes are on duelling defensemen Zayne Parekh (Calgary Flames) and Zeev Buium (Minnesota Wild). Chosen three picks apart, both blueliners have strong offensive components to their games and impressed in late-season call-ups last spring. <\/p>\n

On a Sharks team that can\u2019t finish any lower than last year\u2019s 32nd place, Sam Dickinson may also earn a look. Still 19, the big defender is too young to play in the American Hockey League but has little to prove at the junior level after putting up 91 points and winning the Memorial Cup with the London Knights in 2024-25. In Ottawa, Carter Yakemchuk is already a fan favorite but it\u2019ll be tough for him to crack the roster of a playoff team that\u2019s looking to take another step forward.<\/p>\n

Among the forwards, WHL hotshots Tij Iginla and Berkly Catton will try to make their cases to stay with the Utah Mammoth and Seattle Kraken, respectively, rather than go back to junior. Both have signed their entry-level NHL contracts, which rules out the NCAA option.<\/p>\n

The Class of 2023<\/p>\n

After getting six games with the Nashville Predators following his junior year of college last season, Matthew Wood got out of the box well with five points in two exhibition games. However, he suffered an injury in Thursday night\u2019s Gold Star Showcase scrimmage and is not on the Predators\u2019 practice roster for Friday.<\/p>\n

Nashville does have room to add some fresh faces while looking to rebound from a disappointing 2024-25 campaign. Another 2023 first-rounder, defenseman Tanner Molendyk, came close to making the big club as a 19-year-old last season and Nic Hague\u2019s pre-season injury opens up a roster spot.<\/p>\n

U.S. National Team standouts Ryan Leonard (Washington Capitals) and Gabe Perreault (New York Rangers) will also be looking to stick, while 2025 WHL scoring champion Andrew Cristall is also challenging for a roster spot in Washington.<\/p>\n

The Class of 2022<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a Calder longshot, you could do worse than Kraken winger Jani Nyman. Selected 49th in 2022, the 21-year-old Finn impressed with six points in 12 games during a late call-up last season. He has followed up with three goals in two pre-season games this fall. <\/p>\n

On a Seattle team that is looking to forge a new identity under coach Lane Lambert and has traditionally struggled to score, Nyman\u2019s deft touch could lead to an opportunity to put up some significant numbers this year. <\/p>\n

Other forwards from Nyman\u2019s draft class who could get enough quality ice time to earn attention for the 2026 Calder Trophy include the Edmonton Oilers\u2019 Matthew Savoie and Ike Howard, along with No. 23 selection Jimmy Snuggerud from the St. Louis Blues. On defense, No. 25 pick Sam Rinzel has been making some noise with the Chicago Blackhawks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ivan Demidov heads into the 2025-26 season as the strong favorite for the NHl’s Calder Trophy (Photo by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5103],"tags":[28,265,5,638,502,374,375,264,21,5147,4,35087,3326,1289],"class_list":{"0":"post-210955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal-canadiens","8":"tag-alexander-nikishin","9":"tag-canadiens","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-ivan-demidov","12":"tag-lane-hutson","13":"tag-matthew-schaefer","14":"tag-michael-misa","15":"tag-montreal","16":"tag-montreal-canadiens","17":"tag-montrealcanadiens","18":"tag-nhl","19":"tag-yaoslav-askarov","20":"tag-zayne-parekh","21":"tag-zeev-buium"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115272175249187746","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}