LAS VEGAS — Connor Bedard won the Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year at the NHL Awards on Thursday.
Bedard, an 18-year-old center and the first pick in the 2023 NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, led all rookies in goals (22) and points (61) and tied for first in assists (39) despite being limited to 68 games. He missed 14 games with a broken jaw but returned Feb. 15 and finished with 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in his final 29 games.
Bedard was first in shots on goal (206) and even-strength points (40; 18 goals, 22 assists) and second in power-play points (21; four goals, 17 assists) among rookies and led the first year in ice time per game (19:47). He also led the Blackhawks in scoring.
“That’s automatic, right?” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said in April.
when asked about Bedard’s chances of winning the Calder. “I mean, his offensive production is great, but now that you’re adding better, more conscious responsibility away from the puck, I think that shows a lot of maturity in a young player. And when you have the point production yet to come when you do that, it’s a sign of a really solid player that’s going to be here for a long time doing this.”
Bedard is the 10th Blackhawks player to win the award and the first since Artemi Panarin in 2015-16. Chicago’s other winners are Patrick Kane (2007-08), Ed Belfour (1990-91), Steve Larmer (1982-83), Tony Esposito (1969-70), Bill Hay (1959-60), Ed Litzenberger (1954-55), Cully Dahlstrom (1937-38) and Mike Karakas (1935-36).
Voting for the award was conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Boldy and New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes were the other Calder finalists.
Bedard finished with 1,808 points in the voting, including 152 first-place votes. Faber was second with 1,464 points (42 first-place votes) and Hughes was third with 686 points.
Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers won the Calder Trophy last season.
2023-24 Calder Memorial Trophy Voting
Points (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Connor Bedard, CHI 1808 (152-39-3-0-0)
2. Brock Faber, MIN 1464 (42-146-3-2-1)
3. Luke Hughes, New Jersey 686 (0-5-94-52-25)
4. Piotr Kochetkov, CAR 405 (0-3-47-42-23)
5. Logan Cooley, ARI 264 (0-1-23-33-43)
6. Marco Rossi, MIN 222 (0-0-11-39-50)
7. Tyson Foerster, PHI 107 (0-0-10-14-15)
8. Connor Zary, CGY 37 (0-0-2-4-15)
9. Luke Evangelist, NSH 21 (0-0-1-3-7)
10. Samuel Ersson, PHI 15 (0-0-0-2-9)
t-11. Joel Hofer, STL 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
Dmitri Voronkov, CBJ 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
13. Adam Fantilli, CBJ 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
t-14. Leo Carlsson, ANA 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Michael Kesselring, ARI 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Pavel Mintyukov, ANA 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Simon Nemec, New Jersey 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
* Point allocation 10-7-5-3-1 (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
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